Grace Kelly, who was born this week in 1929, remains a towering presence on royal life – and fashion – almost 100 years on
Grace Kelly remains an icon, almost 100 years on from her birth in 1929. The star, later Princess Grace of Monaco, has become the perennial symbol of the Hollywood Golden era despite having given up her career as one of the industry’s leading ladies for love and becoming a princess.
Her legendary status remains unmatched and her influence is perpetual: she radiated poise, beauty and, yes, grace, in every photo.
Her fairytale engagement to Prince Ranier was announced at the Kelly Family Home in Philadelphia on January 5, 1956, followed by a press conference at the Philadelphia Country Club. The following day, Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly hosted a celebratory ball at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City, which was attended by many members of New York high society.
The announcement of their engagement took many of those who knew Kelly by surprise since the couple had known each other for a relatively short time – but it was big news, running on the front page of the New York Times. The couple got married shortly thereafter, on 18 April, and had three children before her tragic death.
On that fateful day of September 14, 1982, Princess Grace lost control of her car, which veered off a mountain road by the Cote D’Azur. She was rushed to a Monaco hospital and sustained a mild cerebral haemorrhage, but died the following night after her husband, Prince Rainier III, instructed doctors to turn off her life support.
What followed was a global outpouring of grief for the former screen legend and celebrated beauty who was later buried in the Saint Nicholas Cathedral, Monaco, as mourners lined the streets to wave her off.
Princess Grace’s death was made even more tragic by the fact it could’ve been avoided and felt like a cruel twist of fate. She had made no secret of her aversion to driving. However, she reportedly insisted on getting behind the wheel of her favourite car – a 1971 Range Rover 3500 – to drive her beloved daughter, Princess Stéphanie, to the train station. Princess Grace told the chauffeur she would reluctantly drive as there wasn’t any space for all of them with the backseat full of luggages and clothing, as Stéphanie was leaving for school.
Princess Stéphanie, who was 17, survived after managing to escape the wreckage. She ended up with broken vertebrae. Prince Rainier, who did not remarry, was buried alongside her when he died in 2005. The royal was said to have never fully gotten over his wife’s passing.
Here, Tatler takes a look back at the life of a legendary film star who will forever encapsulate an impossibly glamorous era.
929: Grace Patricia Kelly was born in Philadelphia
Grace Kelly was the third of four children, the eldest sibling was Peggy, followed by John Jr., and they youngest, sister Lizanne.
1940s: School days in Pennsylvania
Kelly graduates from the Stevens School in Germantown, Philadelphia in 1947. Classmates wrote in her yearbook that she would become a star of the stage and screen.
Early 1950s: Kelly moves to New York
When she was 18, Kelly moved to New York City, where she attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and worked as a commercial model, appearing in print advertisements.
1950s: working with Alfred Hitchcock
Director Alfred Hitchcock gave Kelly three leading roles — in Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, and To Catch a Thief — that made her a Hollywood star. In this photo, she is on the set of the Paramount Pictures movie Rear Window in November 1953 in Los Angeles.
1950s: A Hollywood star
Grace Kelly on the set of To Catch a Thief, directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock.
1951: Aboard the SS Constitution
Actress Grace Kelly and her friend, Francis Gray, arrive in New York aboard the SS Constitution.
1953: Catching the eye of John Ford
Kelly co-stars in the jungle drama Mogambo alongside Clark Gable and Ava Gardner, which is often considered her big break
1954: At the studio
On the Paramount Studio lot, Grace is joined by Jimmy Stewart on a bicycle, along with Rosemary Clooney's Great Dane puppy.
1954: Engagement to Oleg Cassini
Grace Kelly and Oleg Cassini at the premiere of the film Rear Window. Kelly dated Russian fashion designer Oleg Cassini, who wooed her with bouquets of roses until she agreed to go out with him. The couple were engaged briefly in 1954. He was credited with helping curate Kelly's trademark elegant style and later helped create the distinctive style of first lady Jacqueline Kennedy.
1955: Winning an Oscar
Grace Kelly wins Best Actress for her role in the 1954 film The Country Girl: she starred as the wife of a washed-up alcoholic actor and singer played by Bing Crosby. Judy Garland had been the expected winner, for her performance in A Star Is Born. Hollywood gossip columnist Hedda Hopper reported the Academy's ballot on the category winner was one of the closest ever, with just six votes difference.
1955: Meeting the Prince
Grace Kelly in Cannes for the Film Festival, 1955. Kelly met Prince Rainier of Monaco that May at the Cannes Film Festival, where her Oscar-winning film The Country Girl was being shown. Their engagement was announced in January 1956.
1956: Engagement to Prince Rainier
Prince Rainier and his then fiancée Grace Kelly in her parents' house in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1956: 'The Wedding of the Century'
Wedding of Prince Rainier to Princess Grace on April 19, 1956 in Monaco.
1956: All aboard!
Prince Rainier and Princess Grace after a trip to the United States on board of the ‘Constitution’.
1957: Princess Caroline is born
Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco with her daughter Caroline, Princess of Hanover at Heathrow Airport, 1961. Caroline has been married three times and she has four children. Her second husband, Stefano Casiraghi, was killed in 1990 in a high-speed boating accident.
1958: Prince Albert is born
Prince Albert of Monaco ascended to the throne in 2005 when his father died. As a young man, Albert competed in the Olympic games of 1988, 1992, 1994, 1998, and 2002 on Monaco's bobsledding team. He is married to Princess Charlene of Monaco and the couple have two young twins: Jacques and Gabriella, born in 2014.
1958: Prince Albert is baptised
Princess Grace and Prince Rainier after the baptism of their second-born son Albert II.
1959: With her mother
Princess Grace of Monaco with her mother, Mrs John B. Kelly.
1963: At home in Palm Springs
Princess Grace on a driveway in front of a ranch-style house near Palm Springs, Florida, with her husband Prince Rainier and their children Albert and Caroline.
1964: Hollywood wants her back
Kelly wants to return to acting but has to withdraw from the production of Alfred Hitchcock's 1964 film Marnie. Apparently the idea was not popular in Monaco, with the country against its princess in the role of a compulsive thief with heartthrob Sean Connery. Her role went to Tippi Hedren instead.
1965: Princess Stephanie is born
Princess Grace, Prince Rainier and their three children, Prince Albert, Princess Caroline and Princess Stephanie. Stephanie grew up to become a model, singer, and fashion designer. Her first husband, Adans Lopez Peres, whom she divorced, was a circus acrobat. She had two children with her second husband, Daniel Ducruet, whom she also divorced. She had a third child with a former royal bodyguard.
1965: Attending the Bal Petits Lits Blancs
Prince Rainier and Princess Grace attend the Bal Petits Lits Blancs at Powerscourt in Ireland.
1973: With her children
Prince Rainier and Grace of Monaco strolling with their three children.
1977: In Monte Carlo
Princess Grace with Prince Rainier, Princess Caroline and her fiancé Philippe Junot at the Royal Palace, Monte Carlo.
1980: At the Opera
Prince Rainier with Princess Grace arriving at the Opera on National Day in Monte Carlo.
1980: Cannes Film Festival
Princess Grace arrives to attend a tribute to Alfred Hitchcock at the 33rd Cannes Film Festival in Cannes.
1982: At the Monaco Tennis Tournament
Princess Grace with Prince Albert and Princess Stephanie at the Monaco Tennis Tournament.
1981: Princess Grace meets Diana
Lady Diana Spencer (later to become Princess Diana) with Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and Princess Grace at Goldsmiths Hall, London, attending a fund-raising concert and reception in aid of the Royal Opera House.
1982: Death on the road
On September 13, 1982, Kelly was driving with her daughter Princess Stephanie on a roadway in Monaco when she lost control of the car. The car ran off the road and down a steep mountainside, and Kelly was killed in the horrific crash. Stephanie suffered a cervical fracture. It is believed Kelly had a small stroke while at the wheel. She was 52. A solemn Princess Caroline, Prince Rainier, and Prince Albert followed the casket of Princess Grace on 18 September, as the funeral cortege headed for Monaco's cathedra