Grace, Princess of Monaco (Grace Patricia Kelly) (November 12, 1929 - September
14, 1982) was an Academy Award-winning American film actress who, upon marriage
to Rainier III, Prince of Monaco on April 19, 1956, became Her Serene Highness
The Princess of Monaco. She was the mother of the principality's current
reigning Sovereign Prince, Albert II. Princess Grace was not required to
renounce her American citizenship upon her marriage.
Early Life
 Grace Kelly was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to John Brendan Kelly, Sr,
also known as Jack Kelly, and Margaret Katherine Majer Kelly, a Catholic convert
from Lutheranism. Kelly's father's Irish American Catholic family (originally
from Kidney Lake, Newport, County Mayo, Ireland) were new but prominent figures
in Philadelphia society. Her father was a self-made millionaire and a triple
gold-medal-winning Olympic scullery, and her brother John B Kelly, Jr, sometimes
known as Jack, Jr or Kell, followed in that tradition. John, Jr, gave his sister
as a wedding present the bronze medal he won at the 1956 Summer Olympics. Kelly
Drive in Philadelphia is named for John, Jr, who was a city councilman there.
Her father's large family included two prominent uncles in the arts: Walter
Kelly, a vaudevillian, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, George Kelly.
Kelly's maternal grandparents, Carl Majer and Margaretha Berg, were of German
descent.
Career
Although her family had opposed her becoming an actress, Kelly became a fashion
model and appeared in her first film, Fourteen Hours (1951), when she was 22.
The following year she starred (with a supporting role) in High Noon (1952), a
generally praised but somewhat controversial western starring Gary Cooper.
Her next film, Mogambo (1953), was a drama set in the Kenyan jungle which
centers on the love triangle portrayed by Kelly,
Clark Gable, and
Ava Gardner.
Whilst filming this movie she had an affair with Gable, later memorably
commenting: What else is there to do if you're alone in a tent in Africa with Clark Gable? The movie earned Kelly an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting
Actress, but the award went to Donna Reed for her role in From Here to Eternity.
Kelly made three films with Alfred Hitchcock: Dial M for Murder, Rear Window,
and To Catch a Thief.
In 1955, she was awarded the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Country
Girl. While it was being filmed, she was romanced by co-star Bing Crosby, a
fellow Irish Catholic (who had recently lost his wife), but Kelly always denied
that they had an affair.
Life as Princess
The musical comedy High Society (1956) was her last film, as her marriage to
Rainier III marked her retirement from acting. Before her marriage, she was
previously allegedly involved with Clark Gable, Bing Crosby, Ray Milland,
William Holden, Oleg Cassini, and Jean-Pierre Aumont. She reportedly was
surprised to learn from Rainier that she was expected to give up her film career
entirely, but followed his wishes grudgingly.
Her Catholicism and ability to bear children were key factors in her being
chosen to marry Prince Rainier. Tales were circulated that Monaco would revert
to France in the absence of an heir; and though there is no requirement for a
Catholic marriage, it was thought unlikely that a Catholic prince would divorce
and remarry if his chosen wife were barren. In fact, there was really little
actual danger that Monaco would revert to France since, in 1882, a childless
prince of Monaco could adopt an unrelated heir, thereby ensuring Monaco's
survival as a principality. Prince Rainier's maternal grandfather, Louis II also
legitimized his illegitimate daughter Charlotte Louvet (later Princess Charlotte
of Monaco, Duchess of Valentinois), who would become Rainier's mother and made
her his heir.
Before Kelly drew Rainier's attention, French film star Gisele Pascal had been
his love interest for six years. Pascal and Rainier supposedly parted when a
physical examination reportedly found her to be infertile, but she later married
Raymond Pellegrin, to whom she bore a child.
Prince Rainier and Princess Grace had three children:
- Hereditary Princess Caroline Louise Marguerite, born January 23, 1957, and
now heiress presumptive to the throne of Monaco.
- Albert II, Prince of Monaco, born March 14, 1958.
- Princess Stephanie Marie Elisabeth, born February 1, 1965.
In 2002 a new treaty between France and Monaco clarified that even if there
are no direct heirs of the reigning prince, the principality will remain an
independent nation, rather than reverting to France. Due to Prince Albert's
enduring bachelorhood, Monegasque law now states that in the event of a reigning
prince's lack of descendants, his siblings and their children will inherit the
throne. The line of succession is now Princess Caroline, then her children by
her late second husband Stefano Casiraghi, who died in 1990, and her daughter by
her third husband, Ernst August V, Prince of Hanover.
At the age of 52, in September 1982, Princess Grace suffered a stroke while
driving. It had been rumored that she was driving on the same stretch of highway
in Monaco that had been featured in To Catch a Thief, although her son claims
that it was not. It resulted in an accident, and she died the next day without
regaining consciousness. Princess Stephanie, who was alleged by some sources to
have been the actual driver of the car, suffered only minor injuries.
Princess Grace is interred in St Nicholas Cathedral, Monte Carlo, Monaco, Prince
Rainier being buried alongside her following his death in 2005.
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