She was born a commoner, metamorphosed into a Hollywood star, died a princess, and now lives on as an icon.
Even 33 years after Grace Kelly’s untimely death, the serene images of the Philadelphia-born Hollywood actress are as glamorous as they are poignant.
Ms Kelly was born to a wealthy family in Philadelphia in 1929, and went on to quickly climb the ranks of Hollywood, starring in Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window and High Society, a musical.
She won the Oscar for Best Actress for her work in the 1954 film The Country Girl, beating out fellow star Judy Garland. She also another nod for her supporting role in 1953’s Mogambo.
In all, the model-turned-actress starred in 14 movies over a span of five years. But then the life of the blonde with the shy smile took a dramatic turn.
At the 1955 Cannes Film Festival, Ms Kelly met Monaco’s Prince Ranier III. After exchanging letters in a hushed romance, he asked her to marry him days after Christmas that year. But the engagement wasn’t announced to the press until January 5, 1956, because Ms Kelly’s parents had to be firmly swayed to grant their permission.
Ms Kelly’s father told the Prince of Monaco before giving his consent: ‘Royalty doesn’t mean anything to us. I hope you won’t run around the way some princes do, because if you do, you’ll lose a mighty fine girl.’
And so, Ms Kelly retired from acting at the tender age of 26, and began planning for the next stage of her fairy-tale life.
During what reporters called 'the wedding of the century,’ then 26-year-old Grace Patricia Kelly became Her Serene Highness Princess Grace of Monaco in an intricate lace dress designed by MGM costume designer Helen Rose.
The princess was always enamored with her prince. She once said of her husband: ‘He’s enormously sweet and kind…he wants a close and loving family, just as I do. He’s very bright, has a wonderful sense of humour, makes me giggle, and is very, very handsome…he’s a good person. And I love him.’
She had three children with him – Albert II, Stephanie, and Caroline.
Princess Grace died on September 14, 1982 as she was driving along a hairpin bend above the Mediterranean principality with her daughter, Princess Stephanie, though the circumstances of that day are still cause for speculation, even three decades after her death.
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
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