In many ways, Grace Kelly was the epitome of 1950s Hollywood glamour.
However, her career was relatively short-lived.
She left Hollywood and began her royal duties alongside her new husband.
While her story may sound like a real-life fairytale, Kelly wasn’t always happy in Monaco.
Still, many accounts claim she and Rainier were a happy couple.
However, other sources claim that Rainier wasn’t always the caring husband he appeared to be.
As it turns out, the meeting was partially arranged by another actress, Olivia de Havilland.
Kelly agreed to a meeting before stepping off the train.
However, the following day the day of the meeting didn’t exactly go to plan.
Kelly slept in, then, after showering, discovered Cannes had no electricity due to a strike.
Rainier was also held up, so she was given a tour of the palace before he arrived.
The prince showed her the estate’s gardens and private zoo.
“The atmosphere changed,” Prince Albert said.
“The couple relaxed.”
On the drive back, Kelly reportedly said he was “charming.”
In the ’50s,Monacowasn’t exactly doing well.
And Monroe was allegedly convinced she could win Rainier’s heart.
However, she apparently wasn’t interested in the match.
Nevertheless, she was thrilled for Kelly when she tied the knot with Rainier.
For one thing, she was hounded and mistreated by the press.
She was also grossly underpaid.
Kelly amassed the sum from her own savings and that of her parents.
According to royal commentator Wesley Kerr, Kelly’s father was initially enraged by the request.
“My daughter Grace doesn’t have to pay anyone to marry her!'”
he reportedly said (viaExpress).
Despite marrying into royalty, Kelly actually lost money in the end.
This meant sending each other letters (viaMonaco Tribune).
It was here that the pair’s relationship really took off.
For Kelly, it was this visit that showed her what life with the Prince would be like.
“Everything was perfect,” she once said (viaIndependent).
Rainier proposed during his trip and the engagement was announced at a press conference at the Kelly family home.
According to Livingly, Kelly was already engaged to fashion designer Oleg Cassini when she met the Prince.
Apparently, Kelly’s parents' disapproval meant that Rainier was the obvious choice.
“Neither of her parents liked me,” Cassini once said.
“She kept seeing me despite her family’s opposition, even suggesting we get married right away.
She told me to find a priest who would marry us.”
Then, Kelly got sick and their plans were delayed.
“How many wonderful roles I might have played by now?
That one decision [to marry Prince Rainier] changed my entire future.”
And, as you’ve got the option to imagine,the royal weddingwas an extravagant event.
The celebrations began when Kelly traveled from New York to Monaco along with 50 family members and six bridesmaids.
Upon her arrival, there were eight days of celebrations, culminating in a two-day wedding.
For the royal couple, though, the wedding proved to be overwhelming.
In fact, after first moving away, she was homesick.
Looking back, I was also probably too impatient that she should fit in and feel at ease."
According to biographer Wendy Leigh, Kelly wasn’t just homesick though.
“Grace was humiliated and she was extremely unhappy,” Leigh told the Daily Mail.
“She was surrounded by decadence and Rainier’s disreputable friends.”
As Grace Kelly began to settle into life in Monaco, she was overtaken by a craving for privacy.
She soon realized that life as a princess meant being constantly on display.
“The one thing that she would talk about was time,” biographer Jay Jorgensen toldCloser Weekly.
She did not know it either."
Nevertheless, as Rainier revealed ina 1974 interview, he was passionate about keeping his marriage intact.
He was motivated, as he explained, by his own parents' marriage.
Sounds like this royal couple learned how to get past their arguments as a team.
No, they were eager to be very hands-on and give them as normal a life as possible.
“It is difficult for the children,” Kelly toldImagein 1979.
When they went to school here in Monaco they wanted to be like all the other children."
“I have had to be a little sterner than the average mother,” she said.
“But of course, discipline must be tempered with humour.”
She was also sure to ensure her children felt loved.
The shocking and sudden death of the princess left the family devastated.
Stephanie struggled to accept that she hadn’t been able to save her mom.
As for his father, he never really came to terms with his wife’s death.
