Speaker 1: In Grace Kelly was on top of the world. So
Speaker 1: the award for the Best Performance by an Actress, Grace
Speaker 1: Kelly for the Country. The twenty six year old actress,
Speaker 1: the daughter of a wealthy Philadelphia brickworks owner, had just
Speaker 1: received her first Academy Award for Best Actress. The thrill
Speaker 1: of this moment keeps me from saying when I really
Speaker 1: feel I can only say thank you with all my
Speaker 1: heart to all who made this possible for me. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Kelly was young, talented, magnetic, humble. Today, she's probably best
Speaker 1: known for the three films she made with Alfred Hitchcock,
Speaker 1: and she was the perfect embodiment of Hitchcock's cool, blonde
Speaker 1: leading lady in her Hollywood stardom looked unstoppable. Five days
Speaker 1: after winning her Oscar, Grace Kelly woke up aboard the
Speaker 1: overnight train from Paris to Nice. She had made six
Speaker 1: films in the last eighteen months and she was exhausted.
Speaker 1: But the prestigious Can Film Festival was screening The Country Girl,
Speaker 1: and you didn't say no to Can. Rupert Allen, an
Speaker 1: editor at Look magazine, was a good friend of Kelly's.
Speaker 1: He talked her into making the trip he told her, Oh,
Speaker 1: but you must, Grace, You'll be so glad you did.
Speaker 1: Grace Kelly didn't know it at the time, but that
Speaker 1: train was taking her in a vastly different direction than
Speaker 1: the one she had intended, taking her toward an entirely
Speaker 1: new life, toward a fairy tale even more intoxicating than Hollywood,
Speaker 1: toward a kingdom in the middle of paradise that held joy, sorrow, trouble,
Speaker 1: and ultimately tragedy. I'm Sean Braswell today on flashback Grace
Speaker 1: Kelly's fateful visit to the French Rivieria and the rocky
Speaker 1: road from Hollywood legend to true royalty. That April morning,
Speaker 1: in the trains dining car, Kelly and Rupert Allen had
Speaker 1: breakfast with Hollywood legend Olivia to Haveln and her husband,
Speaker 1: Pierre Galante, the French journalist. They were also headed to
Speaker 1: the festival. Kelly was playing a princess in her next movie,
Speaker 1: The Swan, and so Galante proposed that she visited the
Speaker 1: nearby principality of Monico to meet a real life prince,
Speaker 1: with a few of Galante's photographers alongside her. Of course,
Speaker 1: Kelly was ambivalent, but she did not say no, and
Speaker 1: at the next station, Galante hopped off the train to
Speaker 1: arrange for the royal photo op. The journalist made several
Speaker 1: phone calls then gave Kelly the good news that she
Speaker 1: was meeting with the ruler of Monaco, Prince Regnier the Third,
Speaker 1: the very next day. And so the following morning, Kelly
Speaker 1: found herself in a pugio being driven at high speeds
Speaker 1: around the curvy roads outside of Monica. And then it
Speaker 1: was just a fender bender and no one was injured.
Speaker 1: The actress arrived in Monaco in time for her royal engagement.
Speaker 1: Prince Regnier, on the other hand, was nowhere to be found.
Speaker 1: As she waited, Kelly was given a tour of the
Speaker 1: Palace of Monaco an hour later, and with still no
Speaker 1: prince in sight. The irritated Kelly remarked, this is outrageous
Speaker 1: and said it was time to leave. Then right on cue,
Speaker 1: a servant entered and announced the prince's arrival. Kelly quickly
Speaker 1: practiced her curtsy in a corner, but froze in a
Speaker 1: real life movie moment when she saw in a mirror
Speaker 1: that the Prince was watching her. The thirty one year
Speaker 1: old Regnier wore a blue tailored suit. He had a
Speaker 1: black mustache and a tan, well defined face. He was
Speaker 1: not at all the aging European monarch Kelly had expected.
Speaker 1: The charming prince, educated at private schools in Britain, apologized
Speaker 1: in perfect English for his tardiness. He proceeded to give
Speaker 1: his visitor a forty five minute tour of his private
Speaker 1: zoo and gardens. When they parted, the Prince kissed the
Speaker 1: actress's hand and placed it back at her side. He's charming,
Speaker 1: a smiling Kelly observed afterward, so charming. Seven months later,
Speaker 1: the Prince proposed to Kelly in New York Central Park,
Speaker 1: which is incidentally bigger than Monaco. And then, just a
Speaker 1: year after their first meeting, after all the fever of publicity,
Speaker 1: the acres of newsprint, the fashion notes, and the jewel robberies,
Speaker 1: the great day approaches at last, when Grace Kelly or Philadelphia, USA,
Speaker 1: will become the bride of Regnier Prince of Monaco. The
Speaker 1: wedding of the Century was filmed by MGM and broadcast
Speaker 1: in movie theaters across the globe. It took thirty seamstresses
Speaker 1: six weeks to make Kelly's dress. Now comes a moment
Speaker 1: for the exchanging of rings, a Bishop Haan's one to
Speaker 1: the bridegroom, who is a little nervous. Grace helps him
Speaker 1: put it on. The wedding is over and Prince Regnier's
Speaker 1: bride is no longer Grace Kenny, but her serene Highness,
Speaker 1: Princess Grace of Monaco. It was like something out of
Speaker 1: a fairy tale, and it was a dream come true
Speaker 1: for Prince Regnier. Since the thirteenth century, Monaco had been
Speaker 1: ruled by his family, but in recent years the tiny
Speaker 1: principality had come on hard times. As its primary source
Speaker 1: of revenue, the Monte Carlo casino, lost money, and a
Speaker 1: fairy tale marriage presented a solution to another of the
Speaker 1: prince's problems. It's not often a film star's marriage affects
Speaker 1: a map of Europe, but this one may, and that's
Speaker 1: why the flags are out in Monaco. For if Prince
Speaker 1: Rainier were to die without an air, the tiny state
Speaker 1: would become French territory and its twenty population would be
Speaker 1: subject to French taxes and the French call up. So
Speaker 1: while having Grace Kelly stopped by your house would have
Speaker 1: been a dream come true for most any man for
Speaker 1: a struggling monarch who needed a bride, an air, and
Speaker 1: an injection of cash. It was truly a godsend. Kelly
Speaker 1: not only looked the part, she came with a two
Speaker 1: million dollar dowry for the newly ordained Princess Grace of Monaco. However,
Speaker 1: the marriage proved challenging. Prince Regnier was a controlling husband.
Speaker 1: He did not want her to return to the silver screen,
Speaker 1: and she didn't. Hollywood bid Kelly farewell at the nineteen
Speaker 1: fifty six Academy Awards. I would like to say on
Speaker 1: behalf of myself, the motion picture industry, all the nice
Speaker 1: people who think you're so nice, wishing good luck, good health,
Speaker 1: for a very happy life, and God bless you, right Kelly.
Speaker 1: In the end, Grace Kelly abdicated her throne in Hollywood
Speaker 1: at the peak of her reign as a movie star
Speaker 1: and exchange for a somewhat disappointing fairy tale. But she
Speaker 1: continued to put a brave face on for the public,
Speaker 1: and being a princess proved to be the role of
Speaker 1: a lifetime. She had three children and focused on her
Speaker 1: royal duties. Princess Grace gave one final interview to Pierre
Speaker 1: Salinger on ABC. He asked her what turned out to
Speaker 1: be an eerily appropriate question. I know that with as
Speaker 1: much jourlier in your life to ask you this question,
Speaker 1: but at some point somebody's gonna ask you to you,
Speaker 1: how are you? How are you gonna want to be remembered?
Speaker 1: There's a long pause. You can see Kelly has taken
Speaker 1: off guard by the question. She recovers and gives the
Speaker 1: easy answer, AH, well, I suppose I think mostly in
Speaker 1: terms of my children and their children how they will
Speaker 1: remember me. But Salinger continues to press her on the point,
Speaker 1: are there any things about your career that you like
Speaker 1: to remember? Oh? As always, Kelly keeps her composure, but
Speaker 1: you can almost see the decades of regret rising just
Speaker 1: beneath the surface. I don't feel as though I achieved
Speaker 1: enough in my career to to stand out more than
Speaker 1: many other people. It's a bit hard to watch, but
Speaker 1: we are so far from nineteen in Hollywood now. I
Speaker 1: don't think I m h was accomplished enough as an
Speaker 1: actor to be remembered for that particularly. Uh No, I'd
Speaker 1: like to be remembered as a as a decent human
Speaker 1: being and a Caring one. Two months after that interview,
Speaker 1: Grace Kelly died in another car crash on a mountainous
Speaker 1: road near the Palace. She was fifty two years old.
Speaker 1: Flashback is written and hosted by me Sean Braswell, Senior
Speaker 1: writer and Executive producer at Aussie. It was edited by
Speaker 1: Maeve mcgarren and produced by Tracy Moran. Chris Hoff engineered
Speaker 1: our show. Make sure to subscribe to Flashback on the
Speaker 1: I Heart Radio app or listen wherever you get your podcasts.