Prince Rainier III of Monaco and Grace Kelly.
Rainier, the Grimaldis and the Principality of Monaco
Rainier Louis Henri Maxence Bertrand Grimaldi was born on 31 May 31 1923, at the Prince's Palace in Monaco, the only child of Count Pierre de Polignac and his wife, Princess Charlotte of Monaco. Oddly enough, he became the reigning prince of the principality after the death of his grandfather, Louis II, in 1949, because his mother had renounced the title of hereditary princess five years earlier. Charlotte, incidentally, was the illegitimate daughter of Louis II, who had recognized the child born from his relationship with the model Marie-Juliette Louvet in the absence of legitimate heirs, to prevent the principality from passing to the German princes.
Since his accession to the throne, Rainier worked to restore the Principality of Monaco's splendor, which had been plagued by numerous scandals, especially financial ones, perpetrated by his mother, who had nearly squandered the state's finances. To rehabilitate the Grimaldi name, Rainier envisioned making Monaco a financial and commercial center with a major real estate development program and he succeeded, thanks in part to the help of Greek millionaire Aristotle Onassis. Personally, he attracted new investors and industrialists in the chemical, pharmaceutical, precision engineering and cosmetics industries to the principality to revive Monaco's economy. In 1993, he voted in favor of Monaco's entry into the United Nations, bringing his small kingdom to the forefront of the international scene. What made history, however, was his wedding to American actress Grace Kelly, celebrated on 18 April 1956, broadcast live and watched by approximately 30 million viewers.
Prince Rainier III of Monaco and Grace Kelly.
The meeting with Grace and the great love
On the train to the French Riviera were actress Olivia de Havilland and her husband, a journalist for Paris Match, who suggested the star pose for a photoshoot in the gardens of the Palais Princier, where she would also meet Prince Rainier at 4 p.m. Unfortunately, when Grace Kelly met the ‘master of the house’, her hair was soaked and she was wearing a flower crown: there had been a power outage in Monaco, so she had rushed out without a chance to dry her hair, tidying it with an accessory so as not to miss her appointment with the photographer. Once she arrived at the palace, she began wandering around alone before the prince found her - enchanting in her floral dress and hair tied back - and accompanied her on a tour of the gardens.
The proposal, the ring and the wedding
After their first meeting, Grace and Rainier began a long correspondence, managing to keep their liaison secret until the prince traveled to the United States to meet his ‘mail-order girlfriend’ at Christmas. It was during that trip that the prince, somewhat intemperately, proposed to her on New Year's Day. Grace accepted and the couple announced their engagement to the world on 05 January 1956, from the rooms of the Kelly Home in Philadelphia, followed by a press conference at the Philadelphia Country Club. Not from the Principality, that is, but from the ‘bride's house’, where Rainier had struggled greatly to gain acceptance. It seems that Grace's father, a laborer of Irish origin who became a billionaire entrepreneur, had no intention of providing a dowry, believing that his daughter "shouldn't have to pay anyone to marry her."
Rainier III, Prince of Monaco (1923-2005) and Princess Grace of Monaco, wearing a dress by Givenchy, attend the Bal des Petits Lits Blancs in Ireland on 06 July 1965. Photo by Philip Townsend / Daily Express / Hulton Archive / Getty Images.
Grace Kelly had virtually broken through in the world of cinema without any help, leaping to the top of the list of most beloved actors to whom producers owed their highest box office receipts. In 1952, she had starred with Gary Cooper in High Noon, but it was Alfred Hitchcock who made her a star, giving her the lead role in The perfect murder and from there in Rear window and To catch a thief. In 1954, Grace Kelly held the coveted Oscar statuette for Best Actress, but the end of her career was near. She voluntarily gave it up, for love of the man who had won her over with his courtship.
Prince Rainier III of Monaco and Grace Kelly exchange wedding rings.
The marriage proposal was sealed with not one, but two engagement rings: an Eternity Ring with a succession of diamonds and rubies from the royal family, where the colors of the precious stones match the two-tone color scheme of the Principality and a platinum ring set with a 10.47-carat Cartier emerald-cut diamond that the actress wore on the set of the film High society.
Prince Rainier III of Monaco and Grace Kelly.
Marriage, children
19 April 1956, was the wedding that, along with that of Prince Charles and Lady Diana in Great Britain in 1981, marked the beginning of the century. In Monaco, the spotlight was turned on for a special day, broadcast by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer like a romantic Hollywood film and watched by 30 million people worldwide: the day when the serious and taciturn Prince, Rainier III, walked down the aisle with an attractive and brilliant American actress, Grace Kelly. She was almost an alien compared to the women of the principality. Fascinating like no other.
Monegasques poured into the streets for the celebrations, joined by journalists and onlookers from around the world, creating such confusion that Ranieri called for the intervention of the police. While the royal houses of Europe, true snobs, turned their backs on the Grimaldis, disapproving of his marriage "to an American actress", the bride was feted by the Hollywood elite, who flocked to the event in large numbers. This included Alfred Hitchcock, the bride's best man and Ava Gardner, who had starred in the film Mogambo with her colleague Kelly.
Grace Kelly's wedding dress was designed not by a haute couture designer, but by Academy Award-winning costume designer Helen Rose, a gift to the actress from MGM Studios and now on display at the Art Museum of Philadelphia. It took six weeks of work to create an all-lace design, featuring a high neck, long sleeves and a fitted bodice. One of the most copied wedding dresses of all time, even Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen drew inspiration from it when designing the dress for Kate Middleton, now Princess of Wales, bride of Prince William of England.
A sad epilogue
Princess Caroline of Monaco.
Rainier and Grace had three children — Caroline, Albert and Stephanie — and were a happy couple for 26 years until Grace was involved in a car accident in 1982, which left her unconscious and subsequently suffering a brain aneurysm, the cause of her death. At her side was Princess Stephanie, the royal couple's third child, who escaped unharmed from the accident which, by a twist of fate, occurred on a bend overlooking the sea, also featured in Hitchcock's famous film To catch a thief, starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly herself. With Grace's passing, Rainier quickly faded. With her, he had lost not only a lifelong companion, but also a wise counselor. He was urged from many quarters to remarry, but he never wanted to and gradually began to retreat into his palace, delegating his son Albert to represent him, until he became seriously ill from smoking (he smoked about 60 cigarettes a day). Among his last wishes was the creation of the Princess Grace Foundation-USA in Grace's memory to support emerging artists.
On 07 March 2005, he was hospitalized with a tracheal infection and never recovered. On 31 March Monaco's Crown Council entrusted the regency of the principality to his son Albert. After further deterioration, Prince Rainier III died in Monaco at 6:35 a.m. on 06 April 2005, at the age of 81, having spent 56 years reigning and only 26 with the love of his life. Rainier and Grace were reunited for eternal rest after the prince's burial in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, where previous monarchs of the Monegasque throne are also buried.
The Cars Collection of H.S.H. the Prince of Monaco
Prince Rainier III of Monaco in 1975.
At the end of the 1950s, the car enthusiast Prince Rainier III began collecting old cars. His collection gradually grew over the years as he acquired more and more models and the garage at the Prince's Palace soon emerged as too small to contain this collection of around a hundred stunning streamlined and sporty cars, from majestic body work to gleaming hoods and regal radiator grills!
In 1993, Prince Rainier III therefore decided to open his precious collection to the public.
Initially located on the Terrasses de Fontvieille, the Cars Collection of H.S.H. the Prince of Monaco moved into its new modern setting in July 2022, next to the Rainier III water sports stadium. This 3500m2 exhibition, unique in the world, brings together around a hundred-odd different cars, from a 1903 De Dion Bouton to the 2013 Lotus F1 via Hispano Suiza, Rolls Royce, Lincoln, Facel Vega, Delage, Delahaye, Packard, Humber, Napier, Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini, Alfa Romeo, the Lexus used for the royal wedding in 2011 and without forgetting the racing cars seen at the Monte Carlo Rally and the Formula 1s from the Monaco Grand Prix.
The prince brings together fifty legendary Ferraris in Monaco. Albert II opens Rainier III's car collection to 50 legendary F1 cars. Former champion Jean Alesi and Monegasque talent Charles Leclerc are at the inauguration. By Enrica Roddolo on 06 December 2018.
Prince Albert of Monaco with Jean Alesi and Charles Leclerc.
There's the 1970 Ferrari 512 S, 26 of which were produced, from the 1971 film Le Mans starring Steve McQueen. And there's the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO, only 36 of which were produced, considered by many to be the Italian manufacturer's finest sports car, having won the Tour de France driven by Bianchi and Berger. In 2018, it was sold for $70 million, making it the world's most expensive car to date. And there's the 1991 F40, the last supercar built by Enzo Ferrari.
Racing Ferraris on display until mid-March in Monaco.
A total of 50 flaming vintage racing cars, built by the Maranello-based automaker, will be on display until mid-March in Monaco, with a special exhibition inside the museum housing the Car Collection of H.S.H. the Prince of Monaco, on the Terrasses de Fontvieille. A long-cherished project of Albert's, it has now come to fruition with the most extraordinary simultaneous exhibition of so many legendary and record-breaking Ferraris.
From Maranello to Monaco
Rainier’s passion
Some of the splendid cars from the Rainier III collection in Monaco.
Thus, the collection of classic cars belonging to Albert's father, Prince Rainier III, a passionate enthusiast who opened his personal collection to the public in 1993 in an exhibition space spanning over 5,000 square meters, is decked out in Ferrari red to bring together the largest collection of vintage Ferraris. Among the fifty models are the 1960 246 F1, the last front-engined car; the 1961 246 SP, the first Ferrari with a mid-rear engine; and the 1989 F1 in which Nigel Mansell won the Brazilian and Hungarian Grands Prix. That same year, he also won the Portuguese Grand Prix with Gerhard Berger. Also on display are the 2004 Enzo and the 2016 Ferrari Aperta, the most powerful road-going Ferrari ever built, with 963 horsepower and a 0-100 km/h time of 2.6 seconds.
From Monaco to Maranello
Jean Alesi and Charles Leclerc in Monaco.
Prince Albert of Monaco with Charles Leclerc.
Prince Albert of Monaco with Charles Leclerc.
To inaugurate the extraordinary display of red Ferraris, Albert II invited former Scuderia Ferrari driver Jean Alesi (200 Formula 1 Grand Prixs), who thus rediscovered Nigel Mansell's F1 car in Monaco, which he had discovered in 1990 during his first test session at the Fiorano track. Along with him was a young Monegasque talent, Charles Leclerc, 20, a new Ferrari F1 driver.
The 1903 De Dion Bouton
As for Rainier III's passion, his portfolio of motors collected throughout his life includes a 1903 De Dion Bouton, several Rolls Royces, Lincolns, Delages, Packards, Hispano Suizas, and numerous Ferraris, Maseratis, Lamborghinis and Alfa Romeos. And, since the collection is complemented by Prince Albert's ‘green’ passion, the Lexus Hybrid that carried the newlyweds Albert and Charlene through the streets of the Principality in July 2011 after they exchanged vows at St. Nicholas Cathedral is also on display.
Photo gallery
A beautiful Grace Kelly.
Price Rainier III of Monaco and Grace Kelly, 26, pose for photographers on 05 January 1956 at the Kelly home in Philadelphia after announcing their engagement yesterday. Photo by Frank Hurley / NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images.
Grace Kelly greets the crowd on 12 April 1956, just after her arrival in Monaco a few days before her wedding with Prince Rainier III. Photo by Vittoriano Rastelli / Corbis via Getty Images.
Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier's fairytale wedding on April 19, 1956.
Rainier III and Grace Kelly.
Rainier III and Grace Kelly.
Grace and Rainier of Monaco arriving at the prestigious Sporting Club in Monte Carlo for the Gala de la Croix-Rouge in 1956. Photo by Blitz. Since the end of the last century, Monaco's grand balls (the first recorded in the news was the Red Cross Gala in 1899) have brought together the most famous names of the jet set in Monte Carlo, attracting the cream of Europe's aristocracy. Princes, bankers and poets have gathered in Monte Carlo to dance, be merry and squander fortunes at the casino's gaming tables, thus enriching the small state's coffers and making it world-famous. All (or almost all) of the great American stars of the 60s and 70s landed in the gardens of Monaco, in front of the Salle Garnier where the gala originally took place. From the post-war period with Maurice Chevalier, to the 70s with Ella Fitzgerald and Joséphine Baker, the evening at the Sporting captures the spirit of the times. Although his son Albert says of his father: "my dad, Rainier, actually didn't like the social life much, he instead loved quiet moments with his family." In the summer of 1974, the gala took place for the first time under the stars of the Salle des Etoiles in the newly opened Sporting Club complex. Under the starry vault, because the ceiling opens onto the starry vault.
Rainier and Grace Kelly on 5 September 1956.
The first official photograph of baby Princess Caroline with her parents in 1957.
Grace Kelly.
Grace Kelly in a car, accompanied by Maria Callas and Prince Rainier III of Monaco, in Palermo on 13 September 1960. Photo by Publifoto Palermo.
The Prince and Princess of Monaco arrive at the White House for a luncheon on 24 May 1961.
Rainier III attends the Feria de Abril with his wife Grace Kelly in Seville in April 1966.
Prince Rainier III of the Grimaldi royal family takes a walk in the countryside in 1973. Photo by Tony Kent / Sygma via Getty Images.
An old Prince Rainier III of Monaco.
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