Bonus Episode 7: Grace Kelly’s Fateful Trip to Cannes

In 1955, actress Grace Kelly journeyed to the Cannes Film Festival, setting in action a chain of events that would find her trading her Hollywood throne for a real one. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
In Grace Kelly was on top of the world. So
the award for the Best Performance by an Actress, Grace
Kelly for the Country. The twenty six year old actress,
the daughter of a wealthy Philadelphia brickworks owner, had just

(00:21):
received her first Academy Award for Best Actress. The thrill
of this moment keeps me from saying when I really
feel I can only say thank you with all my
heart to all who made this possible for me. Thank you.
Kelly was young, talented, magnetic, humble. Today, she's probably best

(00:45):
known for the three films she made with Alfred Hitchcock,
and she was the perfect embodiment of Hitchcock's cool, blonde
leading lady in her Hollywood stardom looked unstoppable. Five days
after winning her Oscar, Grace Kelly woke up aboard the

(01:05):
overnight train from Paris to Nice. She had made six
films in the last eighteen months and she was exhausted.
But the prestigious Can Film Festival was screening The Country Girl,
and you didn't say no to Can. Rupert Allen, an
editor at Look magazine, was a good friend of Kelly's.

(01:26):
He talked her into making the trip he told her, Oh,
but you must, Grace, You'll be so glad you did.
Grace Kelly didn't know it at the time, but that
train was taking her in a vastly different direction than
the one she had intended, taking her toward an entirely

(01:47):
new life, toward a fairy tale even more intoxicating than Hollywood,
toward a kingdom in the middle of paradise that held joy, sorrow, trouble,
and ultimately tragedy. I'm Sean Braswell today on flashback Grace

(02:08):
Kelly's fateful visit to the French Rivieria and the rocky
road from Hollywood legend to true royalty. That April morning,
in the trains dining car, Kelly and Rupert Allen had
breakfast with Hollywood legend Olivia to Haveln and her husband,
Pierre Galante, the French journalist. They were also headed to

(02:31):
the festival. Kelly was playing a princess in her next movie,
The Swan, and so Galante proposed that she visited the
nearby principality of Monico to meet a real life prince,
with a few of Galante's photographers alongside her. Of course,
Kelly was ambivalent, but she did not say no, and

(02:51):
at the next station, Galante hopped off the train to
arrange for the royal photo op. The journalist made several
phone calls then gave Kelly the good news that she
was meeting with the ruler of Monaco, Prince Regnier the Third,
the very next day. And so the following morning, Kelly

(03:12):
found herself in a pugio being driven at high speeds
around the curvy roads outside of Monica. And then it
was just a fender bender and no one was injured.
The actress arrived in Monaco in time for her royal engagement.
Prince Regnier, on the other hand, was nowhere to be found.

(03:41):
As she waited, Kelly was given a tour of the
Palace of Monaco an hour later, and with still no
prince in sight. The irritated Kelly remarked, this is outrageous
and said it was time to leave. Then right on cue,
a servant entered and announced the prince's arrival. Kelly quickly
practiced her curtsy in a corner, but froze in a

(04:02):
real life movie moment when she saw in a mirror
that the Prince was watching her. The thirty one year
old Regnier wore a blue tailored suit. He had a
black mustache and a tan, well defined face. He was
not at all the aging European monarch Kelly had expected.
The charming prince, educated at private schools in Britain, apologized

(04:24):
in perfect English for his tardiness. He proceeded to give
his visitor a forty five minute tour of his private
zoo and gardens. When they parted, the Prince kissed the
actress's hand and placed it back at her side. He's charming,
a smiling Kelly observed afterward, so charming. Seven months later,

(04:55):
the Prince proposed to Kelly in New York Central Park,
which is incidentally bigger than Monaco. And then, just a
year after their first meeting, after all the fever of publicity,
the acres of newsprint, the fashion notes, and the jewel robberies,
the great day approaches at last, when Grace Kelly or Philadelphia, USA,

(05:15):
will become the bride of Regnier Prince of Monaco. The
wedding of the Century was filmed by MGM and broadcast
in movie theaters across the globe. It took thirty seamstresses
six weeks to make Kelly's dress. Now comes a moment
for the exchanging of rings, a Bishop Haan's one to
the bridegroom, who is a little nervous. Grace helps him

(05:37):
put it on. The wedding is over and Prince Regnier's
bride is no longer Grace Kenny, but her serene Highness,
Princess Grace of Monaco. It was like something out of
a fairy tale, and it was a dream come true
for Prince Regnier. Since the thirteenth century, Monaco had been

(05:59):
ruled by his family, but in recent years the tiny
principality had come on hard times. As its primary source
of revenue, the Monte Carlo casino, lost money, and a
fairy tale marriage presented a solution to another of the
prince's problems. It's not often a film star's marriage affects
a map of Europe, but this one may, and that's

(06:21):
why the flags are out in Monaco. For if Prince
Rainier were to die without an air, the tiny state
would become French territory and its twenty population would be
subject to French taxes and the French call up. So
while having Grace Kelly stopped by your house would have
been a dream come true for most any man for
a struggling monarch who needed a bride, an air, and

(06:41):
an injection of cash. It was truly a godsend. Kelly
not only looked the part, she came with a two
million dollar dowry for the newly ordained Princess Grace of Monaco. However,
the marriage proved challenging. Prince Regnier was a controlling husband.
He did not want her to return to the silver screen,

(07:02):
and she didn't. Hollywood bid Kelly farewell at the nineteen
fifty six Academy Awards. I would like to say on
behalf of myself, the motion picture industry, all the nice
people who think you're so nice, wishing good luck, good health,
for a very happy life, and God bless you, right Kelly.

(07:28):
In the end, Grace Kelly abdicated her throne in Hollywood
at the peak of her reign as a movie star
and exchange for a somewhat disappointing fairy tale. But she
continued to put a brave face on for the public,
and being a princess proved to be the role of
a lifetime. She had three children and focused on her
royal duties. Princess Grace gave one final interview to Pierre

(07:51):
Salinger on ABC. He asked her what turned out to
be an eerily appropriate question. I know that with as
much jourlier in your life to ask you this question,
but at some point somebody's gonna ask you to you,
how are you? How are you gonna want to be remembered?
There's a long pause. You can see Kelly has taken

(08:13):
off guard by the question. She recovers and gives the
easy answer, AH, well, I suppose I think mostly in
terms of my children and their children how they will
remember me. But Salinger continues to press her on the point,
are there any things about your career that you like
to remember? Oh? As always, Kelly keeps her composure, but

(08:38):
you can almost see the decades of regret rising just
beneath the surface. I don't feel as though I achieved
enough in my career to to stand out more than
many other people. It's a bit hard to watch, but
we are so far from nineteen in Hollywood now. I

(08:58):
don't think I m h was accomplished enough as an
actor to be remembered for that particularly. Uh No, I'd
like to be remembered as a as a decent human
being and a Caring one. Two months after that interview,
Grace Kelly died in another car crash on a mountainous

(09:19):
road near the Palace. She was fifty two years old.
Flashback is written and hosted by me Sean Braswell, Senior
writer and Executive producer at Aussie. It was edited by
Maeve mcgarren and produced by Tracy Moran. Chris Hoff engineered

(09:40):
our show. Make sure to subscribe to Flashback on the
I Heart Radio app or listen wherever you get your podcasts.