Cannes: when Grace Kelly falls into the ambush of Prince Rainier
Lhe star and his prince, Hollywood could not have imagined a more beautiful scenario… It was to materialize in the spring of 1955, counting on the games of love, a good dose of chance and the cunning of the journalists of Paris Match. At the time, Grace Kelly had just won the Oscar for A provincial girl when the organizers of the Cannes Film Festival offer him to come and shine on the Croisette, all expenses paid, plane tickets, Carlton suite and limousine…
When Paris Match learns the news, the management decides to mount a photo report at the palace between Prince Rainier and the new queen of Hollywood – enough to fill the pages and delight the readers. The bosses of the newspaper instruct the journalist Pierre Galante to quickly set up the case…
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Rainier III is not against. At 31, he is coming out of a six-year affair with the actress Gisèle Pascal and feels the pressure mounting on his shoulders: he must get married, start a family, have an heir, and if possible with a international personality, in order to draw light to his confetti kingdom – an idea that had been proposed to him by his former friend and then rival Aristotle Onassis, a large shareholder in the Société des Bains de Mer, which manages the casino and the luxury hotels. Posing with an American star is just another way to do a great publicity stunt for Monaco, so why not…
in love with another
For Grace Kelly, going to France is above all an opportunity to see her lover at the time, the actor Jean-Pierre Aumont, who fell in love with the actress during a visit to New York. Aumont suggests that they meet again in France, and in particular in Cannes, where he will be present… Hence Grace’s eagerness to accept the Festival’s invitation – according to her biographer Donald Spoto, Aumont will be there to welcome her discreetly at Cannes station…
As soon as he arrived on French soil, Paris Match is on the move: Pierre Galante and his wife, Hollywood actress Olivia de Havilland, befriended Grace on the night train from Paris and the journalist quite naturally suggests that she take a trip to Monaco, where she had seen the splendid palace gardens during the filming of The hand on the collar, a year before… “Why not, answers Grace, if my schedule allows me. »
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Galante returns to the charge and offers him an appointment on May 6, at 4 p.m., “with the prince”. “I don’t see why it’s so important that I see the prince,” Grace asks. But if you think it’s a good idea, I will. But the next day, Mr.he Kelly fails to cancel the appointment, she must preside over a cocktail at 5:30 p.m. at the Carlton in Cannes with the American delegation of the Festival. Galante calls the palace, the prince can be free for 3 p.m., the actress will thus have plenty of time to reach her palace and get ready…
On the appointed day, Grace Kelly visits the palace solo, posing in the throne room, the galleries, the ceremonial rooms, and begins to lose patience. She takes tea, Rainier keeps waiting, she definitely finds this prince very impolite and is about to leave when he finally arrives. “Do you want to visit the palace? “, “We just did it”, replies Grace… We fall back on a walk in the garden, Paris Match your son topicGrace returns to Cannes and spends the evening with Jean-Pierre Aumont – they then take refuge in La Napoule to escape the paparazzi.
Secret letters
A romance that will not resist geographical distance. Once back in the United States, Grace Kelly feels more alone than ever, especially as she prepares for the wedding of her sister Lizanne. “I was unhappy, she said at that time, all crowned with her Oscar. I knew glory, but glory is just an empty shell if you have no one to share this moment with…” She sends a formal message to Rainier following their cordial meeting, who thanks her for to have taken the time to visit Monaco. A secret correspondence takes place for seven months, which quickly turns to epistolary seduction: they evoke their tastes, find common points – in particular their faith, the desire to start a family –, and end up declaring their feelings.
At the end of 1955, their relationship was strong enough to see Prince Rainier arrive in New York, flanked by his chaplain and his personal doctor. Officially, he is coming for health checks. Officially, he comes to propose to Grace, with an emerald-cut diamond of 10.47 carats. The mother of the actress, enthusiastic, announces to anyone who will listen that her daughter “is going to marry the prince of Morocco!” – confusing Morocco and Monaco. The wedding in the spring of 1956 will be grand and spectacular, financed in part by MGM, making Grace Kelly a crowned star. But it will ring the glass of her career, Rainier III refusing to see her, once she has become a Monegasque princess, she will return to the paths of the plateaus. Throughout her life, she will keep her Oscar on a shelf in her bedroom, as the last relic of her life as an actress.
To read
Cannes, 75 years of magic, Paris Match special issue, on newsstands.
Grace Kelly, by Donald Spoto, Les presses de la Cité edition.