This is vintage gossip, but I guess it’s fun. If you even have a passing interest in Grace Kelly and her marriage to Monaco’s Prince Rainier, you’ll probably know most of this National Enquirer story. The Enquirer has excerpts from Robert Evans’ new book, and Evans is trying to make new claims about the “fairy tale” wedding between Grace and Rainier. While everyone knows that Rainier and Grace were basically set up together as a way to get publicity, I guess the “new information” is that Aristotle Onassis is the one who orchestrated the whole concept of “marrying off a prince to a Hollywood movie star so everyone gets rich”:
GRACE KELLY’s fairy-tale 1956 wedding to Prince Rainier was simply a glitzy business deal masterminded by Aristotle Onassis to transform impoverished Monaco into a gambling cash cow, reveals movie producer Robert Evans.
In his blockbuster new book ‘The Fat Lady Sang’, Evans explains how the Greek shipping magnate, who’d later wed Jacqueline Kennedy, was partners with the bankrupt consortium operating the Casino de Monte Carlo. To protect his investment, he hatched a scheme to transform the gambling den “into a *@#$%^& money machine.”
Onassis told Rainier to marry a glamorous actress and turn the tiny principality into a playground for Hollywood’s rich and famous – and wealthy people who wanted to mingle with them.
Evans writes Onassis told Rainer, “Get off your royal ass and find yourself a bride. The right bride could do for Monaco’s tourism what the coronation of Queen Elizabeth did for Great Britain.”
But pickings were slim as the sexiest star of all, Marilyn Monroe, simply wouldn’t pass muster.
Grace Kelly, the drop-dead gorgeous Oscar winner for 1954’s “The Country Girl”, fit the bill but she, too, was far from virginal.
Writes Evans, “Our Serene Highness was well known in Hollywood for playing summer camp with most every leading man she flicked with” – a list that includes Ray Milland, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Clark Gable and Gary Cooper.
“There wasn’t a microscope on Earth powerful enough to find a virginal spot on her soon-to be- royal anatomy,” notes Evans, 83, who had a lengthy affair with Kelly in 1950.
When Grace attended the 1955 Cannes Film Festival, a photo shoot was arranged for her and Rainier. She was willing to be Princess, but had to give the performance of her life to convince the Prince she was worthy.
“Confessing she was no virgin, she was Catholic, fertile, rich – and ‘a big ******’ movie star! Four out of five was good enough to close the royal deal,” writes Evans, the producer of “Chinatown” and “Marathon Man”.
Onassis oversaw every little detail of the wedding, then watched from the deck of his yacht as the couple married April 12, 1956.
He’d turned the monarchy, which is less than half the size of New York’s Central Park, into a gambling Magic Kingdom that is still pumping out money to this day.
Who was it that called Monaco a “sunny place for shady people”? Somerset Maugham, I think. Well, Onassis’ gamble (heh) paid off. Putting Rainier with Grace did save the tiny principality and Grace’s presence also lended some much needed glamour. Now Monaco is the destination gambling vacation spot and tax-free haven of the super-rich. Incidentally, I only recently learned that although Monaco’s residents don’t have to pay income tax, they do have to pay a hefty sales tax. Still… that’s a pretty good deal.
Anyway, I guess the most shocking part is that Rainier was actually considering Marilyn Monroe before he settled on Grace? That makes more sense – although Marilyn was a “bombshell” who would have added substantial glamour, Marilyn could never have been a princess. Rainier needed Grace more than she needed him, I think.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
I don’t know why but I believe this gossip.
I think I do, too. It makes sense.
She was so beautiful.
Me too, it makes sense.
She was beautiful, but she looks so cold. What kind of a person was she?
And her kids and grandchildren seem like spoiled brats,
Ditto. By and large, Robert Evans always has great gossip. He’s been around FOREVER and knows everyone so he knows where the bodies are buried in Hollywood.
Business. As usual.
These photos depress me. I could barely stop smiling when I got married, but they look so serious.
I see what you’re saying (and fwiw, I do kind of believe parts of this gossip – there was a huge part of this marriage that was completely arranged) but back in the fifties people in general tended to be more serious for posed photos.
And even now, when royals are married in a cathedral, they are generally more serious.
I read a book years ago about their courtship and marriage. There were tons of pictures taken of the two of them on their ocean travel to the wedding. They got to know each other during that time, and there were some candic affectionate pictures there.
How strange it must be to marry someone for such clinical, unromantic reasons. I know people do it all the time, and I know people who married for love but ended up in an emotional wasteland, but it must feel so strange at your wedding. Many women have always imagined how they would feel on that day about the man waiting for them at the end of the aisle, and surely there’s a part of you that feels empty. I guess the part that’s saying, “I’m rich!” is louder. It wouldn’t be worth it to me.
Marriage historically has been a business arrangement.
But I see what you’re saying. These days people expect love – I know I did.
Absolutely. I know there was a time when women had no choice, especially women who came from some wealth or certain background. They weren’t allowed to work, so your choice of husband defined your life financially, and also had an impact on your family’s wealth and prestige, so it was more of a business decision. It just must feel so strange.
Remember Jane in Pride and Prejudice saying, “I would so like to marry for love, if I could.”
What Suze said, irrespective of choice in the matter. Marriage was always about property and heirs.
It’s only recently that the concept of romantic love as a basis for marriage has been championed, helped along by Hollywood of course.
BTW: the wedding was organised and put on by MGM studios so any traditions/parades, dresses and what have you that are so admired and influential from this wedding were the brainchild of Hollywood.
Best reality show evah.
But it was all so beautiful. I believe this.
I always found him unattractive and it’s a shame Stephanie takes after him. I wouldn’t hit that for $1M to be honest.
Lak, I agree with you mostly. The only thing I would add is this – one of the advantages the poor had, was the ability to marry for love. There was no money or property to haggle over.
it was a catholic ceremony in the 50s. Of course they were serious. Don´t compare it with todays weddings
She smiled in their first ceremony, the private one. She was supposed to have been against the second public ceremony.
She does look moribund at her own wedding but it was her choice. She bought into the whole “Fairytale Princess” act, her final starring role. Unfortunately, the script for a fairytale princess ends at “happily ever after.” There’s no room for personal ambition.
Well she didn’t look like Charlene so that’s a blessing. Charlene was practically wallowing in mistery.
There is much more to this story. She was miserable and began to drink heavily. She missed Hollywood and making movies. He was inattentive (read: gay) and aloof.
Ok, I have commentitis today, and I’ll stop after this, but I always got a very asexual vibe from him, and she was (I have read) very warm and sexual. Of course you never know what goes on between two people, but it must have been lonely.
This is actually old news.I read it about twenty some years ago.I heard the same thing that she was very unhappy and became a huge drinker.So sad.
I heard about the drinking too. She put on weight and one magazine said she had burst capillaries on her face which was a sign of a heavy drinker. It was all so sad. However I do think he loved her in his own way (I know, I know) because he was so sad when she died suddenly.
But she is around 53 here in her last interview, and looks fantastic. No drunken bloating, no balooning.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1K_Q8OytB3k
He was adamant that she have nothing to do with movie-making after they married. He also had numerous mistresses throughout their marriage while treating her with barely disguised disdain. It’s a wonder they managed to have kids.
She also reportedly had many affairs after her marriage to the Prince.
They also lived apart for a time. She accompanied Caroline to England when she went to school.
When it comes to such an iconic beauty, do you REALLY think that anyone had to twist his arm? Is the success of Monaco due entirely to Grace Kelly? Hmmmm
but what was in it for HER? just being a princess? Is that all? She was already rich and famous. Did she really need him?
From what I’ve read Grace was pressured by her family. They were interested in social climbing. They were either middle class or upper middleclass. They had wanted to Grace to marry up in general and a prince just happened to be the perfect.
The same reason why rich American families married their daughters off to impoverished British aristocrats. The woman got a title and the man got her money. Win-win all around.
Her father had to pay a big dowry.
Generally, yes, it’s widely held that Grace Kelly “saved” Monaco by injecting some much-needed glamour into it. Lesser known is that she was an excellent political wife and helped Rainier diplomatically, even as their marriage privately disintegrated. It’s a shame that Nicole Kidman movie looks so bad because that’s a great story, how Princess Grace won over Charles de Gaulle and prevented Monaco from being absorbed into France because of some random law.
She also elevated the arts communties.
If it’s true then it seems history is repeating itself with Albert and Charlene O.O
I to @ Gwen thought the same
I thought the same thing.
Yes but what does Prince Albert get out of marrying Charlene? I just don’t get why she married him since she clearly is repulsed by him. Did she want to be a princess so badly?
she tried to run.. they stopped her.
No woman of royal stature would touch him with a ten foot pole, he’s such a notorious philanderer and sleazebag, probably the laughing stock of other royal families. I think Charlene was just as taken with him as she was with marrying into a royal family, but got the shock of her life when he had a kid with another woman just before the marriage. As Diana’s sister said to her when she found out Charles was still seeing Camilla just before they got married: “Your face is on the tea towels, so you’re too late to chicken out now.”
Charlene waited around for Albert just like Kate did for William. Charlene never had a job while staying in Monaco, either. She never learned to speak French despite living in Monaco for close to 10 years. She was the royal GF and that came with perks.
She is also blonde, she was more beautiful before the many plastic surgeries, she is tall, statuesque, etc. She is the perfect eye candy and some people even call her Grace 2.0. Her style since her engagement has also changed: more formal, more sleeker silhouettes, very “cold” outfits. It’s like Charlene has been carefully molded after Albert’s mother. She used to be really animated, sometimes even a bit crass. Now she is always serious, always aloof, always “picture perfect” in appearance.
Why wouldn’t Albert hold onto her? She has known him for years. I think his philandering is already well-known to her and she accepts all of it. She knows about his illegitimate kids and stayed with him anyway.
She’d have had nothing to fall back on had she truly left him. Her own father, mother, and brother looked happier than she did at her own wedding. They have a villa in Nice paid for by Albert. They’re cashing in. No way would they have allowed/supported Charlene’s runaway story.
Sachi – Charlene’s family’s lack of support is why i pity her.
LAK – I agree. I don’t think Charlene would have made it if she truly wanted to run away. She has no support system. Her mother was practically preening while her daughter looked miserable. Charlene’s brother looked smug and her Dad looked so relaxed you’d think nothing was wrong.
Then there was Albert’s dirty look at his new bride while she wept as a hymn was being sung.
Charlene actually looks happier lately. Perhaps some good news, esp. for those waiting for an heir? Or she’s finally been allowed to not get pregnant and let Andrea have the throne after Albert?
They are all kind of slimy. Caroline, Stephanie, the creepy brother married to that blonde woman who always looks miserable. The children (and grandchildren). Yuck.
The apples did not fall so far from the tree, clearly.
She was so stunning – very few women today come close. I love “Rear Window -” she is gorgeous and her clothing is amazing. I read that her father had to give Rainier a dowry actually. And seriously, I would’ve slept with Gary Cooper in a minute. He was just as stunning.
love, love, love that movie
Ian McKellan had a one man show in NYC many years ago which she attended. I stood outside to see her exit. She had such a radiant aura around her, it was almost physical. She was stunning.
Yes she may have slept around but she was breathtakingly beautiful! Even as she segued to middle age, she was a natural beauty (she did not have plastic surgery. You can see the wrinkles on her face). I was so disappointed when Nicole “Plastic Barbie” Kidman was cast as Grace. Naomi Watts would have been a better Grace.
She’s wonderful in many movies. I also love:
The Swan (she plays a reluctant princess; Alec Guiness is her awkwardly stiff intended)
Dial M for Murder
Mogambo
To Catch a Thief
This is indeed oft-repeated gossip. Shady.
This was also revealed in a biography of Onassis some years ago. It boggles the mind that Rainer thought Kelly a virgin.
Even at the time, the more cynical among the populace thought that this marriage was essentially a business deal. Or so my mother says. So I believe this, or at least parts of it.
It might have been part business deal, part real attraction. It doesn’t seem plausible that a prince — or a famous movie star — would marry solely for business. I’d guess they had some sort of romance going on in addition to the business deal. Both of them were highly desirable as spouses, so would have no reason to marry someone they didn’t like.
you are looking at this with regular people logic.
People with considerable assets often marry for business reasons. Regular people are more wedded to the idea of romance and love in marriage than these people.
Monaco residents may not have to pay income tax, but they can’t gamble with the resulting windfall. Foreigners can bet and lose their shirts at Monte Carlo, but no residents are allowed to gamble. I’ve always wondered why the children of Her Serene Highness seemed so different from their mother. I guess there was not much difference after all.
Well, Robert Evans is obviously all class. I just visited an exhibition in Montreal of Grace Kelly’s fashions, and it included letters from him to her as she and her wedding entourage travelled to Monaco. I must say, the man could write a love letter! And I got a sense that they built a good life together, founded on committment to their country and each other. A lot of marriages start out and finish on less.
I should have said “letters from RAinier to Grace” in comment above.
I saw the exhibit when it was in Toronto! Did you see that letter from her aunt asking her to stop seeing “that married actor” – totally made the whole thing for me.
Based on the date, my friend and I figured the letter was about Clark Gable since they would have been shooting Mogambo together not too long before that.
Clark Gable was totally in love with her.He loved his blonds.I wish I had seen that exhibit.
I love Princess Grace gossip (so GLAMOROUS!) and I do believe they fell in love, in the beginning, no matter how mercenary their meeting was. He was scouting for a famous wife, she wanted to be a princess, and they made it work. But I also believe that they eventually grew apart and rumor has it by the end of her life they were largely living apart.
They did live apart for awhile. She lived in England when Caroline was going to school. However by the time of their death, they reconciled because she moved back to Monaco and, according to what I read, they sort of reached a solid relationship (for them anyway),
I still remember his face when they came out of the church at her funeral. He looked so sad. That is not a face of someone who does not love his wife. There is some affection between them. It may have started out as a business agreement but I do think there’s love there too.
I adore Robert Evans. without irony or snark. He is such a walking cliche, but he produced some amazing films and is always good for some amazing stories.
I said the same thing up above! Patton Oswalt has a standup bit about him which got me to listen to the audiotape of his first book and I have loved him every since. He always has the best gossip!
Grace had an amazing career and her own life. She needed neither the money nor the title of princess. She could have said “no” had she wished. Totally don’t believe this story.
Agree. I think this gossip is nonsense.
No doubt it was simply a balance of romance, fantasy (on both sides) and practical considerations, like any marriage.
I’m just shocked that their children all turned out to be such hot messes in their various ways.
Of course he needed her more than she needed him, but he was still the one that set the standards and she was still the one who had to pass his test. Why? She was thirsty for the HSH… I can’t really feel sorry if she felt the lack of love afterwards, since she was obviously attracted by the title herself… I feel the same way about Diana, and I’ll feel the same way if William and Kate fail.
If I were her, the cost of a HSH title would be too much for me to handle. Give up your career and live in a loveless marriage….JUST to be called a princess? Not worth it, no?
That what Charlene has done – gave up career to be a princess.
So much of this reads as slut shaming. Who cares if Grace enjoyed her men? She kept her private life and public persona separate during her lifetime. It has only been afterward that people have wanted to tear into her.
I’m so tired of hearing about slut slaming constantly bring brought up whether it is relevant or not. Shut up, not everyone likes sluts, male or female Accept it. Not everyone has to approve of and like your life style. You spread disease and cause problems.
First of all I do not spread disease or cause problems. You know nothing about me or my “life style”.
Second, what exactly is a slut? Because this term gets thrown about and no one ever seems to know. Is it sleeping with 1 person? 5? 10? More than that? Is it people who simply are not discreet? Do you even know? Of course you don’t.
I suspect you don’t like people calling out “slut shaming”, because you like to shame people all the time. When you don’t have a reason to be against someone, you call them a slut to feel better. You just did it to me and you know nothing about me.
Apt screen name.
@Brat, limit your comments to intelligently thought out responses, not angry, baseless and childish insults.
@ Brat I love having sex, and I TOTALLY accidentally sneezed in public the other night, inevitably spreading disease. Damn me and my slutty, disease-spreading ways.
@Bucky – hahahahahaaaa!! Good one.
Someone skipped school today.
PS I reported that comment.
thanks bluhare
@Brat: What a despicable comment. Where do you get off attacking someone like that with absolutely nothing to back it up?
@Bluhare: I reported it too.
Care to shame me? Does it make you feel better about yourself?
++++++1
I would luv for someone to finally define slut. How many do you have to sleep with before you are considered one???? Is there a set number or does it varies?
Hmmm….there was a Seinfeld episode where they discussed that very thing. Maybe it was the Spongeworthy episode? I think the number they came up with was 7.
*Does quick tally of partners in her head*
Ruh roh….
You define “slut” in real-life terms the same way you do Sasquatch or the Loch Ness Monster. It’s an antiquated human construct.
There is no #. It is based on the perception of the name-caller. A virgin can sleep with someone’s man and, voila, a slut is born.
@Jaded: Maybe we could start a club. “Sluts United” or something like that.
Yes, the sales tax there is astronomical. I drove across the border from Nice for a day. Incredible.
None of the native Monagasque shop in Monaco, it’s only a five minute drive to the next town in France, the huge sales tax is to gouge the tourists not the locals.
It also helped that Grace came from old money and press wise was the anti Monroe. He interest in men was the biggest open secret in HW, but look at that woman. Who wanted to believe it.
A flawless beauty, she was absolutely stunning.
Gosh, she had the prettiest wedding dress EVER.
That dress was designed by MGM costumer Helen Rose. I think she also designed Elizabeth Taylor’s dress for her first marriage. It was super dreamy. I remember seeing old photos of Grace in church and the lights were streaming down from the windows during the ceremony. It hit her and it was so dreamy.
The most beautiful bride that ever was imo. She set the bar
I have always been fascinated by her story. I love vintage gossip! She was so delicately beautiful, and her life pre-princess sounds amazing to me! Love affairs with gorgeous men… The world at her fingertips…. Its so sad that she died young, but she did lead such an interesting life. Her marriage sounded pretty bad, but Im sure she knew what she was getting into and surely wasnt marrying for love.
I read somewhere that when she married him she believed she could continue her career in film. Only afterwards did she realize that she could not because her husband wouldn’t allow it. Seems that this is a serious issue that should have been discussed before the wedding.
I don’t think that that’s true. The reason that MGM was there to film it was because it was the only way she could get out of her contract. So in lieu of the movies that she had committed to she allowed them to throw the wedding and make it a huge event.
Who knows…he was a prince, she was a beautiful, young movie star…they married. They were both adults, not children…there both gone now. She did her best as wife, mother, country woman…he appeared to love her. Rest in Peace is what i say.
She was gorgeous and I adore that style of wedding dress.
So Grace Kelly was a “yacht girl”? Interesting.
Oh please, explain “yacht girl”, “yacht system”, “yacht yacht yacht yacht yacht” to me.
I saw this mentioned a bit ago somewhere and googled it and came up with NADA!!!! I definitely got the feeling it was some sort of woman funneling system in hollywood but could not get a firm grip.
I will be forever in your debt if you can splain it to me. (P.S.: I own some aleve tablets and 2 cold beers at the moment, hope that helps. lol)
Yacht girls are the escorts in Cannes. They come for the season to be paid partiers and companions to those with the mega money and the yachts on the Riviera. And I’m shocked nothing came up on google as the hollywood reporter actually just did a story abput yacht girls just before the Cannes film fest this year.
And I wouldn’t call Kelley a yacht girl as she had her own money (a lot of it) and it was an arranged marriage.
I heartily recommend this oldie but goodie:
http://www.amazon.com/Bridesmaids-Princess-Monaco-Intimate-Friends/dp/1555840671
Marilyn would never have considered an arranged marriage. Her first marriage, when she was still a teenager, was arranged to some degree by the people she lived with. Subsequent marriages to DiMaggio and Miller were both for love, and when the love was broken, she fled. She would have run for the hills from Rainier. By contrast, Grace came from a posh background and probably had a more “sensible” idea of what marriage should be – ie a business contract.
P.S. my mind is blown by the fact Monaco is half the size of Central Park. Holy cow!!
Marilyn was not a breeder.
I think it was one of the worst choices she made – to marry Rainier. Yes, it’s terrible to say that, considering she has children. But all her three children gave her so many goddamn headaches: each one involved in some type of scandal or another. And what happened in the end? She died in that car crash.
She could have been one of the biggest stars of Hollywood. She didn’t need to marry Rainier as she came from a wealthy family herself and she was one of the few who dazzled the screen in the same way Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe did.
I think she did it to please her father who always considered her the useless embarrassment of the family. She was sickly as a young girl, grew up neither “sporty” nor academically brilliant like her siblings, her passion and talent was acting, something he looked down on.
When she married Rainier I’m sure she rationalized “there you go dad, I’ve done something you would approve of.” This also might explain her penchant for affairs with older leading men from Gary Cooper to Clark Gable, always trying to replace daddy’s lack of love and approval.
On a purely superficial level–how in the world did her kids turn out so average looking! She was hot, Prince Rainier was hot—wtf happened to Albert?! Because he is not attractive. Not at all. And it doesn’t seem like he has any redeeming qualities in him at all.
You answered your question. The kids are average because the parents were not…..the great equalizer.
You should google Caroline when she was younger.
1. Age has not been kind to the kids. They were gorgeous as young people. Charlotte Casiraghi looks like the spit of her mother at a similar age. All 3 have aged badly and really fast.
Young Caroline
http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/30300000/young-caroline-princess-caroline-and-stephanie-30385977-580-799.jpg
Young Stephanie
http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/30300000/young-stephanie-princess-caroline-and-stephanie-30385973-301-500.jpg
2. Stephanie has had more sun, booze and drugs and goodness knows what else to fell an elephant. Her image should be circulated as a warning to what can happen if you tan to much and party too much.
3. Albert mostly looks like Grace, but with an oval shaped face instead of her square face. Unfortunately what works on a female doesn’t translate so well on a male eg James Haven vs Angelina Jolie. Look at this picture of him as a boy. He looks the same, only fat.
http://royalweddings.hellomagazine.com/imagenes/prince-albert-monaco-charlene-wittstock/20110621714/Prince-Albert-Monaco-Royal-Wedding-childhood-photos/0-2-752/alberto5—a.jpg
Thanks, LAK. I almost fell over when I read that comment because when I was young, Caroline was considered, by far, the most beautiful princess in Europe.
Age is not good to the Grimaldis.
Suze: Absolutely. I am shocked at how Caroline’s aged. Stephanie always had a masculine edge to her beauty and i loved how strong she looked, but now appears so frail and withered.
Albert was the only one to inherit the “Kelly genes.” The girls mainly look like their dad. I do think Stephanie looks worse because of the smoking, booze and sun. Her broad shoulders always bugged me too.
Bob Evans has always been a terrible cynic. Life is never quite as devoid of real romance or love as many of these old men like him think (and many young ones)! Don’t bring us down to your level, Bob. Love is believing.
Bob Evans, didn’t he have an affair with a much older actress when he was a young actor in Hollywood? I read his bio – it’s a fun read – but I do remember he rolled around with a much older lady.
The children and their lifestyles being so bizarre– that was all after Princess Grace died. It is said that it was Princess Stephanie at the wheel of the car when Princess Grace was killed. That pretty much messed up Stephanie. Did you know Princess Stephanie at one time was dating Rob Lowe? It’s true.
Yup I knew that. I remember the press about them. I just thought it was weird. He’s so beautiful and she was so masculine.
Well actually….this isn’t new news. It is recycled and largely true. The quite well researched book “Once Upon a Time” about Grace Kelly laid this out. Ranier needed to get married ….he needed a plan to save Monaco, and she fit the bill quite nicely. Grace had quite the reputation in Hollywood, had a bad daddy complex, and marrying a prince would get her family off her back. They had never approved of any of her boyfriends — which tended to married anyway — and so it was….
But their story didn’t end there either. It may have started more mercenary than love….and she certainly went through rough times feeling out of place in Monaco and missing a career…..and their marriage went thru ups and downs too as all long term relationships do…
but they ultimately did love each other, they did support each other (her more than him, he forbade her career to continue), but he did come to adore her and never recovered emotionally from her early loss.
That’s more or less what I thought the story was too. I at least thought that everyone was aware that the marriage was arranged.
I can see where Kate got the inspiration for her dress.
Kate’s dress looks like a budget knock-off of Grace’s dress.
Supposedly, Rainier was in love with his live-in girlfriend of 6 years, but she was tainted goods and therefore not good enough to be his wife. And Grace “passed” her virginity test by explaining that she lost her hymen through a lot of horse-back riding. I think people can overlook a lot of faults in another person when they want to. I think the marriage “worked” as far as a marriage of convenience goes, but I don’t think there was any real love between them, and the marriage was hurt by her drinking and his adultery.
I know he’s overweight, but (other than the weight thing), Albert still looks the most like Grace to me, out of all the kids. I think Caroline got her looks from her paternal grandmother.
According to the book I referenced, it was never a question of virginity but one of fertility. They didn’t give her a vaginal exam checking for a hymen. Ranier had to go off in search of a bride because his then girlfriend was thought to be infertile and was not “worthy” in the eyes of his family from a bloodline perspective. And apparently the girlfriend was iffy o the prospect of marriage anyway.
That dress and veil are still everything. Most gorgeous wedding dress ever.
She was not from “old” money. Her father was a self-made millionaire, Jack Kelly. Made in his millions in brick laying. He was also a 3 time Olympic Gold Medalist for rowing.
We Philadelphians know our Grace 🙂
Many people don’t realize that Grace’s father did pay a dowry for Rainier to marry Grace. This was a common tradition in European noble families at that time, and Grace’s father coughed up something like half a million for Rainier to marry Grace.
Her wedding gown was gorgeous. It would be so nice to see these types of wedding gowns make a comeback. Prince William’s bride wore something similar to Princess Grace’s gown,. The strapless wedding gowns are getting so old, and they are really traditional ball gowns styles – not for weddings.
I hate strapless wedding dresses. You usually see them on all the wrong brides, bulging over the top with back fat.
So disgusting. The sniping about Kelly’s virginity (meanwhile no concern whatsoever about Rainer’s “purity”), the royal family treating prospective partners as commodities. Poor Grace.
Grace Kelly and virginity don’t mix.
I adore her wedding dress, so lovely compared to these days when women show all their cleavage! Why did she marry him? She could’ve continued working in Hollywood like Marilyn etc
Boo on Bob Evans for being such a slut-shaming jerk. Seriously, not like he himself was some model of fidelity and sainthood. Despite his nasty cruelty, there is some truth to what he is saying and that has been reported from other legitimate sources (that the marriage was a business deal). I always felt a little sad for Grace…I wonder if she realized what she was getting into….
Robert Evans has never hidden his own slutting around or other bad behaviours he has indulged in.
This story is spotlight because it’s about Grace Kelly.
Dear Celebitchy,
Won’t you please go back to Old Hollywood Mondays. Or something like that, that you used to do. Simply love old Hollywood gossip. Can you bring some back?
Thanks, and happy Thanksgiving.
Me too! I love reading about the classic people of Hollywood and the wealthy families of the world. That is why I like to read Vanity Fair. Somehow reading about their disfunction and their numerous affairs, etc. sounds so romantic, like they just couldn’t help themselves. I think if Angelina Jolie like this too. She seems moved by the spirit.
What was in it for Grace? Why would she agree to it? She had a smashing career and plenty of money? What in the world did she need?