On the eve of the 40th anniversary of the death of the princess, the historian Jean de Cars is releasing a reprint of her book. The unforgettable grace of Monaco, was released this Wednesday, August 24th. Technical service.
“There are beings that never come out,” he used to say. Grace of Monaco is one of them. On the eve of the 40th anniversary of his death – on September 14, they will be commemorated by royal biographer Jean de Cars (The Grimaldi Saga) releases a new edition of his work The unforgettable grace of Monaco (1), published this Wednesday, August 24. A nostalgic book in which he recounts his many encounters with the princess. Alternative Hollywood actress under her maiden name Grace Kelly, Alfred Hitchcock’s muse, the great love of the Monegasque people as her prince and mother; life to Power and forever marked its history.
Eternal lesson
Miss Figaro. – You have met Prince Rainier and Grace of Monaco several times. How would you describe this couple?
Jean des Cars. – Princess Grace and her husband were a duo that I would call “Effective Marriage Charm”. I really liked Prince Rainier, who gave me access to his family archives to tell the little-known story of the Grimaldis. He was intelligent, cultured. Princess Grace was adorable. As soon as we met him, he asked about our children. He was funny, funny and stylish. I admired her consummate skill both as a princess and as an actress. He was attentive to people, had a good education. He was also capable of perseverance. I remember a gala in Moulin Rouge where 50 photographers gathered. When he asked them to install their devices, they complied without discussion. He was highly respected, and not at all showmanship.
Grace of Monaco has never denied Hollywood
Jean des Cars
In your book you tell about a dinner you were invited to where the princess met Francois Truffaut…
This dinner, of which my wife and I are the two survivors, took place in Paris in 1977 at the request of François Truffaut. He absolutely wanted to meet the princess because, like him, she was fascinated by Hitchcock. Grace of Monaco arrived at 20:30 in a gorgeous dress. He said to him: “Mr. Truffaut, I haven’t seen your new film yet, The man who loved women (1977)” He offered to organize a private exhibition, which he refused. “You know, I’ve stayed very close to Hollywood, I like to see movies in theaters,” he said. It was true. he was always in touch with his American friends, such as Cary Grant or Frank Sinatra, whom he brought to the Monaco festival. He never denied Hollywood. During this meal, he also asked François Truffaut why he shot his film in Montpellier. He answered: “It’s the city in France where the women are the most beautiful.” And the princess answered with a charming laugh. “I understand better why Prince Rainier studied there.”
In video: From Grace Kelly to Charlotte Casiraghi, the saga of the Princesses of Monaco
“Unheard of” encounter
Two periods followed one another in her life: the eras of Grace Kelly and the grace of Monaco. What image do we have of the first part of his existence?
We maintain a charming actress, the heroine of such films The offense was nearly perfect (1954) or: Courtyard window (1954). Hitchcock adored her, she was his favorite actress. And vice versa. In fact, the only day I saw him late for one of our appointments was when the principal died. He was in tears and said: “Sorry, Hitch is dead.” It was a great pain for him because he had shaped him. The irony is that before she became a princess, she had also filmed with another director (Charles Vidor, editor’s note), in the film entitled The swan (1956), which told the story of a young aristocrat…marrying a royal majesty. The mixture of reality and fiction has always been a surprising element of his life.
It was Grace Kelly Madamvery stylish
Jean des Cars
What attracted Prince Rainier to Grace Kelly?
Their meeting is an incredible story born from a journalist’s suggestion Paris gamePierre Gallant, husband of Olivia de Havilland (Gone with the wind). He said in the mid-1950s. “Why don’t we take a picture of Rainier and Grace Kelly?” The newspaper organized a meeting. It was a blessing Madam very stylish, even if he didn’t know Monaco well. The prince was attracted by the fact that he was both a star and a high-ranking person.
Video: Grace of Monaco, trailer
New role
What was the end of Grace Kelly’s career like?
Hollywood was both proud and disappointed to see him go. It was hoped that he would make an exception to appear in the film again. That’s right, his 1957 feature film The Prince and the Ballerina was released in theaters when she was already a princess, but it was pre-filmed. The Monegasques were horrified at the thought of him returning to the studio. If he wanted to return to the cinema, Prince Rainier would certainly be against it. But he didn’t have to. He wasn’t denying anything, he just switched roles. When a reporter asked him if he had given up on his career, he replied: “I feel like I’m just getting started.”
Grace of Monaco never used the Authority, but she served the Authority
Jean des Cars
How did Grace Kelly conquer the rock?
On April 18, 1956, all of Hollywood went to her wedding to Prince Rainier. We have no idea of the excitement this union once generated. It gave the Authority worldwide fame before many people knew it, including in the United States, where Monte Carlo was located. Grace has caused a completely unexpected renaissance in Monaco. There was no princess in the government for a long time. A woman of that nature was required to carry it out with her seriousness and professional conscience. He was a perfectionist and disliked amateurs. He and Prince Rainier rebuilt Monaco together. “We were a good team,” he once told me.
What were his fights and his commitments in Monaco?
In 1958, he was appointed president of the Monegasque Red Cross. In order to get to know the government well, he went to the market and talked with the passers-by. He was nervous and wanted to perform well. His secretariat was very active and he helped many people. Prince Rainier was amazed. He knew his stuff, especially the papers dealing with the expansion of the Authority. He also took care of charitable initiatives such as the Red Cross Gala. He had a smiling reputation. If he was wrong, he did everything to eliminate his possible defect. He never used Power, but served Power. Later, when she exhibited her “natural” pictures, she did so anonymously and signed “GPK” for “Grace Patricia Kelly.”
A strange premonition
You also mention in your book how the princess saved Josephine Baker, who was recently enshrined, at the end of her life…
I remember one day when I was in Olympia with my father to see one of his galas. At that time, Josephine Baker was having financial problems. He had to name the main brand of beer every ten minutes. Princess Grace stepped in to let him put on a show at Bobino again. And he offered him a treat. When Josephine Baker died in 1975, she was buried in a cemetery in Monaco. In November 2021, he entered the Pantheon. But his family wanted his body to remain in the Authority. By an incredible coincidence, last year I met the eldest of the singer’s living adopted children. He told me that they were so touched by the kindness and authority of the princess that they could not see their mother’s body leave the Rock.
He told me one day. “I don’t consider my life a fairy tale.”
Jean des Cars
How have the last few years of Grace Monaco been?
He, like everyone else, struggled with age. He was, I think, very shaken by the brain accident that had taken his mother. Much has been made of his car accident in 1982 on a road above the Côte d’Azur. The princess was driving very badly, but that day she wanted to take her daughter Stephanie to the airport. However, there was no room in the back seat of the car, covered in haute couture dresses that she intended to drop off at the Palace. So he took the wheel. Her driver blamed her for letting him do it.
What do we know today about the death of the princess?
He crashed in the same place where he told me a few years ago that the road was dangerous and someone would kill himself there. It is likely that he had a stroke. The car had an automatic transmission, there were no signs of sudden braking. He lost control of the car, which landed in the garden of one of my friends in French territory. This complicated things because it was necessary to warn the prefecture of Alpes-Maritimes before the territory of Monegasque. Meanwhile, Stephanie from Monaco survived the crash. After that, the world was in mourning. even a country like Democratic Kampuchea, the former Khmer Rouge, observes three days of national mourning. At his funeral, I thought of a sentence that Grace of Monaco once said to me: “I don’t consider my life a fairy tale.” No, it was not a fairy tale, but a very beautiful story with many chapters.
(1) The unforgettable grace of Monaco, by Jean des Cars, published on August 24, 2022, Ed. du Rocher, 240 p., €18
Source: Le Figaro
