Amazing Grace
Grace Kelly’s wedding to Rainier III, Prince of Monaco was, without doubt, one of the most glamorous events of the century. But the months preceding the April 1956 wedding wouldn’t make much of a movie: matters revolved around practicalities, negotiations and organisation. Grace was, according to Rita Gam: ‘A quiet eye in the middle of a tremendous hurricane.’
There was her royal trousseau to put together (aided by a gift of some of her dresses from MGM), goodbyes to be said, negotiations to get out of that MGM contract and, oh, a wedding to arrange. In fact, the latter two went hand in hand. It must have helped Grace along in getting that sabbatical from MGM that she agreed they could film a documentary of her wedding day, titled Wedding In Monaco. This is also how Helen Rose, MGM’s head costume designer, came to design Grace’s wedding gown and their hairdresser fixed her ‘do’ for the Big Day.
Rainier, too, would benefit: his beloved Monaco would get the advertising he felt it needed. It was a winwin for Grace and Rainier, and provided them with a motion picture of their very own.
Grace and Rainier’s wedding was a fabulous spectacle – the numbers involved alone attest to this: 30 million viewers worldwide watched the event on television (when far fewer people had one), 600 guests attended the religious ceremony on 19 April 1956, 3,000 Monégasques were invited to the function after the civil ceremony, and let’s not forget Grace’s wedding gown, which had been made with 25 yards of silk taffeta and 100 yards of silk net. All of which, put together in a magnificent wedding cake-shaped bundle, made what commentators at the time called ‘The Wedding of the Century’.
When the papers first announced the engagement in early January 1956, the consensus was that the wedding would be in New York or the Kelly family hometown, Philadelphia. By mid-January there was a different news story: Grace Kelly would be marrying in Monaco, at a Catholic Mass at the St Nicholas Cathedral. As it turned out, there were to be two ceremonies. The first, a civil ceremony, was held on 18 April 1956, in the damask royal throne room at the palace in Monaco, a ceremony required to take place under Monégasque law.
The Washington Post reported on the day that it was a ‘kissless marriage’ characterised by a ‘tense sadness.’ This, the WP reporter explained, was because of the nervous collapse of one of the prince’s aides before the event. But it’s also true that Rainier had warned Grace she should expect a lack of emotion at her wedding. (Little could she have known, this would set the tone for the entire marriage.)
The following day’s event at the intimidatingly huge St Nicholas Cathedral was equally serious: Grace followed her husband-to-be’s advice. She was the very picture of serenity as she wed him to become Her Serene Highness, Princess Grace of Monaco.
In 1956, when Grace spoke to Paris Match, she confirmed that she wouldn’t be showing the Prince her sumptuous Helen Rose gown until the day of the wedding because she wanted to keep it a surprise for him. It’s a pity Rainier did the same for Grace.
His military-looking costume of black and gold, which he had designed himself, could easily have upstaged the bride. One tradition she did not want to stick to, however, was separate rooms on the night before the wedding. Even though they were already legally married before the church service on 19 April, Rainier and Grace spent the previous night apart: ‘This is absolutely Victorian!’ said Grace, but she went along with Rainier’s wishes, a theme that was to define their marriage for years to come.
Grace chose six of her closest New York friends as her bridesmaids and her sister Peggy was a witness on the day of the civil ceremony. The whole Kelly clan were present, save younger sister Lizanne, who was expecting (and would later call her baby girl Grace). On the day of the religious ceremony, Grace’s father Jack Kelly dispensed with tradition and held Grace’s arm until Rainier had entered the church. For once he was right by her side and did not leave her stranded.
Roses had always been personal favourites of the bride’s and would be significant throughout her life… and after her death. It was with an enormous bouquet of roses that Oleg Cassini originally captured Grace’s heart. And when she died in 1982, a rose garden was named after her, containing 4,000 rose bushes on the slope of Monaco’s Fontvieille Park. Small wonder then that her matrons of honour on her wedding day carried bouquets of tea roses. The bride herself held lily of the valley and her Juliet cap contained orange blossom, while the young flower girls carried white daisies. Later, she would pen a much loved work on flower arranging, My Book Of Flowers.
Of the 600 wedding guests it is interesting to note just how few of Grace’s fellow film stars were there. David Niven, yes, and Cary Grant, her good friend Ava Gardner, too. But notable by his absence was her beloved director, Sir Alfred Hitchcock, and Frank Sinatra excused himself for fear of upstaging the bride. As to the political great and good, Jackie Kennedy and Aristotle Onassis came, as did the Aga Khan but the British royals, for instance, were said to find the whole affair decidedly distasteful and sent a minor emissary.
As someone wise once said: ‘Weddings are nice but marriages are even nicer.’ Grace’s wasn’t one long fairytale, however, even though she and Prince Rainier did have three children and went on to celebrate their 25th anniversary in 1981, the year before her tragic death in a car accident.
But for now, let’s leave her setting sail from the shores of Monaco for a six-week honeymoon, sailing the Mediterranean as she waves goodbye to the crowds of adoring Monégasques who had warmly welcomed their new princess.
Extracted from What Would Grace Do? by Gina McKinnon (Aurum, £14.99).
There was her royal trousseau to put together (aided by a gift of some of her dresses from MGM), goodbyes to be said, negotiations to get out of that MGM contract and, oh, a wedding to arrange. In fact, the latter two went hand in hand. It must have helped Grace along in getting that sabbatical from MGM that she agreed they could film a documentary of her wedding day, titled Wedding In Monaco. This is also how Helen Rose, MGM’s head costume designer, came to design Grace’s wedding gown and their hairdresser fixed her ‘do’ for the Big Day.
Rainier, too, would benefit: his beloved Monaco would get the advertising he felt it needed. It was a winwin for Grace and Rainier, and provided them with a motion picture of their very own.
Grace and Rainier’s wedding was a fabulous spectacle – the numbers involved alone attest to this: 30 million viewers worldwide watched the event on television (when far fewer people had one), 600 guests attended the religious ceremony on 19 April 1956, 3,000 Monégasques were invited to the function after the civil ceremony, and let’s not forget Grace’s wedding gown, which had been made with 25 yards of silk taffeta and 100 yards of silk net. All of which, put together in a magnificent wedding cake-shaped bundle, made what commentators at the time called ‘The Wedding of the Century’.
When the papers first announced the engagement in early January 1956, the consensus was that the wedding would be in New York or the Kelly family hometown, Philadelphia. By mid-January there was a different news story: Grace Kelly would be marrying in Monaco, at a Catholic Mass at the St Nicholas Cathedral. As it turned out, there were to be two ceremonies. The first, a civil ceremony, was held on 18 April 1956, in the damask royal throne room at the palace in Monaco, a ceremony required to take place under Monégasque law.
The Washington Post reported on the day that it was a ‘kissless marriage’ characterised by a ‘tense sadness.’ This, the WP reporter explained, was because of the nervous collapse of one of the prince’s aides before the event. But it’s also true that Rainier had warned Grace she should expect a lack of emotion at her wedding. (Little could she have known, this would set the tone for the entire marriage.)
The following day’s event at the intimidatingly huge St Nicholas Cathedral was equally serious: Grace followed her husband-to-be’s advice. She was the very picture of serenity as she wed him to become Her Serene Highness, Princess Grace of Monaco.
In 1956, when Grace spoke to Paris Match, she confirmed that she wouldn’t be showing the Prince her sumptuous Helen Rose gown until the day of the wedding because she wanted to keep it a surprise for him. It’s a pity Rainier did the same for Grace.
His military-looking costume of black and gold, which he had designed himself, could easily have upstaged the bride. One tradition she did not want to stick to, however, was separate rooms on the night before the wedding. Even though they were already legally married before the church service on 19 April, Rainier and Grace spent the previous night apart: ‘This is absolutely Victorian!’ said Grace, but she went along with Rainier’s wishes, a theme that was to define their marriage for years to come.
Grace chose six of her closest New York friends as her bridesmaids and her sister Peggy was a witness on the day of the civil ceremony. The whole Kelly clan were present, save younger sister Lizanne, who was expecting (and would later call her baby girl Grace). On the day of the religious ceremony, Grace’s father Jack Kelly dispensed with tradition and held Grace’s arm until Rainier had entered the church. For once he was right by her side and did not leave her stranded.
Roses had always been personal favourites of the bride’s and would be significant throughout her life… and after her death. It was with an enormous bouquet of roses that Oleg Cassini originally captured Grace’s heart. And when she died in 1982, a rose garden was named after her, containing 4,000 rose bushes on the slope of Monaco’s Fontvieille Park. Small wonder then that her matrons of honour on her wedding day carried bouquets of tea roses. The bride herself held lily of the valley and her Juliet cap contained orange blossom, while the young flower girls carried white daisies. Later, she would pen a much loved work on flower arranging, My Book Of Flowers.
Of the 600 wedding guests it is interesting to note just how few of Grace’s fellow film stars were there. David Niven, yes, and Cary Grant, her good friend Ava Gardner, too. But notable by his absence was her beloved director, Sir Alfred Hitchcock, and Frank Sinatra excused himself for fear of upstaging the bride. As to the political great and good, Jackie Kennedy and Aristotle Onassis came, as did the Aga Khan but the British royals, for instance, were said to find the whole affair decidedly distasteful and sent a minor emissary.
As someone wise once said: ‘Weddings are nice but marriages are even nicer.’ Grace’s wasn’t one long fairytale, however, even though she and Prince Rainier did have three children and went on to celebrate their 25th anniversary in 1981, the year before her tragic death in a car accident.
But for now, let’s leave her setting sail from the shores of Monaco for a six-week honeymoon, sailing the Mediterranean as she waves goodbye to the crowds of adoring Monégasques who had warmly welcomed their new princess.
Extracted from What Would Grace Do? by Gina McKinnon (Aurum, £14.99).