Grace Kelly & Prince Rainier III Of Monaco...THEIR STORY

The media frenzy that surrounded the Hollywood-meets-royalty romance of Oscar-winning actress Grace Kelly and the dashing Prince Rainier of Monaco sent reporters into overdrive.  Americans and Europeans alike were swept away by the enchanted love affair of these international luminaries, and the public appetite for wedding details was insatiable. Born Grace Patricia Kelly in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1929, the fashion model turned Hollywood heavyweight met Rainier Louis Henri Maxence Bertrand de Grimaldi during the Cannes Film Festival in 1955.   Their meeting was planned as a mere "photo op," but the flame that was ignited between these two icons on that spring day would prove to endure and burn strong for the rest of their lives.

The two wrote letters and spoke by phone until the Prince's surprise visit seven months later to the Kelly's Philadelphia family home over the Christmas holiday.  It was only their second meeting in person, but by week's end, the world's wealthiest bachelor and the glamorous Hollywood movie star were officially off the market.  The future Princess Grace of Monaco was soon sporting a 12-carat, emerald-cut diamond engagement ring set in platinum, and the world prepared for what would be dubbed "The Wedding of the Century."

Princess Grace gave up her cherished acting career for her prince and the life they shared, and the couple welcomed the first of three children just nine months after their April 1956 wedding.

It was often said that when Princess Grace died in a tragic Monte Carlo car accident in 1982 at the age of 52, Prince Rainier never recovered from a broken heart.  As testament to their eternal love, Prince Rainer said in a 2002 statement, "Twenty years after her disappearance, Princess Grace is always present in our hearts and in our thoughts"   Their bond was so strong, and their love so pure, that the Prince never remarried, choosing instead to remain alone until his death 23 year after his wife's.  He was buried next to his princess when he died in 2005 at the age of 81.

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