#RealLifePrincess – 10 facts about Grace Kelly

Today marks the 40th anniversary of Princess Grace’s death in a tragic accident over the hills of Monaco. She has been reigning and feeding the hopes of everyone believing in fairy tales since 1956 when she abandoned a meteoric successful career in Holywood to become Princess Gracia Patricia of Monaco after marrying Prince Rainier III. But before anything, watch the video that brings 10 facts about Grace Kelly

The making of a Star

Born into an affluent Catholic family of Irish descent in Philadelphia, she discovered her love for acting at age 12, when she starred with her sister Peggy in a Theater play. In her High-School Yearbook, they wrote prophetically, “She is very likely to become a stage or screen star “. Before turning to Hollywood, she started a career as a model, where within one year, she made into the cover of “Cosmopolitan “, making her one of the best-paid models of the time.

From Star to Royalty

She became a superstar in the short six years she has been active in Hollywood, very much in sync with all her endeavours. She is today ranked nr. 15, among the most prominent female stars of all time. She was not only a highly talented actress, winning an Oscar at 22, but she immediately captivated the fans with her stunning beauty and glamorous demeanour. She not only stole the general public’s hearts but also broke the hearts of many Hollywood leading men. Ironically the one actor she has fallen for, Clark Gable, did not reciprocate her feelings. And around the end of her acting career, one could sense in her movies, “Swan “and “High Society “, a prelude of what was about to come.

From Royalty to Fairy-Tale

Grace Kelly retired from acting in 1956 to marry Rainier III and become Princess of Monaco. And as biographer Jeffrey Robinson said in a magazine interview, “She was 26 years Grace Kelly, and 26 years Princess Grace. A Hollywood superstar who defined glamour, then walked away to move to a country where Grace didn’t speak the language or know anyone to become Princess of Monaco“. And glamour she defined indeed. She created a magical aura around the tiny principality by attracting movie stars, international business people and aristocracy to mingle in this larger-than-life fairy-tale, which had us enchanted for so long.

With her family and glamorous life, she fed the social columns and magazines long before Princess Diana or any other Royal. Yet, she combined fiction and reality in a way never seen before, which made us dream as if watching one of her movies.

She influenced many a trend in her day, but most notably a bag she had made by Hermès during her pregnancy with Caroline, which became an icon; the “Kelly Bag “.

And on September 15th 1982, her life came to an abrupt end, dramatically as well, in a car crash in Monaco. But we still dream of her and her glamorous life.

Image – Wikimedia.org