Grace Kelly Had To Pay Millions To Become the Princess of Monaco
Grace Kelly was one of the most glamorous actors ever to live. She was stunned in Hollywood with her role in the 1952 Wester High Noon and had a fruitful career in the early to mid-1950s. However, by the end of the decade, people worldwide were watching the “wedding of the century” when she married Prince Rainier III of Monaco.
Kelly gave up her career to marry the prince and move across the world to the city-state on the French Riviera, but she gave up a lot more than that. When she and the prince tied the knot in 1956, she also had to pay him millions of dollars.
Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier III of Monaco had a whirlwind romance
Like Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and Prince Harry, Kelly and Prince Rainier had a whirlwind romance. The pair first met at a photo shoot in 1955. The actor was visiting Cannes and leading the American delegation to the Cannes Film Festival.
The spark between the prince and the actor was immediate. The duo continued to talk and write to one another until later that year when Prince Rainier visited the United States on a diplomatic tour.
After spending three days with Kelly and her family, he proposed, and the actor happily accepted.
Grace Kelly was not allowed to return to acting after becoming royal
After her 1956 wedding to Prince Rainier III, Kelly formally became Her Serene Highness, Princess Grace of Monaco. She immediately stopped working, but she hoped to return to the big screen. Kelly got her chance in 1962. Hollywood director Alfred Hitchcock asked her to appear in 1962’s Marnie, and she agreed.
A few weeks later, Monaco’s palace spokesman announced that the role would be Kelly’s last. However, by April, Kelly announced that she would be pulling out of the production due to scheduling conflicts. Actor Tippi Hedren took her place opposite Sean Connery.
It seems that then- French President Charles de Gaulle pressured Prince Rainier to get Kelly to pull out of the production since citizens of Monaco hated the idea of their princess appearing on-screen in a role as a compulsive thief. This marked the very end of Kelly’s career in Hollywood.
Grace Kelly had to pay millions to become the Princess of Monaco
As romantic as Kelly and Prince Rainier’s courtship may appear, it actually cost the actor millions to become the Princess of Monaco. Kelly and her family had to put together a massive $2 million dowry to pay for the wedding. At the time, Monaco’s treasury was mostly empty as it was shortly after World War II, and the economies across the globe were still recovering.
Luckily the actor’s father, Jack Kelly, who was an Olympic gold medalist, had an extremely successful brick company. In the end, the prince presented the High Noon actor with a 10.47-carat emerald-cut diamond with a platinum band. She wore the ring in her final feature film, High Society. At one point in the movie, Bing Crosby quips, “Some stone, did you mine it yourself?”
