The wedding of Oscar winning-actress Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier of Monaco remains a fairy tale story that still fascinates people the world over.

When it comes to iconic figures, few women can compare with Grace Kelly. Just a few months after celebrating another fascinating personality, Jackie Kennedy, Galerie Ferrero in Nice has decided to relive the timeless magic of this love story, as well as the following decade that saw the movie queen blossoming into a real European princess.

Not surprisingly, the exhibit ‘Grace Princesse de Monaco’ starts with pictures of the actress on the set of “To Catch a Thief”, the Alfred Hitchcock movie that brought her to the French Riviera for the first time.

It follows on with the photo shoot for an editorial feature organized by Paris Match in 1955 between the American beauty and the Prince of Monaco. Grace, who was only 26 years old at the time, was attending the Cannes Film Festival while the Monegasque royal, at nearly 32, was one of Europe’s most eligible bachelors. Dressed in a beautiful floral dress, we see her wandering through the palace’s gardens and small zoo as she is falling in love with her prince.

Less than a year later, the whirlwind romance led to a beautiful religious ceremony, held at the cathedral in Monaco on the 18th of April, 1956. In front of 600 guests, the American actress became Her Serene Highness, Princess Grace of Monaco, and that was the beginning of what seemed to be for most onlookers an enchanted life on a little hilltop overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.

Through more photographs and official portraits, as well as a few personal artefacts, family memorabilia and movie posters, the exhibit goes on to explore both Grace’s public and private lives. It immerses the visitor in the years that followed the exchange of vows, the birth of their three children, and the new royals first steps into high society. The exhibition ends in the late 1960’s, with the movie star-turned-princess just celebrating her 40th birthday, having achieved the status of beacon of beauty, style and sophistication, a status that she still holds today, more than 30 years after her death.

‘Grace Princesse de Monaco’ runs until the 31st of August at Galerie Ferrero in Nice, and admission is €5 (€2 for students). Opening hours are Monday to Thursday from 2pm to 7pm and Friday and Saturday from 10am to 12pm and from 2pm to 7pm.

CONTACT DETAILS
Galerie Ferrero
6, rue du Congrès
06000 Nice

Tel: + 33 4 93 88 34 44

Lead image By Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer – eBayfrontback, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons; all other images courtesy Galerie Ferrero