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00:00:00Grace Kelly, Oscar winner and one of the world's best loved movie stars, her films watched by millions.
00:00:10Let's start from the beginning again, Jeff. Tell me everything you saw.
00:00:16Her Hollywood movies have stood the test of time, but her screen career lasted just six years.
00:00:22I think of amazing performances like High Noon, the Hitchcock films.
00:00:28Grace had this brief and remarkable career.
00:00:31Grace Kelly projected onto the screen this kind of untouchable image.
00:00:36And at the same time, she's available.
00:00:40Tabloid rumors pursued Grace Kelly throughout her life.
00:00:44She had to issue a public statement to Hollywood saying it never meant to have an affair with with a married man.
00:00:52At the height of her fame, she surprised everybody, swapping her Hollywood royalty for real royalty.
00:01:00Now, by civil authority and by the church, Prince Rainier and his film star bride have been pronounced man and wife.
00:01:07When the wedding did come, it really was an unparalleled event in terms of glamour and significance.
00:01:14Her star quality transformed the fortunes of Monaco, the tiny principality on the French Riviera.
00:01:21A picture queen meets her new subjects and is greeted by them in turn.
00:01:26But was Princess Grace the one role she didn't enjoy playing?
00:01:31She did not really understand exactly how much of a bubble you live in.
00:01:38Like Diana did not like Meghan Markle did not.
00:01:42Princess Grace gave Diana a piece of advice.
00:01:46Don't worry, dear. It will only get worse.
00:01:50And, of course, it did.
00:01:52What's the truth behind the rumors?
00:01:55As well as an heir, did Prince Rainier demand a dowry payment from Grace?
00:02:00Grace had to show up with not only her glamour and her cachet, but with her checkbook.
00:02:08Those close to the story reveal the truth about her life.
00:02:12A lot of fairy tales do have a dark side to them, and perhaps her life did, too.
00:02:18And the story behind her fatal car crash.
00:02:21The car was simply going too fast ever to have a chance of getting around that bend.
00:02:26And so Grace Kelly has died.
00:02:29This, of course, was the end of the romance, and it was terribly tragic.
00:02:35In 1956, the tiny principality of Monaco found itself a new princess, and the world's media went wild.
00:02:49When news broke that Grace Kelly was to marry this European prince, to become a bona fide princess, I think Hollywood was enchanted.
00:03:02It was one of the first truly global media events.
00:03:06The bride drives with her father through the streets on her way to the Cathedral of St. Nicholas.
00:03:11An estimated 13 million people tuned in to watch the marriage of American beauty Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier of Monaco.
00:03:20Some of this wedding footage is very rare. It's thought it's not been seen for years.
00:03:28It turns out to be one of the royal spectaculars of the mid-20th century.
00:03:33600 people in the Monaco Cathedral.
00:03:36A lot of Hollywood greats there.
00:03:39Arthur Gardner, Harry Grant, David Niven, Aristotle Anassis is there.
00:03:46Hollywood just loved it.
00:03:49It was notable that MGM made Grace Kelly a present of the wedding dress.
00:03:56It was designed by a Hollywood designer, Helen Rose, with a huge amount of work and a huge amount of fabric.
00:04:04Now by civil authority and by the church, Prince Rainier and his film star bride have been pronounced man and wife.
00:04:11Grace was just 26 when she stepped away from Hollywood to marry her very own Prince Charming.
00:04:20Rainier had taken the throne seven years previously, but the Grimaldi royal family had ruled for 700 years.
00:04:30It's easy to think of the marriage to Rainier as this attractive fairy tale package, but actually it's a monumental decision.
00:04:38She left a country of her birth where her family lived in order to marry this man.
00:04:45It's an incredibly strong and brave decision to make.
00:04:49An international playground.
00:04:51This coastline along the blue Mediterranean has become the mecca for those who have been captivated by its charm.
00:04:58Monaco, a glamorous destination for the world's elite.
00:05:03Smaller than New York's Central Park, it's one of the most densely populated sovereign states in the world.
00:05:10Monaco had no income tax.
00:05:12Its principal revenue came from Monte Carlo's famed gambling casino.
00:05:16The income more than covered the tiny country's needs.
00:05:19It nestles between France and the Mediterranean Sea.
00:05:23Monaco is a country in its own right.
00:05:27It's defended by the French government militarily, but for that to continue there had to be an heir from the reigning prince.
00:05:38There was this clause that if he didn't have an heir, then Monaco would go to the French Republic.
00:05:50The actress was now Her Serene Highness, Princess of Monaco.
00:05:55But before her marriage, she'd been the queen of pictures and ahead of her time.
00:06:02We've seen with Meghan Markle how difficult it is for somebody from Hollywood to adapt to a country in Europe.
00:06:10But if you can imagine going back all those years to somebody who was one of the biggest names in Hollywood,
00:06:17moving to a tiny principality where she was the member of a royal family that literally lived in a bubble,
00:06:26it must have been quite extraordinary.
00:06:29In town and present for the premiere is Grace Kelly.
00:06:33The beautiful leading lady joins Paramount Pictures president Barney Valloban and Mrs Valloban.
00:06:41Hollywood in the 1950s was in its heyday.
00:06:47Run by the big studios, it sold a glamorous dream
00:06:52that churned out pictures for the silver screen packed with beauty and style.
00:07:00Grace was from a wealthy family in Philadelphia.
00:07:03Hers was not the usual showbiz rags to riches story.
00:07:08She'd modelled before being spotted on Broadway and landing her big break in the iconic genre-defining western High Noon.
00:07:17Now will the bride and groom kindly step forward.
00:07:21Grace Kelly was cast as the wife of Gary Cooper in High Noon.
00:07:25And you look on the screen, you can see she's at least 20, 25 years younger than he is.
00:07:30Please, Will, if you just tell me what this is all about.
00:07:34What Grace Kelly embodies with that Puritan look, the bonnet on her head,
00:07:39the kind of Quaker cleanness is the moral compass of the town itself.
00:07:47Rumours of on-set romances with her sometimes married leading men were commonplace in the tabloids.
00:07:55Hollywood often cast her opposite actors twice her age.
00:08:00Grace Kelly was the opposite of the image that she projected,
00:08:06and a lot of Hollywood wives were not happy with that, but she did what she wanted to do.
00:08:14In the 50s, women were expected to be untarnished.
00:08:18Grace took her craft seriously, but she was a rebel.
00:08:22Director Alfred Hitchcock cemented her forever in the minds of the public as a cool, icy blonde.
00:08:29He liked the fact that Grace Kelly projected onto the screen this kind of untouchable image,
00:08:36and at the same time, she's available.
00:08:41Alfred Hitchcock would say, with a brunette and a redhead,
00:08:45you kind of expected explosions, you expected something to happen,
00:08:49but not with an icy blonde.
00:08:52They embodied suspense, which is what Hitchcock was all about,
00:08:56so Grace Kelly was his ideal.
00:08:58Hello!
00:09:00Hitchcock tested this theory in their first film together,
00:09:04the tightly wound thriller Dial M For Murder.
00:09:09Hello.
00:09:10Grace gives an electrifying performance as an unfaithful wife
00:09:14who is stalked by a crook hired by her cuckolded husband.
00:09:22Hitchcock loved necks, and the rope around the neck was the ultimate thing, the strangulation,
00:09:28so in this scene, the guy throws her backwards in her negligee over the desk,
00:09:36strangling her on top of her.
00:09:39Basically, he's raping her, you know, without doing it.
00:09:47And she then gets to kill him.
00:09:53That's Hitchcock in a nutshell, and Grace knew exactly what he was doing.
00:10:01This is Hitchcock's most blatant statement about her as his muse.
00:10:10Despite her demure image and strict religious upbringing,
00:10:14the actress was happy to parry words with Hitchcock.
00:10:18He used to try and shock her by telling bawdy jokes,
00:10:22and he loved how she responded.
00:10:24Famously, he said, do I shock you, Miss Kelly?
00:10:28She said, oh, no, I went to a girls' convent school, Mr Hitchcock,
00:10:31I heard all those things by the time I was 13.
00:10:35Grace was always seen as this perfect 1950s lady,
00:10:40but deep down, she was a very independent and driven person,
00:10:44and, you know, she wasn't afraid of having a sex life,
00:10:47she wasn't afraid of having affairs, and she wasn't afraid of following her heart.
00:10:53Grace followed her heart during filming on Dial M for Murder,
00:10:57and had an affair with her on-screen husband, Ray Milland,
00:11:01but it put her fledgling career in jeopardy.
00:11:04She really messed up when she had an affair with him.
00:11:08She had to issue a public statement to Hollywood saying,
00:11:12I never meant to have an affair with a married man.
00:11:16Growing up, Grace was said to have had a difficult relationship with her family.
00:11:21She had defied her father to become an actress.
00:11:24He didn't see her as having any of the star quality that everybody else could see.
00:11:31Grace Kelly always had to prove something to her father.
00:11:34She was the third child of four,
00:11:37so it wasn't that Grace wasn't loved, but she maybe wasn't noticed.
00:11:43Intelligent and from a wealthy family,
00:11:45her background gave Grace confidence to succeed.
00:11:49If her work for Hitchcock had boosted her career,
00:11:52her next film, The Modest Romance Country Girl, would be the making of it.
00:11:58Oh, no, not me, thank you. I'm just a girl from the country.
00:12:02The theatre and the people in it have always been a complete mystery to me.
00:12:08In minimal make-up and unfashionable clothes,
00:12:11Grace was cast against her icy blonde type
00:12:14as the wife of an alcoholic singer played by Bing Crosby.
00:12:18When did you get these, Frank?
00:12:21Last night, after you fell asleep.
00:12:23No more, Frank.
00:12:25It's rumoured they continued the relationship off-screen.
00:12:28When we get to Boston, I'll get you some sleeping pills.
00:12:30Even in the country girl, playing in those incredibly dolly clothes,
00:12:35Grace made it look good and classy.
00:12:38Whether you like it or not, Frank's weak. He's a leaner.
00:12:42And I happen to be the one he leans on.
00:12:45Hollywood loves to reward actors and actresses
00:12:49who gain weight or lose weight for pictures
00:12:52or who look very dowdy and very much against their elegant image.
00:12:57Grace's steely determination to land the role paid off.
00:13:02At 25, she was one of the youngest ever Oscar winners
00:13:06when she lifted the coveted trophy.
00:13:09The Oscar was presented by William Holden, rumoured to be her former flame.
00:13:14I can only say thank you with all my heart
00:13:17to all who made this possible for me. Thank you.
00:13:21After just four years in movies, Grace was the toast of Hollywood.
00:13:27The success of The Country Girl was a pivotal moment.
00:13:30It changed not only her professional life, but her personal one too.
00:13:35It was through this film that she met Prince Rainier of Monaco.
00:13:40It's a strange series of coincidences that brings Grace and Rainier together.
00:13:44She was asked to go to the Cannes Film Festival to promote The Country Girl
00:13:49and then Paris Match wanted to do a photo shoot,
00:13:52so they were thinking, how can we have an interesting photo shoot?
00:13:55How about Hollywood royalty with actual royalty?
00:13:59The magazine arranged for a PR shoot with Rainier and his wife,
00:14:03Grace was asked for a PR shoot with Rainier at his palace in the Principality.
00:14:08He had ascended the throne in 1949 and was six years Grace's senior.
00:14:14A dashing war hero, he'd seen action
00:14:17and been awarded the French Croix de Guerre with a bronze star.
00:14:22But their meeting didn't get off to the best of starts.
00:14:26The electricity was out in her hotel,
00:14:29so she had to wear a frumpy dress and style her hair herself.
00:14:33She had to pull it back in a bun.
00:14:35She also didn't have a hat.
00:14:37She didn't know she was supposed to wear a hat,
00:14:39so she borrowed a friend's really hideous floral headdress.
00:14:43It was about an hour late, which she was quite frustrated by,
00:14:48but when he did turn up, he was extremely charming to her.
00:14:51He showed her around the Disney World-like palace that is Monte Carlo
00:14:57and they did hit it off.
00:14:59He was educated at a number of British boarding schools,
00:15:04so he did have that kind of cosmopolitan
00:15:07and, of course, English-speaking background that again may have helped.
00:15:12Grace sent a thank-you note to Rainier and they began corresponding.
00:15:17She would make 11 films in six years and found Hollywood ruthless.
00:15:23After numerous unhappy romances and an Oscar win,
00:15:28was she looking for an out and a new life?
00:15:32You know, there he was, handsome, eligible bachelor,
00:15:36living in a palace in the south of France in Monaco.
00:15:40I don't think she... I think she was in love with the idea of being in love.
00:15:45I think she fell in love through his letters,
00:15:49or she fell in like through his letters.
00:15:51I don't know if she ever really loved him.
00:15:55I think she chose her destiny.
00:16:00A year earlier, Grace's destiny had taken her to the south of France
00:16:05to film To Catch A Thief for Hitchcock.
00:16:08She'd fallen in love with the area, which would later shape her future.
00:16:14To Catch A Thief is an incredibly glamorous Riviera caper.
00:16:18I mean, it really qualifies as one of the most beautiful films ever made, I think.
00:16:22We have Grace Kelly playing the beautiful American heiress,
00:16:25Francie Stevens, who spies Cary Grant on the beach
00:16:29and decides that this is the man for her.
00:16:31The film is not regarded as one of Hitchcock's best,
00:16:35but it is well remembered for the sparkling interplay between Grant and Kelly.
00:16:40Her part in the film appeared to mirror her own life.
00:16:44You're here in Europe to buy a husband.
00:16:47The man I want doesn't have a price.
00:16:49Don't eliminate me.
00:16:51Grace would indeed catch a husband on the French Riviera
00:16:55when she went on to marry Rainier.
00:16:58It's strange to encapture her life in that we see,
00:17:03in the car with Cary Grant, with the whole of the Mediterranean
00:17:08and below Monaco that spilled out in front of us.
00:17:12Oh, lovely day.
00:17:15Have you ever seen any place in the world more beautiful?
00:17:18She doesn't know at this time,
00:17:20but she's pointing to the beautiful pink palace of Monaco
00:17:24where she would become the princess.
00:17:27At 26, Grace had it all.
00:17:30She was a style icon, rich, beautiful, an Oscar winner
00:17:34and had dated some of the most handsome leading men in film.
00:17:39The whole of Hollywood was stunned when she left, really.
00:17:43She arrived like a meteorite.
00:17:45She was a shining star. Six years, she was gone.
00:17:49She turned her back on Hollywood
00:17:51when she landed the biggest role of her life,
00:17:54as Princess Grace of Monaco.
00:17:57But was it a part she would go on to regret playing?
00:18:01Where you see her as a bride in the famous outfit,
00:18:05I think she does look like a bit of a caged bird trapped behind the veil.
00:18:14The Principality of Monaco,
00:18:18an independent state with its own rulers and its own laws.
00:18:22Monaco was already well known for attracting the jet set.
00:18:26An international playground,
00:18:28this coastline along the blue Mediterranean
00:18:31has become the Mecca for those who have been captivated by its charm.
00:18:35Its ruler, Prince Rainier, had inherited the throne on his 21st birthday.
00:18:42He wanted to make it into the ultimate paradise,
00:18:46not just for millionaires, but wealthy tourists too.
00:18:50Cameras are not allowed to show the faces of gamblers in the casino.
00:18:55The Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis
00:18:58was one of the Principality's big players.
00:19:02It's often said that Mr Onassis now controls Monte Carlo.
00:19:06Is that true?
00:19:08His headquarters for his ships and all that are here in Monte Carlo,
00:19:12but he never owned Monaco or anything like it.
00:19:15Is he friendly with Prince Rainier?
00:19:17Why, yes.
00:19:19It's rumoured Onassis hatched a plan
00:19:23to enhance the fortunes of both Rainier and Monaco.
00:19:29Harry Onassis was a showman.
00:19:32He said what you really need to do is marry a movie star
00:19:37and that will bring back all the glamour to Monaco.
00:19:42So Onassis himself created a shortlist of actresses for Rainier to marry.
00:19:53Was Grace Kelly just one of several candidates in the mix?
00:19:59Screen goddess Marilyn Monroe, one of her contemporaries,
00:20:03was supposedly on the shortlist but turned him down.
00:20:09Marilyn Monroe kept referring to Prince Rainier as Prince Reindeer,
00:20:15whether she did it because she was plain dumb
00:20:20or whether she really did not want to give up a movie career, who knows?
00:20:26But she kept saying, I don't know if I want to marry Prince Reindeer.
00:20:30Rainier had been in a long affair which had broken up.
00:20:34He found it very, very difficult to meet a woman on equal terms
00:20:38without being harassed and speculated about.
00:20:41It was rumoured Prince Rainier wanted a glamorous and rich wife
00:20:46for another reason too.
00:20:48There's a law in Monaco that if the prince dies without a male heir,
00:20:53Monaco becomes part of France.
00:20:56At their first meeting in Monaco in the spring,
00:20:59Rainier had been charmed by the beautiful, witty and successful Grace Kelly.
00:21:05Around eight months after their photo shoot,
00:21:08he set sail for America to meet her family.
00:21:11Within three days he proposed to Grace
00:21:15and in that time, according to his history, they fell very much in love.
00:21:19And then a press conference was told that the Prince of Monaco
00:21:23had chosen his princess and his bride-to-be never looked lovelier.
00:21:28Behind the cameras, there was said to be a tough business deal
00:21:31that Rainier wanted to thrash out.
00:21:34In line with royal custom, it's alleged he wanted a large dowry.
00:21:39To the American Kelly family, this seemed bizarre.
00:21:43Grace Kelly was expected to bring to the marriage
00:21:47not only her high-profile glamour,
00:21:50but also quite a large cash dowry, $2 million.
00:21:56When this was first put to Jack Kelly, her father,
00:21:59he said, my daughter Grace doesn't have to pay anyone to marry her.
00:22:03When Rainier came to visit him, he was like,
00:22:06hey, I'm the king of Philadelphia, you're in my kingdom now, mister.
00:22:11Despite her father's reservations, Grace was determined.
00:22:15There was this sense, in a way, that this was the ultimate role.
00:22:21The information about the money remains unclear.
00:22:24Full financial details of any dowry have never been disclosed.
00:22:29But it's rumored the wealthy actress may have stumped up some of the cash herself.
00:22:34Grace had to show up with not only her glamour and her cachet
00:22:40as an Oscar-winning actress,
00:22:42not only with her Catholic womb, but with her checkbook.
00:22:47The people of Monaco received the news of Prince Rainier's engagement
00:22:50with joyful enthusiasm.
00:22:52After her wedding, this delightful actress will be known as
00:22:55Her Serene Highness, Princess of Monaco.
00:22:58With the marriage brokered, Grace was still under contract with the studio
00:23:03and had one more film to make, a musical.
00:23:06She was going out on a high note.
00:23:09Grace's final film was High Society,
00:23:12by which time she was engaged to Prince Rainier,
00:23:15and everyone really knew that this was the last film before her wedding.
00:23:23In the best tradition of Hollywood musicals,
00:23:25High Society combines witty and energetic songs with a feel-good storyline.
00:23:31In an echo of Grace Kelly's true-life romance with Prince Rainier,
00:23:35the film revolves around Bing Crosby's attempts to win her heart.
00:23:39I would like to talk to you.
00:23:41Rainier visited the set as their own wedding was only weeks away.
00:23:45You lost a little weight, didn't you, Sam?
00:23:48She's very thin in High Society.
00:23:50It was a very stressful, whirlwind time for her.
00:23:53I just want to know what you are doing here the day before my wedding.
00:23:57It's quite extraordinary to think of Rainier being around the set.
00:24:04He was this world-famous prince.
00:24:06They were going to get married, it was all romance,
00:24:09and they were able to spend a bit of time together,
00:24:12as a result, getting to know each other.
00:24:14Get in!
00:24:16Did Rainier also want to keep an eye on Grace?
00:24:20Her other co-star, Frank Sinatra, was a renowned womaniser,
00:24:24while Crosby, apparently an old flame,
00:24:27constantly wooed her in the movie with romantic ballads.
00:24:31While I give to you
00:24:35And you give to me
00:24:40True love
00:24:44Grace is on the yacht with Bing Crosby
00:24:47and they're singing True Love.
00:24:49And I guess people were thinking that really
00:24:52is mirroring what's going on with her.
00:24:54And, of course, it would have been wonderful fodder
00:24:57for the gospel columns.
00:24:59Miss Lord, would you please lift your chin?
00:25:02In a publicity coup for the studio,
00:25:04the actress wears Rainier's ring in the film.
00:25:07Hey, that's some rock you got there, Sam.
00:25:10Do you mind that yourself, George?
00:25:12It was a stunning emerald-cut diamond
00:25:15and rapidly became one of the most famous engagement rings
00:25:19in the world.
00:25:21She was wearing this great gift from the man in her life
00:25:25while she was leaving her old world behind.
00:25:28Sort of...couldn't write it in a fairy tale
00:25:31because nobody would believe it, but it did happen.
00:25:34But you're sensational
00:25:39There's also the idea that she's kind of
00:25:42sending herself up a little bit in high society.
00:25:48There's the number You're Sensational
00:25:51when Frank Sinatra serenades her.
00:25:54It's a very sexy number, actually.
00:25:56And in that, he's suggesting to her
00:25:59that although she's deemed to be a bronze goddess,
00:26:03this icy, fair Miss Frigidaire,
00:26:06he can see beneath that, beyond that,
00:26:09that actually she's sensational
00:26:11and that she's warm and sexy and fun.
00:26:15Because you're sensational
00:26:20As Grace left Hollywood,
00:26:22she may have hoped to be back on a film set one day.
00:26:26But this was before Women's Lib.
00:26:29Now her career was out of her hands and in those of her fiancé.
00:26:33Whether or not you continue your career after your marriage
00:26:37would depend on the prince for me.
00:26:40Has it already been discussed, may I ask?
00:26:43Oh, yes.
00:26:45I think probably Rainier was controlling.
00:26:49He was older than Grace.
00:26:51He had come from that social background
00:26:55where girls were girls, decorative,
00:26:58and men ran everything.
00:27:01The marriage would be the end of her incredible award-winning career.
00:27:06Within weeks, Grace was leaving her old life behind.
00:27:11It was an amazingly short period
00:27:14between the end of high society
00:27:17and the time when she had to leave for Monaco, roughly a month.
00:27:23Grace and her family sailed to Monaco on an eight-day voyage.
00:27:28The move to Monaco is a very, very dramatic change in her life
00:27:32and a slightly terrifying step.
00:27:35So she surrounds herself with lots and lots of activity.
00:27:38It's a very exciting thing and I'm very, very happy.
00:27:42Of course, I'm a little sad to be leaving home,
00:27:45but I hope to be back quite often.
00:27:48Here was the princess coming into this amazing port in Monte Carlo
00:27:54and it seemed everybody who lived in Monaco was out in the streets.
00:27:58It was the stuff of fairy tale.
00:28:02It made headlines around the world.
00:28:05The shot was picture perfect, but was the fairy tale real?
00:28:10Would Grace miss the old life she'd left behind
00:28:13and would she soon come to tire of her new role?
00:28:17A lot of fairy tales do have a dark side to them
00:28:21and perhaps her life did too.
00:28:36In little more than five years,
00:28:39Grace Kelly had grown from obscurity on the New York stage
00:28:43to being a world-famous Oscar-winning movie star
00:28:46and now her life story was about to take a more romantic twist
00:28:50as she became a real-life princess.
00:28:53The joyous day of the religious wedding.
00:28:56It's half past ten and the morning sun shines brightly.
00:29:00Over the course of two days in April 1956,
00:29:04Grace married Prince Rainier in both civil and religious ceremonies.
00:29:09It was dubbed the wedding of the century.
00:29:12Solemnly, on her father's arm, she enters the cathedral.
00:29:16All eyes are on her.
00:29:18An entrancing picture in her magnificent gown
00:29:21as she takes her place before the high altar.
00:29:24The ceremony was filmed by MGM and by TV companies
00:29:28who broadcast it to 30 million viewers around the world.
00:29:32There was the civil ceremony one day,
00:29:35then the religious ceremony at the cathedral the next,
00:29:39attended by so many guests, including Hollywood royalty,
00:29:43Harry Grant, David Niven, Ava Gardner.
00:29:46We're now out of the 40s.
00:29:48The world has settled down after the Second World War
00:29:52and this is glamour.
00:29:54This was the stuff that, you know, dreams are made of
00:29:58and I can still see that picture, black and white, of course,
00:30:02in my mind's eye.
00:30:04This was Hollywood with bells on.
00:30:09Couldn't have been any more exciting.
00:30:12When the wedding did come, it really was an unparalleled event
00:30:16in terms of glamour and significance and newsworthiness.
00:30:21Grace's wedding dress is one of the best-remembered
00:30:25and most elegant bridal gowns of all time.
00:30:29She didn't order it from a fashion house.
00:30:32It was a gift from her former studio and created by Helen Rose,
00:30:36the chief costume designer who had worked on two of Grace's movies.
00:30:41It's notable that MGM would make Grace a present of the wedding dress,
00:30:47this staggering dress involving vast amounts of fabric,
00:30:51vast amounts, you know, hours and hours of work.
00:30:55The dress had been the subject of intense press interest.
00:31:00Miss Kelly, we understand that you've changed the idea
00:31:03about your gown already.
00:31:05Is that your decision or Helen Rose's at MGM?
00:31:08Well, I don't know whether you've heard that.
00:31:10It's always been the same.
00:31:13And it's still the original dress that you've done.
00:31:17I understand it took three dozen seamstresses three weeks
00:31:24with an estimated cost back then of $7,200.
00:31:29Can you imagine how much it would cost today?
00:31:31It was the beginning of the iconic wedding dress that people dreamed about.
00:31:37Now, by civil authority and by the church,
00:31:40Prince Rainier and his film star bride have been pronounced man and wife.
00:31:45Princess Grace's wedding dress seems to have inspired bridal fashions
00:31:50for more than six decades.
00:31:52Many Royal Watchers believe that it influenced the design
00:31:55of Kate Middleton's wedding dress in 2011 for her marriage to Prince William.
00:32:01I was reporting for Catherine's wedding the Duchess of Cambridge's dress,
00:32:06and as soon as I saw it, I thought, Princess Grace.
00:32:09I can see the similarity.
00:32:11I can see slightly the high collar, lots of lace.
00:32:15I'm sure with Catherine, you know, it's a very tight bond with your designer.
00:32:20So I wouldn't be surprised if she references Grace Kelly's dress,
00:32:23wouldn't be surprised at all.
00:32:25Instead of the conventional for royals tiara,
00:32:29which perhaps she didn't possess,
00:32:32she wore this little sort of Juliet cap, beautifully embroidered and decorated,
00:32:39which again allowed a sight of that very beautiful face.
00:32:47Grace and Rainier invited many VIP guests,
00:32:50among them the Aga Khan of India
00:32:53and the Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis,
00:32:57who first came up with the idea of Rainier marrying a Hollywood star
00:33:01to raise Monaco's profile.
00:33:03But the restrained European monarchs of the 1950s stayed away.
00:33:08It's said that Queen Elizabeth II in England said,
00:33:12no, no, I'm not going, you know, far too many celebrities,
00:33:16far too many Hollywood types.
00:33:19Maybe they were slightly sniffy, and in fact later Grace became
00:33:22very, very friendly with members of the British royal family,
00:33:25but certainly they didn't seem to be rushing to Monaco.
00:33:29Yes, indeed, it certainly was a great day in the long history of the principality,
00:33:33a great day for the loyal people of Monaco.
00:33:42The royal couple's first child, Caroline,
00:33:45was born on the 23rd of January, 1957,
00:33:49prompting monogasques to ring church bells.
00:33:52Rainier and Grace went on to have two more children,
00:33:56Albert and Stephanie.
00:33:58Caroline, their eldest child, was born nine months, four days after their wedding.
00:34:04So they were very keen to be parents and very keen to provide an heir.
00:34:09And so from really before they'd even celebrated a year together,
00:34:14they were already mother and father to somebody.
00:34:19They then had to live every day, like all of us do,
00:34:23with the ups and downs of every day.
00:34:26At the moment, the little principality is waiting for news of another birth of the palace,
00:34:30news which will be proclaimed by a gun salute.
00:34:3321 for a girl, 101 for a boy.
00:34:38Grace had been an ambitious film star,
00:34:41but as a commoner who married into a royal family,
00:34:44she found herself working hard to fit into her new role,
00:34:48even hiring a private French tutor.
00:34:51She would have had to learn the accent,
00:34:53she would have had to have learned the ways people speak,
00:34:56how they eat, what they did on Sundays,
00:35:00because it's a very conservative Catholic country.
00:35:03She would have been called Her Serene Highness,
00:35:06and she would have had to be serene.
00:35:08So all of that must have taken a toll on her.
00:35:12Whatever the stresses of her new royal life,
00:35:15Princess Grace continued to be a role model for generations to come.
00:35:20She became a style icon perhaps because her own personal style,
00:35:25her figure, those very beautifully cut suits,
00:35:29the dresses with the narrow waist and the huge flaring skirt.
00:35:34When I was growing up in the 60s,
00:35:37there were two paper dolls that I had and every girl had.
00:35:40It was one of Grace Kelly and one of Jackie Kennedy.
00:35:44These were the ideals.
00:35:47You were meant to be a mom, that was your duty,
00:35:50but you never were supposed to gain weight,
00:35:52you were supposed to make it all look flawless and beautiful,
00:35:56and that's what we were meant to grow up to be.
00:36:00Perhaps the most enduring fashion statement associated with Princess Grace
00:36:05is the Hermes bag that was named in her honour.
00:36:09When you saw Grace Kelly travelling, apart from the luggage,
00:36:13she always had with her an Hermes handbag.
00:36:17Some would say, some would say to hide perhaps her pregnancy from the public,
00:36:22but it was always there and it's quite a significant look.
00:36:25It became so popular that Hermes turned around and called it the Kelly bag,
00:36:31which today, today costs a fortune.
00:36:35She liked dark brown and navy and crocodile, which is a little controversial.
00:36:42On their engagement, Grace and Rainier had announced
00:36:45that she would stop making films.
00:36:48But rumours circulated of tensions in the marriage,
00:36:51that Rainier banned Grace's films from being shown in Monaco
00:36:55and tried to buy up all the copies.
00:36:58As with so much about Grace and Rainier, there's rumours that Rainier banned the films,
00:37:04but I'm not sure that's convincingly the case,
00:37:09because the films were out there.
00:37:11I mean, she made some of the greatest films in movie history.
00:37:15It's like it's great in a story that somebody's made up third-hand.
00:37:20The idea that he's going to ban Mogambo or to catch a thief or whatever
00:37:26is sort of ridiculous.
00:37:28It seems that she hadn't quite realised
00:37:32how completely she would have to give up her career,
00:37:36because it wasn't that long into the marriage
00:37:39that Alfred Hitchcock came calling with a very, very spectacular role.
00:37:46In 1962, Alfred Hitchcock offered Grace the chance to make a fourth film together.
00:37:52The title character, Marnie, would have been her greatest acting challenge yet.
00:37:57But when news broke of her casting, it caused an outcry.
00:38:01The Marnie Gasks didn't want their beloved princess in a Hollywood film.
00:38:07They certainly wouldn't have, I suspect,
00:38:10if they'd known that there was a rape scene in the film.
00:38:16Despite the controversial script,
00:38:18Rainier was apparently relaxed about his wife taking part.
00:38:22But Grace was forced to withdraw after suffering a miscarriage,
00:38:26the second since the birth of their son, Albert, in 1958.
00:38:31She wrote to her friend saying that it was a catastrophe
00:38:35and she was very, very shaken.
00:38:37She also then wrote to Hitch and said,
00:38:39I'm terribly sorry, I can't do the film.
00:38:42He said, it's only a movie, I entirely understand why.
00:38:46Alfred Hitchcock eventually cast Tippi Hedren in Grace's role.
00:38:50The devout Marnie Gasks may have found the traumatic rape scene
00:38:55too disturbing to handle had their princess been involved.
00:38:59Sean Connery rapes Tippi Hedren in this film.
00:39:04It's in a marriage and, in those days,
00:39:07that rape didn't exist legally in marriage.
00:39:12But that's what happens.
00:39:14Of course, we can't see it, but it's implied.
00:39:26The day after that, she attempts to kill herself.
00:39:29So this is an incredibly dark and disturbing storyline.
00:39:35It's very hard to see Princess of Monaco playing that role.
00:39:39I'm sure Rainier didn't want Grace to take part in that.
00:39:46Biographers later contradicted the rumours
00:39:48that Rainier had effectively killed off Grace's acting career.
00:39:53I think it was a great source of sadness to Grace
00:39:56that she wasn't able to play Marnie.
00:39:58And I think she then had to accept, really,
00:40:00that she wasn't going to go back to Hollywood
00:40:02and make Hollywood films again.
00:40:05Gossip was rife about Rainier's controlling nature
00:40:09and the stories about their relationship continued in the years ahead.
00:40:14There were rumours of various, what they used to call, toy boys,
00:40:18and she had a flat in Paris,
00:40:21and there were all kinds of stuff about affairs and all of this.
00:40:25She was a good person and she didn't hurt anybody.
00:40:39After turning down the role of Marnie in 1962,
00:40:43Princess Grace never again returned to screen acting.
00:40:47She balanced her time as the wife of Prince Rainier
00:40:50the mother of three children and her various state duties.
00:40:55During the 1970s, she made tours of Europe and America,
00:40:59performing classics of literature to sell-out audiences.
00:41:03Grace was continually looking for ways to express herself creatively,
00:41:08and she had hobbies.
00:41:10She created pressed flower arrangements,
00:41:13and these have actually been published in a book.
00:41:16And she also did poetry readings.
00:41:19In 1981, Princess Grace gave a revealing interview to Desert Island Discs,
00:41:25admitting how much pleasure the readings were giving her.
00:41:29You've been giving poetry recitals?
00:41:32Yes, this is something I started a few years ago,
00:41:35and I've enjoyed it very much, it's been very pleasant,
00:41:38and it's something that I can do
00:41:41without being away from Monaco for, you know, any long period of time.
00:41:46People still realised that she had an innate talent and ability
00:41:51and that they really wanted to still see her.
00:41:54And, you know, she was a great supporter of the arts,
00:41:57of ballet and the performing arts, in her role as a princess.
00:42:02In 1977, Grace's love of ballet gave her the opportunity
00:42:07to make one last return to cinema
00:42:10as the presenter of an enchanting documentary
00:42:13about a renowned Russian ballet school.
00:42:16The film you are going to see
00:42:18is about the children of Theatre Street in Leningrad.
00:42:22Grace had wanted to be a dancer in her teens
00:42:25and ballet was still very close to her heart.
00:42:28This touching film was among the nominees
00:42:31for Best Documentary Feature at the 1978 Oscars.
00:42:36This is where all that effortless grace began.
00:42:40Only years of study and practice can make the ballet movements
00:42:44look unstudied and natural and perfectly confident.
00:42:50Grace brought prestige to the film
00:42:53and is said to have donated her fee and a portion of the takings
00:42:57to support an academy of dance in Monaco,
00:43:00which still bears her name.
00:43:03Grace understood that she was privileged, she got that,
00:43:07and so she tried to use her privilege as best she could
00:43:12in helping children in particular, in being a patron of the arts,
00:43:17and I think in that she was a good person.
00:43:21She was never able to satisfy herself on the scale,
00:43:25anything remotely like the scale that she was used to in Hollywood.
00:43:30Grace's creative pursuits were often framed in the press
00:43:34as her desperate attempts to escape from a controlling husband.
00:43:39I think there's no question that there were undoubtedly ups and downs
00:43:43because she was trapped in a gilded cage by the very nature of the job.
00:43:49You could think of it as a gilded cage.
00:43:51I don't think her life was like that at all.
00:43:53And I think she was actually a very hard-working
00:43:56and professional person all her life.
00:44:00There were reports that Rainier and Grace endured a loveless marriage
00:44:05and rumours that both were having affairs,
00:44:08which have been repeated in numerous books and tabloid articles.
00:44:12It's a shame, in a way, that if you're a famous and beautiful person,
00:44:16any time you're photographed with somebody,
00:44:18it's assumed that you're being intimate with them.
00:44:21They're often just friendships.
00:44:23There were rumours of various what they used to call toy boys,
00:44:27and she had a flat in Paris,
00:44:30and there were all kinds of stuff about affairs and all of this.
00:44:34She was a good person, and she didn't hurt anybody.
00:44:40Princess Grace was aware of all these unproven stories
00:44:44and felt powerless to stop them.
00:44:46She understood that public figures are subject to press speculation,
00:44:50but sometimes she pointed out the excesses of tabloid invention,
00:44:54as in this frank interview from 1982.
00:44:57You know, you believe some of the things.
00:44:59I would have had at least 52 babies by now.
00:45:01For many years, I was always expecting a baby, according to the press,
00:45:05or that my husband and I are constantly being divorced,
00:45:08which also is not the case.
00:45:10To put words in our mouths that are not true
00:45:13or to quote us on things that we have never said,
00:45:17then I resent that.
00:45:19And, unfortunately, there's very little one can do about it.
00:45:24Even if their relationship had been strained,
00:45:27it's thought that in the contract Grace signed with Rainier in 1956,
00:45:32she agreed that if their marriage should ever end,
00:45:35she would lose access to their children.
00:45:38Divorce was an impossibility, because if she had divorced,
00:45:42the children would stay with her husband,
00:45:45that she wouldn't even necessarily have access to them,
00:45:49because they would be regarded as part of the Monaco's royal establishment.
00:45:54After a lifetime of facing down colourful tabloid stories,
00:45:58Princess Grace was a veteran of handling the press.
00:46:02In 1981, she read poetry at a gala event in London
00:46:06in front of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer.
00:46:09The charity concert at £50 a ticket was in aid of the Royal Opera House,
00:46:13and one of the performers was Princess Grace of Monaco.
00:46:17She, of course, is very experienced at this sort of occasion.
00:46:20She also knows how to give a helping hand to a newcomer.
00:46:23This was Diana's first public event since her engagement
00:46:27before the intimidating glare of paparazzi cameras.
00:46:31David Emmanuel designed the dress she wore that night.
00:46:35I think it was possibly at that stage a bit too much for Diana,
00:46:38and Princess Grace gave Diana a piece of the device,
00:46:43and apparently I quote,
00:46:46don't worry, dear, it'll only get worse.
00:46:49And, of course, it did.
00:46:51I think that Grace was a very maternal person.
00:46:54Her eldest daughter, Caroline, was close in age to Diana herself.
00:46:59Grace is still an actor, so she would have known,
00:47:03intuition and instinctively, what Diana needed to hear.
00:47:08Because Diana made some comment about the attention,
00:47:11it's really quite a moving set of footage to see this woman
00:47:16who knows exactly what's ahead of Diana,
00:47:19to meet her at this stage when Diana really has no idea
00:47:23what's ahead of her.
00:47:25She made the news, and when she didn't make the news,
00:47:28in her mind, the news was made up about her.
00:47:32She did not really understand
00:47:35exactly how much of a bubble you live in.
00:47:38Like Diana did not, like Meghan Markle did not.
00:47:43Away from the rumours about her unhappy marriage,
00:47:46Princess Grace was also said to have faced health issues
00:47:49during her later years, especially migraines,
00:47:52possibly connected to her lifelong issue of poor eyesight.
00:47:57She also had a minor car crash.
00:48:00She had been involved in an accident,
00:48:02driving a black London taxi cab,
00:48:06which was owned by the royal family in Monaco.
00:48:09It wasn't a major accident, she hit another car.
00:48:12But that led to the theory that she was never comfortable
00:48:16behind the wheel of a car.
00:48:19Later, tabloids like the National Enquirer would go much further.
00:48:24In its famously salacious style, the paper claims that before her death,
00:48:29Grace was trapped in a nightmare world of tranquilisers,
00:48:33depression and loneliness.
00:48:36But do we believe the National Enquirer?
00:48:39Surely the headaches actually could also have been
00:48:43a sign of other health issues.
00:48:46She was in her early 50s, perhaps the time of the menopause.
00:48:50There were stories that she was lonely,
00:48:53there were stories that she was depressed.
00:48:56I think trying to keep three kids in order
00:48:59and trying to make sure they're happy
00:49:01and they're not doing things they shouldn't do,
00:49:04it's going to be hard.
00:49:07Perhaps most surprising of all,
00:49:09the story that Grace allegedly joined a cult,
00:49:12the Order of the Solar Temple,
00:49:14which had branches all over Europe and Canada.
00:49:17They filmed their rituals in grainy, poor-quality videos.
00:49:21Filmmaker David Cohen dug deep into the story of Grace's involvement.
00:49:26Grace Kelly had gotten mixed up with an order
00:49:29that was into all kinds of criminality
00:49:32under the disguise of spiritual wisdom.
00:49:35When we first got this story, allegation,
00:49:38we were, of course, sceptical.
00:49:40In exchange for the promise of enlightenment,
00:49:43devotees were expected to hand over thousands of francs in membership fees.
00:49:48The cult was run by Luc Geret, a doctor,
00:49:51and Joseph de Mambro, a businessman convicted of fraud.
00:49:55In their hands, the Order had become a front
00:49:58for money laundering and arms dealing.
00:50:01We traced the abbey where Grace was inducted into the Order
00:50:05in a ceremony which was semi-sexual, at least.
00:50:11The Order made news in the 1990s
00:50:14when disturbing reports showed several of their temples destroyed by fire
00:50:19and 74 devotees dead,
00:50:21including the Order's leaders, Geret and de Mambro.
00:50:25As theories shift between murder and suicide,
00:50:28police can confirm they're investigating an international money laundering operation
00:50:32by certain cult members.
00:50:34When the story of Grace and the cult was broadcast in 1997,
00:50:38a spokesman for the furious Prince Rainier
00:50:41described it as a cheap shot at someone who couldn't answer back.
00:50:46One of the things that I learnt in many, many years as a reporter,
00:50:50particularly covering the royal family,
00:50:53is that when journalists get together in large numbers,
00:50:58any number of bizarre stories can come out.
00:51:02Was Princess Grace part of some bizarre cult?
00:51:06Personally, I would regard stories like that as most likely nonsense,
00:51:12most likely fabrications, but who knows?
00:51:17On 13th September 1982, Princess Grace and her daughter Stephanie
00:51:22set off to Monaco from their hilltop home in France.
00:51:26Grace had vowed not to drive again after her previous crash,
00:51:30but she took the wheel and followed a route that one of her movie characters
00:51:34had driven more than 25 years earlier.
00:51:37In Alfred Hitchcock's rousing thriller To Catch a Thief,
00:51:40Kelly gave a thrilling performance while also giving Cary Grant a scare.
00:51:47Slow down.
00:51:48And let them catch us?
00:51:50In the film, their wide-knuckle ride was achieved with clever back projection,
00:51:55but now Grace was racing down the hairpin bends for real
00:51:59to ensure that Stephanie made it onto a train back to school in Paris.
00:52:04She'd had accidents before, maybe didn't drive that frequently.
00:52:09It's very sad that she seems to have been driving the day of the terrible accident.
00:52:14So they go over the hill and it's catastrophic.
00:52:19As Princess Grace and her daughter Stephanie were rushed to hospital,
00:52:23a rumour mill of wild conspiracy theories was already running up to full speed.
00:52:29The mafia was supposed to run Monaco,
00:52:32so they did something to the brakes as a message to Reynier.
00:52:36It couldn't just be as simple as driver error.
00:52:42There had to be some kind of meaning in it.
00:52:49MUSIC
00:52:53Princess Grace and her 17-year-old daughter Stephanie
00:52:57had plunged more than 120 feet down a cliff face in France and crashed.
00:53:04They were rushed to hospital and initial reports suggested both were stable.
00:53:09Reporter Tim Hewitt was sent to cover the accident.
00:53:14Immediately after the crash, the royal spokesman in Monaco said very, very little about it.
00:53:20They carried on almost as if nothing had happened.
00:53:24They did not want to cause panic or alarm
00:53:27and royal press officers in that situation always steer a more cautious path.
00:53:32First, the opinion given not only to the public but to her family in the States
00:53:39was that while injured she was expected to recover.
00:53:43It was confirmed that Stephanie was in a stable condition.
00:53:47Princess Stephanie has a broken vertebrae,
00:53:51but she's fully conscious, sitting up in bed and eating normally.
00:53:55If you look at the pictures of that car after the crash,
00:54:00it really is actually quite extraordinary that Stephanie survived.
00:54:05Locals waited desperately outside the palace for news about Grace.
00:54:11The day after the accident, the announcement came.
00:54:15Princess Grace of Monaco had died, aged 52.
00:54:20Palace spokeswoman in Monte Carlo said that when the princess died,
00:54:25her husband, Prince Rainier, and her three children were at her bedside.
00:54:33Well, Monaco was in a state of shock, a total state of shock.
00:54:38She was a hugely popular figure.
00:54:41This nation went into a complete state of mourning.
00:54:45She was beloved.
00:54:48Nobody could believe it was over.
00:54:51Her death has stunned the principality.
00:54:53Businesses closed out of respect, everywhere flags flew at half-mast.
00:54:57Even the famous casino locked its doors until tomorrow.
00:55:03Princess Grace's funeral was broadcast around the world.
00:55:07This emotional footage was watched by an estimated 100 million people.
00:55:13It captured the grief of Monaco's citizens, mourning the loss of Princess Grace.
00:55:19The principality of Monaco has been in mourning since Princess Grace died on Tuesday,
00:55:25and today only the people who live here were allowed onto the streets around the royal palace
00:55:29to watch her funeral procession go by.
00:55:32It was a mourning of intense emotion.
00:55:34The princess was an enormously popular figure.
00:55:37Her death has come as a painful blow.
00:55:39Just as her wedding had been beamed round the world,
00:55:43of course, her funeral, those years later, was beamed round the world.
00:55:48This, of course, was the end of the romance,
00:55:52the end of the Cinderella effect, and it was terribly tragic.
00:55:59Whatever mystery may surround the death of Princess Grace
00:56:02is for the moment overshadowed by grief.
00:56:05Doing the job that I was doing, and I did for many, many years,
00:56:09you're frequently exposed to extremes of emotion, people in distress.
00:56:15I think that trip to Monaco was one of the more intense that I did
00:56:21because there was genuinely there a quite extraordinary sense of grief.
00:56:27Many, many places that I went to and events that I reported on,
00:56:31I've forgotten, but not this one.
00:56:33Over 400 people attended the funeral
00:56:36in the same cathedral where she was married 26 years earlier.
00:56:41For Rene, Grace had been absolutely the centre
00:56:44of both his private and his public life,
00:56:46so whatever difficulties there may have been in the marriage,
00:56:49I think it was a strong union,
00:56:51so I think he was pretty much certain at the time of her death of a broken man.
00:56:57The news reports from the day captured the family's heartbreak.
00:57:01As Rene walked alongside his daughter Caroline and son Albert,
00:57:05they were caught in the full media glare, unable to hide their anguish.
00:57:11You only have to see the pictures to see how distressed
00:57:16the members of the family were.
00:57:18Prince Rene was distraught.
00:57:21There were rumours that he would abdicate in favour of Albert
00:57:25who was still, of course, quite young,
00:57:27because he couldn't go on without Grace.
00:57:30The global impact of Princess Grace's death was clear.
00:57:34Family, royalty, celebrities and millions around the world
00:57:39were united in the loss.
00:57:41A number of her old friends from Hollywood came,
00:57:45Cary Grant, James Stewart gave the eulogy,
00:57:49saying that she was the nicest person he'd ever known.
00:57:54Grace's life of Hollywood stardom, royalty and tragedy
00:57:58continued to play out even after her death.
00:58:02And apparently it was Princess Diana herself
00:58:05who was very insistent with the Buckingham Palace establishment
00:58:10that she should be allowed to go.
00:58:12Diana herself was to die in a car crash 15 years after Princess Grace.
00:58:20The connection was, I think, looking back on it, almost eerie.
00:58:25Of course, one of the most tragic elements of the funeral
00:58:28is that Stephanie was still in hospital,
00:58:31not able to attend her own mother's funeral.
00:58:38Following Grace's death, important questions were being asked.
00:58:42Was it an accident?
00:58:44And what really caused the crash that claimed her life?
00:58:48The big rumour at the time was that her younger daughter,
00:58:52Stephanie, was at the wheel, actually,
00:58:55and she lost control of the car.
00:58:58Stephanie eventually said,
00:59:01I've actually lived through the last moments of her life.
00:59:05Can I please be left alone?
00:59:08MUSIC
00:59:17Following the death of Princess Grace, Monaco was in mourning.
00:59:21But immediately questions were being asked
00:59:24about what caused the accident that claimed her life,
00:59:27and speculation spiralled.
00:59:30When someone that famous dies young and that suddenly,
00:59:35there's almost a feeling, as with the death of Princess Diana,
00:59:39or of James Dean, you know, both also car crashers,
00:59:42that it couldn't just be as simple as driver error.
00:59:49Oh, there were all sorts of rumours,
00:59:51like, you know, the mafia was supposed to run Monaco,
00:59:54so they did something to the brakes,
00:59:57and then some kind of cult she was supposed to have been a part of,
01:00:01and she was going to blow a whistle on them,
01:00:04and so they took care of her, stuff like that.
01:00:06The palace insisted brake failure had caused the crash,
01:00:10but the question was asked, why was Grace driving at all?
01:00:15Rangier did not want Grace to drive, not just then,
01:00:19but for a long time before that,
01:00:21because she had terrible eyesight and wouldn't wear her glasses,
01:00:25and because she'd been having these debilitating headaches,
01:00:29and because he knew she didn't like driving.
01:00:33Normally a chauffeur would have driven them,
01:00:35but on this occasion, because there was so much luggage
01:00:39to put in the car, covering the back seat,
01:00:42there was only room for two people in the car,
01:00:45and the chauffeur offered to take them
01:00:48and to go back and get the clothing,
01:00:51but Princess Grace insisted that she should drive.
01:00:55There were rumours that Grace's daughter Stephanie
01:00:58was driving at the time of the accident.
01:01:01The big rumour that actually survived at the time
01:01:04was that her younger daughter Stephanie was at the wheel, actually,
01:01:09and she lost control of the car,
01:01:11but she was underage, and so they covered it up.
01:01:15The suggestion that Stephanie was driving
01:01:18came out very quickly after the crash,
01:01:20because when the car landed on its roof,
01:01:23the first people to get there to help
01:01:26saw Stephanie emerging from the driver's door of the car.
01:01:31However, a witness came forward confirming
01:01:34he saw Grace at the wheel that morning.
01:01:37For many years, Stephanie did not want to talk to anyone about the accident.
01:01:42She didn't want to talk to the press, she didn't want to discuss it.
01:01:45It's an incredible trauma to go through,
01:01:48to have your mother beside you, and she was blamed for it.
01:01:52It was revealed in the press that Stephanie attempted to stop the car.
01:01:57So the mystery of what happened on the twisting mountain road into Monaco
01:02:01appears at last to have been cleared up.
01:02:03Princess Grace, according to tonight's medical reports, was driving.
01:02:07As the car careered out of control,
01:02:09her 17-year-old daughter Stephanie desperately tried to reach the steering wheel.
01:02:13There was nothing she could do, and the rover plunged over a steep ravine.
01:02:17Did the brakes fail? Well, that was one theory.
01:02:21There were no skid marks in the road where the accident happened.
01:02:26Engineers who came over from Rover in the United Kingdom
01:02:30insisted that there was no brake failure.
01:02:34Doctors revealed that Grace had suffered a brain haemorrhage while driving.
01:02:39It's thought that although she thought she had her foot on the brake,
01:02:44it could have well been on the accelerator.
01:02:47Stephanie and Grace got in without putting their safety belts on.
01:02:51The car, the four, had pushed her mother towards the back street,
01:02:56and Stephanie had not been able to get out of her own seat, which had been bashed,
01:03:01so she had to wriggle out of the driver's seat,
01:03:05and she tried to shout,
01:03:07Please take us to Monaco.
01:03:11Princess Grace suffered a second haemorrhage in hospital.
01:03:17Medical staff, led by the hospital director, Professor Charles-Louis Chatelaine,
01:03:21finally had to tell Prince Rainier his wife had no hope of recovery.
01:03:25The prince asked for the machine to be switched off.
01:03:30The doctors have said, had she been at home sitting on a sofa,
01:03:35she might have been fine five minutes later and nothing happened.
01:03:39Unfortunately, she was at the wheel of a car,
01:03:42and that car was on these very bendy roads,
01:03:46on the side of these very, very steep cliffs.
01:03:52Stephanie eventually said,
01:03:54I've actually lived through the last moments of her life, really.
01:03:59Can I please be left alone?
01:04:02And Rainier himself said, it's tragic enough on its own,
01:04:06without repeating these terrible stories.
01:04:10After losing his beloved wife of 26 years,
01:04:14Prince Rainier never remarried.
01:04:17After the funeral, Rainier was really not to be seen,
01:04:21and he lived on over 20 years more as a widower.
01:04:27Prince Rainier died aged 81.
01:04:30He was buried next to his late wife in the Grimaldi Royal Family Vault.
01:04:36Grace Kelly embraced her role as princess,
01:04:39but she could never escape the goldfish bowl she existed in
01:04:43that was fuelled by her Hollywood fame.
01:04:46Her movie career may have lasted just five years,
01:04:49but her legacy remains one of the most enduring of all Hollywood actresses.
01:04:56She's absolutely continued to be a legend.
01:05:02Her star power has never diminished.
01:05:06In a sense, an awful sense,
01:05:09her terrifying death actually just gave another element to her legend.
01:05:19She had an extraordinary life.
01:05:21She had the best of Hollywood.
01:05:23She had the best of royalty.
01:05:25And she actually contributed so much to the small country
01:05:29who will remember her forever.
01:05:32Her presence is felt everywhere,
01:05:35whether it's the Princess Grace Theatre or her patronage of the arts,
01:05:40and clearly I think it's fair to say
01:05:43that her name will forever be associated with Monaco.
01:05:48Grace rarely gave interviews,
01:05:50but less than three months before her death, she spoke publicly.
01:05:54In the revealing conversation,
01:05:56she answered personal questions about her legacy.
01:06:00I would like to be remembered as trying to do my job well,
01:06:05of being understanding and kind.
01:06:09No, I'd like to be remembered as a decent human being.
01:06:14When we say that Princess Grace was the ultimate fairy tale heroine,
01:06:20perhaps we remember that fairy tales do have a darker side to them too.
01:06:25It does really seem as though she is someone
01:06:28for whom all the fairies aligned to give her all the gifts
01:06:34that, whether or not they gave her a perfectly happy life,
01:06:37gave her the kind of iconic status that lasts.