Grace Kelly 'transformed' Monaco's image says expert

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Princess Grace, as she became known, left a life in Hollywood to marry Prince Rainier III of Monaco in 1956. She is said to have brought with her a veneer of glitz and glamour, as the principality quickly became ‘the place to be’. Celebrities like Frank Sinatra frequented the famous Monte Carlo Casino, while the rich and famous took advantage of the relatively untouched French Riviera.

Grace sadly passed away in a tragic car accident in 1982.

A year before, hundreds of miles away, Lady Diana Spencer became Princess Diana after she married Queen Elizabeth II’s son, Prince Charles.

Eerie parallels have been drawn between the two: they were both glamorous outsiders who took the world by the storm.

Diana, who said Grace had always been “sweet” to her, spoke of their special connection.

She revealed how Grace had helped her during her first public outing as Prince Charles’ fiancee, a musical recital at Goldsmiths’ Hall on March 3, 1981, just a week after the engagement was announced.

Noticeably uncomfortable, she would later deem the dress she wore as “two sizes too small”.

Diana was just 19 years old at the time.

In Andrew Morton’s revised 25th anniversary edition of ‘Diana: Her True Story – In Her Own Words’, the royal recalled the evening.

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She said: “I remember meeting Princess Grace and how wonderful and serene she was – but there was troubled water under her, I saw that.”

Worried she wasn’t handling herself properly, the 52-year-old Grace noticed and took Diana aside for a chat.

She opened up to Grace about her sense of isolation and her fears for the future.

It was then that the Monegasque princess gave her a stark warning, and said: “Don’t worry, it’ll only get worse.”

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Diana said: “It was a horrendous occasion. I didn’t know whether to go out of the door first.

“I didn’t know whether your handbag should be in your left or right hand. I was terrified, really ‒ at the time everything was all over the place.

“I remember that evening so well. I was terrified ‒ nearly sick.”

The dress, from Emmanuels, had drawn much attention to Diana – for all the wrong reasons.

Earlier in the evening, Charles had scolded her for her choice of outfit, saying black was the colour of mourning.

She later explained she “was quite big-chested then and they all got frightfully excited”.

Craig Brown wrote about the interaction between her and Grace in his 2011 book ‘Hello Goodbye Hello: Circle of 101 Remarkable Meetings’.

He described a young and uncomfortable Diana fretting about the size of her dress, who had to be comforted by a sarcastic Grace.

The former Hollywood actress was herself all too familiar with entering a historic monarchy from the outside, and so was able to sympathise with the teenager.

Mr Brown wrote: “The 52-year-old Princess Grace, the object of this sort of attention back in the Fifties, notices Diana’s discomfort and suggests they retire to the ladies’ room for a little chat.

“Diana tells Princess Grace that she is worried her dress is unbecoming.

“It is, she explains, two sizes too small.

“Her experience tonight has suddenly made her realise how unbearable it will be to have hundreds of people always looking at her.

“She sees stretching ahead of her, a life without any form of privacy. What should she do? She bursts into tears.

“Princess Grace puts her arms around her and pats her on the shoulder. She cups her cheeks in her hands and jokes, gently: ‘Don’t worry dear. You’ll see – it’ll only get worse.’

“The two women return to the throng, there to mingle and be assessed.”

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