Engagement of Prince Rainier & Grace Kelly

[queenofthelight]

Grace and Prince Rainier chats as they stand on deck of the Prince's yacht:

http://i55.tinypic.com/2073vcn.jpg
http://i51.tinypic.com/2n64tug.jpg (13/04/1956)

Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier III attended at the Monte Carlo Opera:

http://i54.tinypic.com/a251k0.jpg (18/04/1956)

[EmpressRouge]

In honor of the 55th anniversary of the wedding of Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly, Life magazine has compiled a gallery of Grace during the engagement period and wedding, including some previously unseen photographs of her wedding preparations. Love the ones showing her frazzled from shopping and packing.
Rare, Unseen: Grace Kelly's Wedding - Photo Gallery - LIFE

[Elly C]

wow some wonderful shots - thank you for posting. Easy to see why Grace is still top of the polls when it comes to Royal brides

[Nadine]

Thanks for the pics, my favorite is the one of Grace and her mother, close up, side profile. My Gosh I didn't realize they looked so much alike, so that's where she got her looks, directly from her mother! The mother-daughter resemblance reminds me of Caroline & Charlotte, whom are look alikes as well.

[FanofMonaco]

PG's father was very handsome as well. President Franklin Roosevelt said that he was the most handsome man he had ever seen.

[Nadine]

FanofMonaco, your post had me searching for a pic of Mr. Kelly Sr., and this is what I found: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Dc819sDLTs...hnbkellysr.jpg

Ahhh, what a fox! Not only a 3-time Olympic Gold Medalist in Rowing, but in looks as well.

Still, I maintain that Grace looks the most like her mother, look alikes:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3582/...486f539b_o.jpg


That whole Grimaldi, Kelly, Casiraghi trio was just loaded with genetically enhanced good looks. And now add that Wittstock gene to it, and I can only envision what Albert and Charlene's children will look like! WOW! I still say they will rival the Casiraghi Trio, mark my words.

[FanofMonaco]

It willl be funny if they have all blonde haired, blue eyed kids in a Mediterranean country.

[Nadine]

Lol, I know. Not only strange, but a bit worrisome imho. And the reason why I say that is because the royal family should represent the people they rule over, and that includes blood most of all. Therefore, I sincerely hope that Albert & Charlene's heir will marry one of the Monesgaque people in order to bring that blood back in the fold and truly represent the country of which they serve. Jmho.

Back on track, Rainier & Grace made the loveliest couple, just looking at the pics it's obvious...ahhh....

[FanofMonaco]

Prince Rainier appeared to be very charming from the few videos I have seen of him.He also always had a fatherly look to him. I can see why he was very popular with his people.

[EmpressRouge]

Originally Posted by Nadine

Lol, I know. Not only strange, but a bit worrisome imho. And the reason why I say that is because the royal family should represent the people they rule over, and that includes blood most of all. Therefore, I sincerely hope that Albert & Charlene's heir will marry one of the Monesgaque people in order to bring that blood back in the fold and truly represent the country of which they serve. Jmho.

Nice thought, but hard to do. Monaco is only about 20% Monegasque. The population is mostly French and Italian and of course, nowadays, people from all over the world taking advantage of its tax policies.

[Nadine]

You are exactly right, EmpressRouge. :)

And in the back of my mind I was thinking about that when I typed the above. In fact just last week I was looking over the official figures, here: https://www.cia.gov/library/publicat...k/geos/mn.html and realized that the breakdown goes as follows:

French = 47%
Monegasque = 16%
Italian = 16%
Other = 21%


By the way, what exactly are the Monegasque people? I always thought they were like the Creoles down South, in that I mean a mix of different ethnic groups, and in their case a mix of French & Italian?

Whatever the case, Princess Caroline's children are a perfect mix of two of the three ethnic groups that make up Monaco ~ Italian and French ~ they blend right in with the people of Monaco imho.

Anyhow, intriguing topic, one I wouldn't mind delving into further in another thread, as right now we're way off topic, and will most likely see our posts deleted.

[FanofMonaco]

The Monagasques came from Genoa, Italy. Their language is a mix of Lingurian, the ancient Italian they spoke in Genoa, and Occente (?) the ancient French language of the area around Nice. Traditionally, I don't think the ruling family has married Monagasques very often. Most of the time they haven't even lived in Monaco; probably mainly in Paris.

[Nadine]

You know I'm really glad you posted that, FanofMonaco, and thanks!

In my previous posting I was going to mention what Charlotte Casiraghi said once about what her mother told her, something to the effect of what you just wrote, FanofMonaco, about how Italian is part of the Grimaldi/Monegasque heritage, or something like that. Thus, I'm sincerely glad you posted what you did!

[queen4aday]

hi,does anyone know if there is a dvd we can get of elizabeth's 2nd wedding and/or coronation?
and is there a dvd of grace kelly and prince rainier's wedding ceremony,pageantry?thanks for any help...

[Marisaa]

Do you know what I realised some time ago? Grace and Rainer met first time on April the 6th 1955 and exactly 50 years later died Rainer (6th April 2005). And they met again.. first time in heaven.I like think about it in that way

[NoorMeansLight]

Marisaa, they met on May 6th, not in April. Grace was visiting the Riviera because of the Cannes Festival.

Queen4aday, you can find many videos of both the Queen's coronation and the Monaco wedding on Youtube. Just type the basic words.

[Marisaa]

Oh, you're right. The false information comes from Grace's biography "Once Upon a Time.."

[FanofMonaco]

In the Barbara Walters interview with P. Caroline (on You Tube), PC said that her parents got married 3 months after they met. I think it was closer to a year later. It must be creepy when strangers know more about your family than you do.

[victor1319]

The website "The Court Jeweller" has an article about the Engagement Rings of Grace Kelly. Yes, there were several rings!
Grace Kelly's Engagement Rings | The Court Jeweller

A modest one, a diamond and ruby one and a massive diamond ring.

[CyrilVladisla]

I like the fact that Grace was able to wear her true diamond ring in the film instead of a false one.