In April 1956, American movie star Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier III of Monaco in what became known as the Wedding of the Century. Now, 70 years later, Monaco is revisiting this legendary romance with a series of special celebrations and a new exhibition at the Prince’s Palace.
The story began in May 1955 at the Cannes Film Festival. Grace Kelly, who had just won an Oscar for The Country Girl, was in town to promote her film To Catch a Thief. It was during this trip that she was introduced to Prince Rainier at his palace.
Following their meeting at the Cannes Film Festival, Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier III began a secret, romantic, and long-distance correspondence that lasted for months, and just eight months later, the prince proposed to her in Philadelphia.
The engagement set off a whirlwind of preparation, as the entire event had to be organized in less than four months. Grace Kelly arrived in Monaco on April 12, 1956, aboard the liner Constitution. The Prince met her off the coast on his yacht, the Deo Juvante II.
The celebrations included two ceremonies. The first was a civil wedding on April 18. The following day, April 19, the religious High Mass took place at St. Nicholas Cathedral. It was attended by 700 guests, including Hollywood stars like Cary Grant and Ava Gardner.
To the public, it was a massive event, and one of the first major events, and the first royal wedding that was broadcast live on television, reaching over 30 million viewers.
Grace’s dress, a gift from MGM Studios, was a masterpiece. It used 125-year-old rose-point lace, 25 yards of silk taffeta, and thousands of tiny pearls. After the wedding, she famously gifted the gown to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Image Credit: WorthPoint/ Wikimedia Commons
To mark 70 years since this historic union, Monaco has launched several commemorative events. From June 8 to October 15, 2026, the Grand Apartments of the Prince’s Palace will host “The Wedding of the Century.” This exhibition features personal documents, gifts, and the couple’s clothing.
On June 8, a special vertical stamp will be released to honor the anniversary, with a limited run of 40,000 copies. The celebrations began in April 2026 at the Princess Grace Irish Library, highlighting the work of Edward Quinn. He was the photographer who captured the couple’s very first meeting in 1955.
Through these events, Monaco continues to honor the story of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier III.
Princess Grace of Monaco had three children and occasionally narrated documentaries. Kelly died at the age of 52 when her car plunged off a mountain road by the Côte d’Azur in September 1982.
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