How Grace Kelly died — movie actress and Princess of Monaco

On September 14, 1982, the Princess of Monaco and the famous actress Grace Kelly died. She had an accident on the way to Paris driving a Rover SD1 3500

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Biography
Personal life
Why the accident occurred

Biography of grace kelly

The future film actress was born on February 12, 1929 in Philadelphia (USA, Pennsylvania). Her parents were rich and very influential. She studied at a Catholic school, where she received an excellent education and the opportunity to appear on stage for the first time in a production based on biblical motives. After that, the desire to be an actress fueled her passion for life, she began to dream about it.

Her parents did not approve of her choice of profession. But even so, she still applied to the Academy of Arts in New York and enrolled there. Grace’s father was adamant, but changed his mind when photos of his daughter began to adorn the covers of famous magazines. Kelly was in great demand: offers with multi-digit amounts of fees literally rained down on her, as if from a cornucopia. But her colleagues were in constant search of interesting roles.

Grace Kelly (Photo:Cinetext Bildarchiv/Global Look Press)

Thanks to her beauty, magnificent figure and elegant manners, she became famous and became a famous actress and model. Grace Kelly worked closely with director Alfred Hitchcock, who constantly offered her the main roles in his films. Finally, one of the roles brought her the coveted Oscar statuette in 1954 for the role of Georgie Elgin in the film J. Sitona «Village girl».

That is why Kelly was the face of America at international festivals, at one of which there was a fateful meeting for her.

Alfred Hitchcock and Grace Kelly on the set of the movie “In case of murder, type “M”. 1954 (Photo: imago-images.de/Global Look Press)

Personal life of the famous actress

During the filming of Hitchcock’s film “Catch a Thief”, Grace was invited to a meeting of American businessmen, which was organized by the Prince of Monaco. Renier Grimaldi fell in love with a movie actress at first sight and began courting her.

For quite a long time their relationship was at a distance, they sent letters to each other across the ocean. Kelly was amazed by the manners, tact and generosity of her boyfriend, as a result of which she also began to feel tremulous and warm feelings for him.

Six months after the correspondence relationship, Grimaldi made a trip across the ocean to ask for Grace’s hand in marriage from her parents. Both they and Kelly agreed, so the prince took her to Monaco.

Prince of Monaco Rainier Grimaldi and Grace Kelly. Monte Carlo. 1966 (Photo: Keystone Pictures/ZUMA Press/Global Look Press)

The wedding took place in 1956. After the wedding, Grace Kelly officially left her film career and became the Princess of Monaco. The couple had three children.

Why the accident occurred

The Princess of Monaco died at the age of 52, having been in a car accident. On September 13, 1982, she got behind the wheel of a Rover SD1 3500 car to take her daughter Stephanie to France. On a mountainous section of the highway, Grace lost control, the car fell into the abyss from a 45-meter height and crashed.

At the time of the arrival of the ambulance and the police, both victims were still alive. Stephanie had already managed to get out of the mangled car and was sitting next to the open door on the driver’s side. She had a severe shock, but she was practically unharmed, having escaped with only a few bruises. Grace, who was lying in the back passenger seat, had broken legs and ribs. She also suffered head injuries and a severe concussion.

In the Monaco hospital, Kelly was connected to an artificial respiration machine, on which she spent the whole day. The princess’s brain was already dead, so the doctors, with the permission of her husband Rainier Grimaldi, turned off the life-sustaining device. So, on September 14, 1982, Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco, died.

Grace Kelly (Photo: Manchester Daily Express/Global Look Press)

The circumstances of the tragic accident gave rise to many rumors and assumptions about what happened. The press instantly replicated the version that it was not Grace herself who was driving, but 17-year-old Stephanie. This assumption was not groundless, because the young lady had been seen driving a car more than once before this incident, being a minor and not having a driver’s license. An additional argument in favor of this theory was the fact that immediately after the accident, the princess was taken to a hospital in Monaco, and after that she did not even attend her mother’s funeral. Detractors said that she was not in the hospital, but was hiding from the French police, who wanted to interrogate her in connection with the accident that occurred in France (from a geographical point of view).

At the same time, until recently, the dialogue between mother and daughter on that trip was not revealed. In addition, Kelly did not often like to drive a car, but for some reason that day she preferred to drive the car herself rather than use the driver’s service. Some sources wrote that the back seat was allegedly occupied by luggage, so the princess decided to take her daughter herself.

Journalist Bernard Violet, author of the investigation book The Monaco Saga, discovered some inconsistencies with the official version of what happened.Violet managed to find Colonel Roger Bench, the former police chief of Nice, who told about the details of the accident. The disaster occurred on the border of France and Monaco, and therefore the authorities of both countries argued about who would investigate the case. The subjects of Monaco found themselves in a stronger position and, by order of Prince Rainier, transported the wrecked Rover from the scene of the accident.

The crash site of Grace Kelly on September 13, 1982 (Photo: picture alliance/Getty Images)

After the examination, they stated that the gearbox was broken. However, another expert working with the journalist managed to inspect the car immediately after the accident and noted that technically the car was serviceable. Interestingly, the transmission lever was set to the “normal ride” mode, although Grace always set it to the “mountain road” position when driving in the mountains. In addition, she always wore a seat belt, but on the fateful day, both women ignored this rule.

Viola wanted to ask questions about this survivor Stephanie. However, her father did not allow them to communicate, referring to the fact that the daughter has the right to remain silent according to the Constitution of Monaco.

In the post-mortem report, the cause of death was indicated that Kelly had suffered a stroke while driving, an acute circulatory disorder of the brain with subsequent damage to its tissues. As a result of his investigation, Viola found out that before her death, the princess had an X-ray examination of the brain, which revealed no traces of a stroke.

Memorial stone with a portrait of Grace Kelly in memory of the princess who died in a tragic car accident in Monte Carlo, Monaco (Photo: ullstein bild/Getty Images)

20 years later, in 2002, Stefania broke her vow of silence and gave interviews to several European media. She said that her mother suffered from severe headaches, which bothered her during that trip.

“Then I was 17 years old, I had neither a driver’s license nor the desire to drive a car. Especially since my father strictly forbade me to drive myself. Following his will, any police officer of the principality, finding me driving, was obliged to punish me to the fullest extent of the law.

According to Stephanie, Grace Kelly had a migraine attack: “Mom had health problems, she was often tormented by headaches. At that moment, when she was driving our Rover along the serpentine, mom complained of feeling unwell and suddenly screamed: “I can’t see anything!”The car was carried to the cliff. I tried to stop her from my passenger seat by pulling the handbrake lever. But it was all in vain.”

This interview shed some light on the events of September 13, 1982. However, many skeptics are sure that all the circumstances of the accident are still being hidden by the royal Grimaldi family.

The funeral of the famous film actress took place on September 18, 1982 in the family crypt of the Grimaldi family and was broadcast on television. It became a great grief for her people, hundreds of people came to say goodbye to her. Her husband, Rainier, never married again. He was buried next to his beloved in 2005.