Editing Grace Kelly (section)

== Princess of Monaco ==

Kelly met Prince Rainier III of Monaco in 1955, their courtship and 1956 wedding creating international sensation that combined Hollywood glamour with European royalty. Her retirement from acting to become Princess of Monaco transformed her from movie star to royal figure, the fairy-tale narrative attracting attention that any film could not have matched. The April 1956 wedding, broadcast to millions, represented one of the century's most watched events.<ref name="lacey"/>

Her life as Princess Grace encompassed official duties, charitable work, and motherhood while her film career receded into the role of biographical note rather than ongoing identity. Her occasional involvement with arts organizations—she served on the board of Twentieth Century Fox and supported various cultural institutions—maintained connection to entertainment while her royal responsibilities consumed most of her attention.<ref name="spoto"/>

Her death on September 14, 1982, following an automobile accident on Monaco's mountain roads, shocked a world that had watched her transformation from Philadelphia debutante to Hollywood star to European royalty. The tragedy's circumstances—a stroke apparently causing the crash that also injured her daughter Stéphanie—ended a life that had seemed charmed despite the constraints that royal duty imposed. Her Philadelphia origins, distant by then, nonetheless informed obituaries that traced her journey from East Falls to Monaco.<ref name="lacey"/>