The day Prince Rainier met Grace Kelly

A unique exhibition in the State Apartments at the Prince’s Palace explores the legendary meeting between Grace Kelly and S.A.S. Prince Rainier III: Monaco 6 May 1955, Story of a meeting. A modern-day fairytale to be discovered until 15 October.

These were the world’s two most talked-about celebrities in the mid-1950s. Grace Kelly (who would have been 90 this year), Alfred Hitchcock’s muse who scooped an Oscar for Best Actress for A Country Girl and S.A.S. the Sovereign Prince Rainier III, who reigned over Monaco from 1949. Two lovebirds with the eyes of the world fixed upon them. When Grace Kelly was on La Croisette for the Cannes Festival, she agreed to meet Rainier III. The moment which would forever mark over their lives took place on 6 May 1955 at Monaco’s Prince’s Palace. Grace Kelly wore a flower-patterned dress for the occasion and seemed overawed by the Prince’s status. This meeting was recorded for posterity by the photographers Michel Simon and Edward Quinn. The exhibition Monaco 6 mai 1955, histoire d’une rencontre (Monaco 6 May 1955, Story of a meeting), presents a number of exclusive pictures.

Edward Quinn. © edwardquinn.com

A meeting recorded for eternity.

During a visit to the State Apartments, you can discover the different protagonists in this event, whether from the film world or Monaco society. You can walk in the footsteps of the future Princess Grace with reverence, reliving these moving moments captured by the photographers in different settings, viewing the personal items exhibited for the first time along with archive documents.... All cherished memories from a legendary and fleeting meeting, which led to an engagement and then to the marriage of the century at Monaco Cathedral in 1956.

Edward Quinn. © edwardquinn.com