Grace of Monaco

She was the Oscar-winning movie star who bewitched Hitchcock, captivated cinemagoers and ultimately became a real life princess when she married Prince Rainier of Monaco. Despite her death over 30 years ago, the image of Grace Kelly endures. She remains a fashion icon, the ultimate icy blonde who has been described as “the most beautiful actress of Hollywood’s Golden Age.”

Yet behind the stunning good looks and the glamorous lifestyle is the story of a hard-working woman who, when forced to give up her career on marrying, devoted her life to philanthropic causes.

Portrait of Grace Kelly

Her image and her sense of fashion remain iconic to this day. In 1956 she was frequently pictured holding a Hermes bag in front of her abdomen, perhaps to prevent intrusive pictures being taken of her pregnancy. This became known as the ‘Kelly bag’.  The ‘Grace Kelly Look’ of white gloves, neatly pressed shirts, narrow cropped trousers and demure tailored day suits worn with a sensible mid-heel and, naturally, the Hermès Kelly bag, is so famous that the Victoria and Albert museum dedicated an exhibition to her clothes entitled ‘Grace Kelly: Style Icon.’  Her wedding dress was exhibited at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and in 2009 a plaque was placed on the Rodeo Drive ‘Walk of Style’ in honour of her contribution to style and fashion.

Grace Kelly was born in 1929 to affluent parents who, as children of immigrants to America, were from humble beginnings. Her mother was a beauty queen and model who became the first ever coach of the women’s athletics team at the University of Pennsylvania and her father, an Olympic medal winner as part of the U.S rowing team, was a self-made millionaire who owned one of the most successful brick companies on the East Coast. It seems she inherited their tenacity and when she finished high school, she single-mindedly pursued her dream of acting, leaving home to pursue a career in New York. She gained a place at the prestigious American Academy of Dramatic Arts and graduated when she was 19.

The world of film soon beckoned and just three years’ later she was cast in her first movie, Fourteen Hours, with Gary Cooper. Despite the dazzle of Hollywood, she remained grounded, and when she signed a seven-year contract with MGM, she insisted on two conditions that reveal her un-starry nature: that she be released to do stage work every two years and she be allowed to live in New York.

Grace Kelly was married in the Palace Throne Room of Monaco on 18th April 1956.

She would go on to star in 11 films, perhaps the most famous of which are the ones she made with her friend and mentor Alfred Hitchcock. Hitchcock spotted Kelly when she did a screen test for the film Taxi and cast her in his movie Rear Window. Kelly herself was so impressed with Hitchcock that she turned down the role of Edie Doyle (for which Eve Marie Saint won an Oscar), and the opportunity to work with Marlon Brando, in the film On the Waterfront, to work with him. Hitchcock’s camera work remains a potent tribute to both her beauty and to the unique chemistry that she created with the camera. She was sublimely beautiful and yet managed to convey a world of emotion simmering beneath that icy surface – small wonder that Hitchcock described her as a “snow covered volcano.”

In 1955, having won an Oscar for her performance in The Country Girl, she was one of the highest paid and most respected actresses in the world. She was asked to join the United States Delegation Committee at the Cannes Film Festival. During a photoshoot here she met Prince Rainier III of Monaco. The press was delighted with this glamorous courtship describing it as a “fairy tale romance”.

She married Rainier in 1956 in a very public and opulent ceremony that cemented her new role as Princess of Monaco. Her marriage meant that she had to give up acting (in fact Rainier actually banned her films from being shown in Monaco), which led to her focussing her energies on philanthropic work. She founded AMADE Mondial, a Monaco-based not-for-profit organisation which, according to UNESCO, protects the “moral and physical integrity and spiritual wellbeing of children throughout the world without distinction of race, nationality or religion and in a spirit of complete political independence.”

She also anonymously assisted emerging theatre, dance and film artists in America. After her death, The Princess Grace Foundation was established to continue this work.  Thus, despite her fame and her social rank, Kelly remained down to earth and focussed on what she saw as the important things in life. She said of herself: “I would like to be remembered as someone who accomplished useful deeds and was a kind and loving person. I would like to leave the memory of a human being with a correct attitude and who did her best to help others.”

Kelly was a unique combination of beauty and compassion and she had an impact on everyone she met.  Her tragic death, in a car crash, aged just 52 shocked the world. James Stewart, in his funeral eulogy for her, said: “Grace brought into my life, as she brought into yours, a soft, warm light every time I saw her, and every time I saw her was a holiday of its own.”

Grace’s light continues to be cast both in her image and in the work that her charities are still doing in her name.

Dina Aletras

Co-Founder of H Fusion Media & Communications

Prince Albert pledges aid for Notre Dame – the Emblematic Heart of Paris

Notre Dame Cathedral as it was.

Monaco is “mobilising” as a community to assist in the repair of Notre Dame — “the emblematic heart” of Paris.

Notre Dame Cathedral as it was.

These are the words of HSH Prince Albert II in a personal letter sent to Emmanuel Macron.

In the letter, which the Palace shared with PEOPLE magazine, Prince Albert II has praised the firefighters in Paris and pledged the principality’s considerable financial resources towards rebuilding of the historic cathedral.

“Deeply saddened by the terrible fire that ravaged Notre-Dame de Paris, the emblematic heart of the capital, on behalf of all Monegasques, my family and in my own name, I offer an expression of our support and our solidarity,” the prince wrote.

He went on to say that his thoughts were also with “the corps of firefighters for their determined and courageous action in the fight against the blaze that destroyed a medieval Gothic treasure and the architecture, paintings and sculptures that bear witness to 850 years of history.”

American Bar at Hotel de Paris awarded Hotel Bar of the Year 2019

Bar Ammerican at Hotel de Paris, Monte-Carlo

The American Bar of the Hotel de Paris was elected “hotel bar of the year 2019” at the second annual European Hotel Awards 2019.

Bar Ammerican at Hotel de Paris, Monte-Carlo

The American Bar, was renovated in 2018 during the restructuring of the palace. And obviously, the furniture enhanced with leather in warm tones and the cosy atmosphere of the establishment overlooking the Place de Casino has attracted the votes of the European Hotel Awards.

With its unique decor, cosy ambience and jazzy feel, the legend of Monte Carlo is palpable here. The bar is famous for its live music programme and signature cocktails.

The Bar Américain of the Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo invites you to relax and enjoy with all your senses at any time of day.

With shiny, refined wood, burnished leather armchairs, and soft, stylish lighting, the bar looks as if it has come straight out of The Great Gatsby: magnificent yet cosy and always jazzy.

This legendary Monaco bar has a 1920s-style atmosphere that exudes understated glamour and delicate charm.

The Bar Américain never ceases to reinvent itself, offering a wide variety of live jazz, swing, blues, soul and French music.

Ettore Spalletti at Villa Paloma – new National Museum of Monaco

NMNM / Werner J. Hannapel, VG-Bildkunst Bonn 2019

The New National Museum welcomes, until November 3, a project of Ettore Spalletti (born in Cappelle sul Tavo in the province of Pescara, Italy, in 1940) – made especially for the spaces of Villa Paloma – through a route consisting of thirty works divided into seven environments on the three floors of the building.

Spalletti’s work, inspired by the landscapes of his native region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Abruzzo Mountains, comprises a limited chromatic palette of pastel shades – white, gray, pink and azure – to which gold is added.

NMNM / Werner J. Hannapel, VG-Bildkunst Bonn 2019
NMNM / Werner J. Hannapel, VG-Bildkunst Bonn 2019

Contemplative and meditative, but also ascetic, it plunges the visitor, who becomes its central pivot, into a poetic universe where calm, silence and serenity predominate.

Ettore Spalletti participated himself in the installation of these “ambiances” in the rooms of the Museum, whose lighting has been specially modified.

Some works interact with the space, both inside and out.

A new documentary dedicated to the artist, lasting one hour and 30 minutes, projected in the video room of Villa Paloma, also allows the public to discover his daily life and his practice.

Every Tuesday between 12:30 and 2pm, and every Sunday, admission is free. Guided tours are offered to the public.

Election of the Mayor and his aides completed in open session

Mayoral re-election 2019.

The members of the new Communal Council met in public session on April 16, 2019, at 11am, for the election of the Mayor, his Deputies and of a Communal Councillor who constitutes the new Municipality.

This public Session took place in the Council Chamber of the Monaco City Council, in the presence of the highest representatives of the Institutions of the Principality.

Mayoral re-election 2019.

After the opening address of the oldest member, Claude Bollati, surrounded by the two youngest children – Chloé Boscagli Leclercq and Mélanie Flachaire – the Mayor and the Deputies were elected.

Georges Marsan was re-elected Mayor of Monaco for a fifth consecutive term, and the Communal Council 2019/2023 was formed.

In his first speech, Georges Marsan announced the formation of a new communal organisation around eight major themes, in addition to the traditional delegations.

“These major themes will be the backbone of our mandate, so as to lead actions always better coordinated between the services, in accordance with the policy desired by the Communal Council, in accordance with the commitments made to the Monegasques,” he said.

Each of the eight major themes will be placed under the aegis of an elected representative: Camille Svara for the Social; Marjorie Crovetto Harroch for the Framework of Life, the Environment and Sustainable Development; Françoise Gamerdinger for Culture; Jacques Pastor for Heritage and Traditions; Nicolas Croesi for the Digital Transition; Jean-Marc Deoriti Castellini for Animation and Leisure; Chloé Boscagli Leclercq for Youth and finally Axelle Amalberti Verdino for the Development of Financial Resources.

The Public Session continued with the vote of the Delegations and the appointment of the Members of the Commissions and Committees and then of the Full Members and Alternates in the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe.

Before closing the meeting, the Mayor, prior to the vote on the financial management declaration, has listed the major projects for the 2019/2023 term: the new digital identity card; the exterior and interior renovation of the market hall of La Condamine; the creation of calcetto and padel fields as part of the restructuring of the Moneghetti Stadium; the new Media Library; the creation of the application “My City everyday”; the opening of three new crèches at Larvotto, Saint Roman and Moneghetti; a new digital version of telealarm; replacement of the entire fleet of 57 passenger shelters with smart travel shelters.

At the end of the ceremony, the members of the Communal Council went to the Town Hall Square where “La Palladienne” and the Municipal Music were performed, then to the Wedding Hall to listen to the choir “U Cantin d’A Roca”.

Prince Pierre Foundation joins Beyond the Walls Conference in London

Jean-Charles Curau, Secretary General of the Prince Pierre Foundation, Claudine Ripert-Landler, Cultural Advisor at the French Embassy in London and Director of the French Institute of the United Kingdom, Hans-Ulrich Obrist, HE Mrs. Evelyne Genta, Ambassador of Monaco in London. © Karina Decastro

The French Institute of the United Kingdom, in London, the second Beyond The Walls Conference, organised by the Prince Pierre Foundation.

Jean-Charles Curau, Secretary General of the Prince Pierre Foundation, Claudine Ripert-Landler, Cultural Advisor at the French Embassy in London and Director of the French Institute of the United Kingdom, Hans-Ulrich Obrist, HE Mrs. Evelyne Genta, Ambassador of Monaco in London. © Karina Decastro
Jean-Charles Curau, Secretary General of the Prince Pierre Foundation, Claudine Ripert-Landler, Cultural Advisor at the French Embassy in London and Director of the French Institute of the United Kingdom, Hans-Ulrich Obrist, HE Mrs. Evelyne Genta, Ambassador of Monaco in London. © Karina Decastro

The Conference took place on April 16 in the presence of HE Mrs Evelyne Genta, Ambassador of Monaco, and Mrs Claudine Ripert-Landler, Cultural Advisor at the French Embassy in London and Director of the French Institute of the United Kingdom.

The theme of this conference, presented by Hans-Ulrich Obrist, a famous curator, critic and art historian, was: new experiences in art and technology (NEAT)

During this conference, Hans-Ulrich Obrist emphasised the relationship between technology and art. Drawing on examples of artistic projects, the speaker proposed to consider the artist as a significant producer of our future realities.

Hans-Ulrich Obrist is currently co-director of exhibitions and director of international projects at the Serpentine Gallery in London.

The next conference of the Prince Pierre Foundation will take place in Monaco, Thursday, June 27, at the Princess Grace Theater.

The writer, Alain Mabanckou, will address the theme of the Francophonie in a conference entitled: “Rethinking La Francophonie”.