Grace Kelly's final film before Monaco called
By Laurent Duval, MonacoViews Editorial
With her engagement to Prince Rainier III barely announced, Grace Kelly returned to Hollywood to complete High Society, her last picture before leaving America for good.
The ink on the engagement announcement was scarcely dry when Grace Kelly packed her bags for the studios one final time. While the world was still absorbing the news that Hollywood's most poised actress would become Princess of Monaco, Kelly reported for filming on High Society, the musical comedy that would close her screen career before it was interrupted by duty and a tiara.
Rainier III, meanwhile, made the return Atlantic crossing in March 1956 to begin preparing the Principality for the arrival of its future princess. The logistics of welcoming a Hollywood star turned royal consort were considerable, and the Prince was characteristically methodical in ensuring Monaco was ready for a woman the world's press had already decided was the most glamorous bride of the age.
The contrast between the two preparations captures something essential about that extraordinary spring: Kelly under studio lights in California, completing a professional chapter that had made her a global name, while Rainier worked quietly along the Mediterranean coast to build the life that would replace it. High Society, fittingly, gave her a grand farewell from the screen — a film about society, marriage, and choosing one's future.