Restored 1956 royal wedding film premieres at the Prince's Palace
By Zak Jackson, MonacoViews Editorial
A fully restored colour print of 'Le Mariage de Monaco' had its premiere at the Prince's Palace on Monday 20 July 2026, seventy years after Rainier III and Grace Kelly wed.
Seventy years on from one of the most watched events in Monaco's modern history, the documentary film of Prince Rainier III and Grace Kelly's wedding has been given a new life. 'Le Mariage de Monaco', restored in full colour, had its premiere screening at the Prince's Palace on Monday 20 July 2026, offering audiences an extraordinarily close look at the Principality and the royal couple in April 1956.
The restoration brings back into focus faces, interiors and street scenes from a Monaco that no longer exists in quite the same form - the Grimaldi courtyard, the Cathedral of Our Lady Immaculate and the crowds who lined the Rock to witness the marriage of their sovereign to the American actress. For residents and historians, the footage carries particular weight: much of what appears on screen has been physically transformed by decades of urban development.
The film had been largely absent from public view since its original release, making this restored print a genuinely rare archival document. No details have yet been confirmed regarding wider public screenings or a formal release, but the Palace premiere signals that the centrepiece of Monaco's 1956 cultural calendar may soon reach a broader audience.