Grace Kelly
 Grace Kelly    (actress) | |
|---|---|
 The Prince and Princess of Monaco arrive at the White House for a luncheon, 1961. | |
| Born | November 12, 1929 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | September 14, 1982 (Age 52) Monaco Hospital, Monaco |
Cause of death | "aneurism, car accident" |
| Nationality | US, Monegasque |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Children | • Princess Caroline of Monaco • Albert II Prince of Monaco • Princess Stéphanie of Monaco |
| Spouse | Rainier III |
Grace Patricia Kelly was an American actress who, after starring in several significant films in the early to mid-1950s, became Princess of Monaco by marrying Prince Rainier III in April 1956.
Grace Kelly was by all accounts horrified by the tainted, corrupt atmosphere in Monaco. She tried repeatedly to convince Rainier they didn’t need mob money to make the Principality great. But the corruption was too ingrained for him to stop it. And Mafia investors who used Monaco – home to one of the world’s most famous casinos – to launder their illegal funds were furious with "goody two-shoes" Grace, who was determined to clean the place up.[1]
Death
The official Monaco Palace version is that on the sunny morning of September 13, 1982, Grace Kelly, 52 – who became a princess when she wed Prince Rainier of Monaco in 1956 – decided to drive herself and daughter Stephanie, down from their weekend farm in the lower French Alps back to the palace. Halfway down the mountainside filled with treacherous hairpin curves, a truck following Grace’s car saw it suddenly swerve out of control, zigzagging across the tiny road. "I blew my horn,” said the driver. “The car seemed to pull back into control. But then I realized it was picking up speed, going faster and faster toward a hairpin bend a couple of hundred yards in front." The car never made any attempt to slow down around the bend. It simply shot off the edge, disappeared through trees and tumbled down the mountainside into farmer Sesto Lequio’s flower garden, perched on the hillside below.[1]
"Princess Grace’s death was covered up," declared Jacques Bidalou, a former French judge, who spent more than two years and thousands of dollars of his own money investigating the case. "Her car was immediately covered with plastic sheets so no one could take close-up photos of it. Police photographers and crash experts never got a chance to examine the car and its crash path at the scene. The car was whisked away from the scene within half an hour...I uncovered evidence suggesting that the Mafia wanted Grace eliminated to stop her from interfering in their illegal business activities in Monaco and that they ordered their henchmen to kill Grace. Strangely, when I wrote to Prince Rainier alerting him to this, I received no reply. I even filed a civil suit in a Nice court, demanding an official investigation into Grace’s death. It was rejected."[1]
No autopsy was ever carried out.[1]
