Aurora Starchild
Grace Kelly is undoubtedly one of the most goddess-like women to step foot on the Silver Screen. Her poise, elegance, sexuality, and notable starring roles in movies for directors like Alfred Hitchcock, John Ford, and Fred Zinnemann made the Hollywood starlet an absolute icon. After her marriage to Prince Rainier of Monaco, the actress became a princess. It was a role she seemed perfectly suited for. So how did Princess Grace Kelly’s fairytale life end in so much tragedy and mystery?
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It was Monday, September 13, 1982, as Princess Grace was driving her 17-yr-old daughter, Princess Stéphanie to the Monaco train station. They had been vacationing at one of their residences in France’s Roc Agel. Princess Stéphanie was about to start school in Paris the following day. Their little 1971 Rover P6 3500V8 was crammed with luggage and hat boxes for Stéphanie’s school season. Dresses were laid flat across the back because she didn’t want them to get wrinkled.
Grace Kelly Despised Driving, Had a Chauffeur
Normally, Princess Grace did not like to drive. She had a chauffeur. But on this particular day, with all of her daughter’s luggage, she opted to be behind the wheel. Three people would have never fit in the Rover with the way it was loaded.
Allegedly, the chauffeur offered to make two trips, one just for the clothes. This was to accommodate everybody and save Grace from driving. Notably, this rumor has lifted many eyebrows. People have wondered: Why would Grace Kelly drive on such a dangerous mountain road when she loathed driving and had a chauffeur?
As it happened, Grace and Stéphanie were alone on the 35-minute drive along the CD37, known as Route de La Turbie. It’s a road “to nowhere,” known for its narrow, winding nature and extremely dangerous hairpin turns. And then the elder Princess had a stroke.
The New York Times reported that Grace Kelly, then 52, suffered from a “cerebral vascular incident.” She lost consciousness and the car veered through a barrier and right off a 120-ft cliff. The two princesses, neither who were wearing seatbelts, were tossed around the Rover as they plummeted downwards. They crashed through tree branches and hit rocks during the fall. Finally, the car came to a halt in the garden of a private residence below.
Rumors and Conspiracy Theories Spread Rapidly
Grace was allegedly pinned in the back seat while her daughter was positioned by the glove box. A gardener at the private residence helped Princess Stéphanie out through the driver’s door, sparking rumors that she was actually driving.
However, Stéphanie categorically denied this, stating that she exited via the driver’s door because the other side of the car was inaccessible.
“I was not driving, that’s clear,” Stéphanie clarified. “In fact, I was thrown around inside the car like my mother… The passenger door was completely smashed in; I got out on the only accessible side, the driver’s.” Stéphanie had received a fracture in her 7th vertebrae, which she later recovered from.
Grace Was Taken off Life Support, Brain Dead
The Washington Post reported that Princess Grace was announced dead 30 hours later while in the Princess Grace Polyclinic (Monaco’s hospital). The hospital’s physicians discovered that she had suffered from two strokes — one which led to the accident, and another during or after the crash. The strokes put Grace into a coma. After 24 hours, she was brain dead. Her husband, Prince Rainier, consulted with her children, and they took her off life-support.
But the news of Princess Grace’s death shocked many, including the royal family’s staff and extended family members. It seemed that nobody outside of Prince Rainier and their children knew of Grace’s actual condition until her death was reported on the news.
Millions of people around the world heard of Princess Grace’s death simultaneously and many were infuriated. Prince Rainier had allegedly implied that she only had some broken bones and was okay. She had a broken collarbone and femur.
Some conjectured that she received inadequate medical care. Allegedly, the larger hospital where she had been taken to lacked the same kind of scanning equipment as some of Monaco’s private facilities. But the local physicians called these rumors “garbage.”
Did the Mafia Put a Hit on Princess Grace?
What’s more, a conspiracy theory spread that perhaps this was all the result of a Mafia hit. Was it actually a mechanical brake failure? The New York Times reported that there were no tire marks on the road, which could have implied that the car’s brakes totally went out.
But Princess Stéphanie said she had, in fact, attempted to pull the hand brake before they flew off the cliff.
Another rumor spread that the two princesses were arguing. Stéphanie had wanted to marry her boyfriend, whom her parents disapproved of. And still more wondered, why would Grace suffer from a stroke when she was in such good health? While she did have a history of asthma, she was not overweight, and she did not have high blood pressure.
In the end, Princess Grace’s funeral was held less than a week after the crash, with two of her three children, Prince Albert, and Princess Caroline attending. Princess Stéphanie was unable to attend due to her vertebral fracture. Stars and their spouses traveled from around the world to attend the princess’s final goodbye, and the world watched on in disbelief. Their favorite princess, Grace Kelly, was now in Heaven.
