Grace Kelly Once Got Caught Cheating After Wearing Her Lover's Telltale Bracelet, Alleges New Book

The book 'Hitchcock’s Blondes' details how the actress and future princess upset a boyfriend when a piece of jewelry tipped him off she'd been with another man

To much of the world, Grace Kelly was many things: a blonde beauty, an Academy Award-winning film star, and, of course, the Princess of Monaco.

But in the new book Hitchcock’s Blondes — a dishy look at eight actresses who worked with Alfred Hitchcock — author Laurence Leamer alleges that the Pennsylvania native had a mischievous side, particularly when it came to men.

“Despite her upbeat attitude, Grace was a far more complex person than most around her imagined, and far more manipulative than her angelic face might suggest,” he writes. “People huddled around her, seeking her attention, and she knew how to use them.”

According to Leamer, who has written books about everyone from members of the Kennedy Dynasty to Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Rear Window star used her charms to seduce a number of men.

Related: Hollywood Royalty! Every Glamorous Photo of Princess Grace You Have to See

One of those was Don Richardson, a 30-year-old teacher at New York City’s American Academy of Dramatic Arts, where Kelly studied as a teenager after leaving her home in Philadelphia.

According to Leamer, Richardson and Kelly grew serious enough for the future film star to take her paramour home to meet her Irish immigrant parents. They disapproved of the relationship because Richardson was Jewish and, though separated from his wife, still legally married.

Nevertheless, back in New York, Kelly continued to romance Richardson as well as a number of other men, including Claudius Charles Phillippe, the banquet manager of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, and, according to Leamer, millionaire playboy Aly Khan (who was also wed to Rita Hayworth for a time).

“One evening, Grace invited Richardson over to the apartment the Kellys rented for their daughter. As always, they made love. Afterward, she pirouetted before him in one gorgeous gown after another. He had no idea where she’d acquired such outfits,” according to Leamer. “Then she paraded before him nude, except for a gold bracelet laden with emeralds.”

Leamer writes that Richardson recognized the bracelet: “He remembered he had seen it before on a woman who had slept with Aly Khan.”

The wealthy foreign diplomat “was famed for his generosity as much as for his sexual prowess,” and the jewelry “were tokens of appreciation. With so many lovers, it made sense that, as often as not, he passed out the same gift,” writes Leamer.

Richardson, who “had no reason to feel betrayed” because he also had other lovers, according to Leamer, grabbed the bracelet, tossed it into a fish tank and told Kelly they were through.

“Does the bracelet have anything to do with it?” Kelly asked.

“It has everything to do with it,” Richardson said.

Leamer writes that Richardson put on his clothes and hurried for the door. Before leaving, he turned around one more time to get one last look at Kelly.

“Maybe Grace would be crying or wringing her hands in despair,” Leamer writes. “But it was nothing like that. Still nude, she was reaching down into the water to fish out the bracelet.”

Related: The Incredible Story of How Olivia de Havilland Introduced Grace Kelly to Prince Rainier of Monaco

A few years later, Kelly broke out in the western High Noon opposite Gary Cooper, whom she also romanced. She received her first Oscar nomination for 1953’s Mogambo, and won the Best Actress Oscar for 1954’s The Country Girl.

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Kelly starred in three Hitchcock films — Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, and To Catch a Thief — before marrying Prince Rainier of Monaco in 1956 and leaving her Hollywood career behind.

She remained married to Rainier until her death from injuries as a result of a car accident in 1982.

Leamer’s book delves into stories about June Howard-Tripp, Madeleine Carroll, Ingrid Bergman, Janet Leigh, Kim Novak, Eva Marie Saint, and Tippi Hedren.

Hitchcock’s Blondes: The Unforgettable Women Behind the Legendary Director’s Dark Obsession is available now.

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