On This Day: Princess Grace Kelly of Monaco dies in car crash

September 14: The former Hollywood star who became Princess Grace of Monaco died on this day in 1982 following a car crash that reignited fears of a Curse of Grimaldi.

The 52-year-old American, who had been plain Grace Kelly until she married Prince Rainier III in 1956, drove off a mountain pass after suffering a minor stroke.

She and Stephanie, the youngest of their three children, were pulled alive from the wreckage but Princess Grace died a day later after suffering a brain haemorrhage.

Her then 17-year-old daughter, who went on to become an equally glamorous fashion model, survived after suffering a serious cervical fracture.

Initially investigators from just over the border in France, where the crash occurred, thought the brakes might have failed.

Others feared she was the victim of a curse that is said to have haunted Monaco’s royal family since a 13th century cutthroat ancestor gained the tiny principality.

In the end, it was established that there was nothing wrong with the car and that the crash was probably caused by the princess suffering a minor stroke.

The Dial M For Murder star was buried in the Grimaldi family vault after a funeral at Monaco’s St Nicholas Cathedral in front of European royals and Hollywood A-listers.

The princess’s friend James Stewart, who starred in Rear Window with her, gave a eulogy in which he said Grace brought a “soft, warm light” into everyone’s lives.

However, the actress who was widely acclaimed as the most beautiful woman in the world is often said to have been unhappy during her marriage to Rainier, whom she met at the 1955 Cannes Film Festival.

She suffered two miscarriages, which were said to have been brought on by stress over her husband’s instance that she give up on her Hollywood career.

In 1962, she was forced to turn down an offer of $1million –worth $7.6million in today’s money - from director Alfred Hitchcock.

Yet their 26-year marriage was highly successful to the fortunes of Monaco, with the glamorous superstar helping to put the home to just 30,000 people on the map.

A British Pathé newsreel filmed their fairy tail wedding that lit up the world’s imagination with her elegant gown, splendid pageantry and a glittering reception.

Fascination in the glamorous couple helped Rainier secure the viability of Monaco by expanding its economy away from relying on the casinos and Grand Prix.

In 1962, he ended a tax haven row with France by ruling that French citizens could not avoid paying income tax by becoming residents of the principality.

But as no similar agreement has been made with any other country, the micro-sized state in the heart of the Riviera has become home to thousands of other tax exiles.

An impressive mesh of concrete and glass towers now crowd the hilly principality, which also opened itself up to banks, manufacturing and regular tourism.

The prince and princess had three children: Caroline, Stephanie and Albert II, the current ruler of Monaco.
Rainier, who was Europe’s longest serving monarch until his death in 2005, never married again and is buried beside Grace.