The Kelly family boasted a notable blend of athletic and artistic accomplishments. Grace’s father, Jack Kelly, achieved success with three Olympic gold medals as part of the U.S. rowing team. Meanwhile, her mother took on the role of coaching women’s teams at the University of Pennsylvania.

The family’s cerebral and artistic talents extended further. Grace shared a close connection with her uncle George Kelly, a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright. Another uncle, Walter C. Kelly, a vaudevillian performer, played a pivotal role in mentoring and encouraging his niece throughout her career.

Throughout her adult life, Grace Kelly was consistently recognized as one of the world’s most beautiful women. However, in her younger years, even after some modeling work, she wasn’t considered particularly attractive. According to an A&E biography, her family and friends, who never viewed her as movie star material, were astonished when they saw her on the big screen for the first time.

As one childhood friend recalled, “We had no idea she was as beautiful as she was. Grace always had a bandana on, glasses, and a sweater, nothing glamorous. And when she went to New York, and we started to see her on television and in magazines, it was, ‘My heavens! That’s our Grace?'”

Grace Kelly, despite her poised on-screen demeanor, harbored a rebellious streak that later fascinated audiences. Pursuing acting dreams in New York, she initially stayed at the Barbizon Hotel for Women, meant to protect young women from city temptations. Growing tired of restrictions, she broke many of the Barbizon’s rules. When she brought a romantic interest home, her parents strongly disapproved, marking one of many relationships they attempted to control, limiting her romantic freedom to fit their ideal.

According to multiple sources, including J. Randy Taraborrelli in his book “Once Upon a Time: Behind the Fairy Tale of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier,” Grace Kelly faced challenges in her royal marriage. One significant issue was her longing to continue her acting career, particularly after Prince Rainier banned her films in Monaco. Despite this setback, she continued to contribute to the arts in various capacities.

Grace Kelly’s romantic journey began in her teens with a relationship scandalizing her parents. As her acting career progressed, she reportedly had affairs with older co-stars like Gary Cooper and Clark Gable, earning her labels like “home wrecker” and “nymphomaniac” from gossip columns. One serious relationship was with designer Oleg Cassini, rumored to include an engagement and an abortion. Seeking a husband who wouldn’t be threatened by her fame, she met Prince Rainier at the Cannes Film Festival in 1955, leading to a significant shift in her love life.

Grace Kelly’s aspiration to become an actress faced strong disapproval from her father, who held conservative views about the “vulgarity” of the stage and screen. When she enrolled in New York’s Academy of Dramatic Arts, her father expressed extreme disapproval, asserting that being an actress was just “a cut above being a streetwalker.”

Even after Grace’s eventual success, her father, Jack Kelly, remained unconvinced. When she won an Oscar for “The Country Girl,” he reportedly expressed surprise, stating, “I thought it would be [eldest daughter] Peggy. Anything Grace could do, Peggy could always do better. I simply can’t believe Grace won. Of my four children, she’s the last one I’d expect to support me in my old age.”

Contrary to her regal image, rumors suggest that Grace Kelly was not always composed behind closed doors. Louisette Levy-Soussan Azzoaglio, who served as her personal assistant, claimed that the princess had a playful and bawdy side. According to Azzoaglio, Kelly had a mischievous sense of humor, a glint of naughtiness in her eye, and a particular fondness for limericks, even the saucy ones. The actor David Niven, who shared her love for banter, would reportedly bring laughter to the palace during his visits.

Azzoaglio also revealed that at home, Kelly preferred a more casual look, often exchanging glamorous gowns for simple trousers.

Grace Kelly once turned down a surprising role: Edie Doyle in Elia Kazan’s 1954 classic “On the Waterfront.” She made this decision to take on the role of the enigmatic Lisa Carol Freemont in “Rear Window” instead. Ultimately, the choice turned out to be beneficial for all involved: the role in “On the Waterfront” went to Eva Marie Saint, who delivered an outstanding performance, while “Rear Window” became one of Grace Kelly’s most celebrated films.

Despite her family’s athletic and social inclinations, Grace Kelly stood apart. Unlike her extroverted and athletic parents and siblings, Kelly, as biographer Gwen Robyns notes, did not fit the mold. Her father, determined that all his children would have athletic bodies, viewed Kelly as the “runt of the litter” due to her sniveling, asthma, and slender legs. Robyns describes Kelly as “introspective and timid,” finding solace in a world of make-believe.

However, behind her apparent timidity, Kelly harbored a determined and driven spirit. According to Robyns, early in life, she made a conscious decision to distance herself from her family’s expectations and forge a path that allowed her to live within herself.

Even though the terms of her marriage to Prince Rainier had essentially concluded her film career, Alfred Hitchcock still extended an offer to Grace Kelly for the lead role in “Marnie,” a film depicting the story of a beautiful kleptomaniac with a troubled past. While Rainier had no objections to his wife taking the role, the citizens of Monaco opposed the idea of their princess playing a “compulsive thief.” Consequently, the role went to Tippi Hedren.

“Marnie” was not the only film Kelly had to decline. Hitchcock also had her in mind for the 1963 film “The Birds,” another opportunity that ultimately went to Tippi Hedren.

Upon enrolling in acting school in 1947, Grace Kelly’s instructors were determined to “correct” what they deemed her “Philadelphia twang.” According to biographer James Spada, one of the initial directives from her instructors at the Academy of Dramatic Arts was to refine her elocution. As a result, Kelly developed an almost British way of speaking, characterized by a measured tone and well-rounded vowels. This linguistic transformation positioned her “somewhere between Philadelphia debutante and British schoolgirl.”

Contrary to the common perception of her retirement from film, Grace Kelly was planning a comeback before her untimely death. She took on the role of narrator in a documentary about a Russian ballet school and was set to play herself in a film titled “Rearranged.” The movie, intended as a comedy of manners set at the Monaco Flower Show, was unfortunately never completed due to her death. Even though her husband, who had been involved in the project, decided not to release the existing footage, Kelly had been actively engaged in a professional comeback shortly before her passing.

On September 13, 1982, at the age of 52, Grace Kelly experienced a stroke while driving on the cliffside roads of Monaco. She went over a 120-foot mountainside with her 17-year-old daughter, Stephanie, beside her. Kelly sustained severe injuries, and the following day, Prince Rainier made the difficult decision to remove her from life support. Stephanie, though suffering comparatively minor injuries, made a full recovery.

Grace Kelly was laid to rest in the royal family crypt. Reports indicate that her car was crushed into a small cube and then submerged in the Mediterranean, symbolizing the tragic end to her life.