Grace of Monaco

In 1962, several years after her departure from Hollywood in 1956, Alfred Hitchcock visits Princess Grace Kelly in Monaco with an invitation to return to Hollywood to star in his new film Marnie. The offer comes with a lucrative incentive of a million-dollar contract if she accepts his offer for the starring role. Grace is intrigued by the offer. Her role as the wife of a head of state has been limited in scope and dealing mostly with charity work for hospitals and humanitarian efforts. She asks her husband for permission and he initially appears to be agreeable to her taking the role if she wants the part. In the meantime, tensions between France and Monaco are growing due to the dependence which France associates with the trade favors it has been offering to Monaco throughout the 20th century. France initiates diplomatic measures to get Monaco to accept a position of being a province within France, in the hope that Prince Rainier III will give up his sovereign control over Monaco. Rainier is reticent to accept any such offer. This, in turn, provokes France to begin initial steps toward a trade embargo against Monaco. The French government also initiates clandestine contact with close members of Rainier's family, namely his sister and her husband, to help expedite Rainier's capitulation to French demands in exchange for favors. The tensions also create differences in opinions of Rainier and Grace, which cause him to wish to take back his offer to allow her to accept the film offer from Hitchcock. Grace appears to need to take stock of her responsibilities and re-evaluate her priorities. Grace decides to increase her concern for her participation in the improvement of local hospitals and Red Cross aid throughout Europe. So, she organizes a charity ball to take place in October for the purposes of fund raising and improving the prestige of Monaco in the process. Unexpectedly, Grace receives a report presenting photographic evidence that Rainier's sister has been covertly negotiating with France and de Gaulle against the interests of Rainier, which she promptly reports to Rainier. He denounces his sister's conduct and takes steps to have her exiled from Monaco by due process of law. Grace decides that the Hollywood offer is no longer a part of her life and no longer a viable option to her, given her new diplomatic and political responsibilities in Monaco. Her international charity ball for the Red Cross is a grand success and Monaco gains significant international political capital from the event, which allows Rainier and Grace to preserve the sovereignty of Monaco.

Plot from Grace of Monaco (film)CC BY-SA 4.0