GRACIEBIRD: A tribute to princess grace

Dedicated to the loving memory of Princess Grace of Monaco (1929-1982) an Advocated Mother, Wife, Princess, Actress, Friend, devoted Catholic, among other great things.

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Grace Kelly is presented by Prince Rainier III to members of the Sovereign House. She shakes hands with Pierre Rey, Privy Councillor to the Sovereign and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the SBM. Photo Fausto Picedi - Archives of the Palace of Monaco – IAM

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Princess Grace and Prince Rainier on the evening after their civil wedding at the Salle Garnier in Monte Carlo, April 18, 1956. Photo Fausto Picedi-Archives of the Palace of Monaco-IAM

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“Prince Rainier of Monaco and Princess Grace will be the official guests of the French Government for three days, on 12, 13 and 14 October.”

The note is dated 10 October 1959.

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Hommage à Georges Lukomski (1932-2026)

Les obsèques de Georges Lukomski ont été célébrées aujourd’hui en la cathédrale de Monaco, en présence de S.A.S. le Prince Souverain.

De 1957 au début des années 1980, il accompagna avec fidélité et discrétion la Famille princière, devenant le premier photographe permanent du Palais. Formé par Howell Conant (1916-1999), photographe attitré de la Princesse Grace, il laisse un important fonds de clichés, conservé par les Archives du Palais, reflet d’un regard professionnel, mais aussi témoignage intime de l’histoire de la Principauté et de la Famille princière.

En ce moment de recueillement, le Palais princier adresse ses pensées les plus sincères à sa famille et à ses proches.

Crédit photos : Georges Lukomski - Archives du Palais princier

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Princess Grace and Prince Rainier arrive at Saint Nicholas' Cathedral to attend a somen mass on occasion of Monaco National Day on November 19, 1956.

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Grace and Rainier of Monaco dancing circa 1960

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Princess Grace during holidays in Majorca, Spain, July 1961.

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Princess Grace and Prince Rainier of Monaco in Majorca, Spain, in July 1961.

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Majorca, 1961

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Grace Kelly photographed by Bud Fraker in 1954.

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Grace Kelly and James Stewart publicity photo for Rear Window (1954)

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Wedding of Elizabeth Ann de Massy to Baron Bernard Taubert-Natta in Monaco on January 19, 1974.

Elizabeth-Ann Charlotte Mary Kathleen Dévote Grimaldi was born on 3 July 1947 in Monte Carlo to Princess Antoinette "Tiny" of Monaco (28 December 1920 – 18 March 2011) and Alexandre-Athenase "Aleco" Noghès (15 June 1916 – 16 February 1999), an attorney and international tennis champion.

Elisabeth's parents were not married when she was born. Elisabeth was joined by a younger brother and sister: Christian (b.1949) and Christine (1951 – 1989). Princess Antoinette of Monaco and Alexandre-Athenase Noghès married in Genoa, Italy, on 4 December 1951; the month before, on 15 November 1951, Princess Antoinette was created Baroness of Massy by her brother Prince Rainier III. Her children's surnames were then changed from "Grimaldi" to "de Massy." The Noghès/Monaco union was of short duration, and the couple divorced in 1954. Antoinette retained custody of her children and limited their contact with their father.

In her early years, Elisabeth lived with her family at the Villa les Glycines (built in 1910 by Walter Williams, the first winner of the Monaco Grand Prix) and then at the Villa Mereze. Given the rather turbulent nature of the household of Princess Antoinette, the one calming fixture in her children's youth was their nanny, Kathleen Wanstall, who had also been the nanny of Princess Antoinette and Prince Rainier.

Elisabeth de Massy was the paternal granddaughter of Antony Noghès (1890 – 1978), the founder of the Grand Prix de Monaco, and Marie Markellos-Petsalis. Elisabeth's maternal great-grandparents were Count Pierre de Polignac (1895 – 1964) and Princess Charlotte of Monaco (1898 – 1977 ).

On 19 January 1974 in Geneva, Elisabeth de Massy married Baron Bernard Alexandre Taubert-Natta (Geneva 2 July 1941 – Geneva 13 April 1989). The couple had one son, Baron Jean-Léonard Taubert Natta (b.Geneva 3 June 1974). Elisabeth and Bernard divorced on 30 October 1980. In September 1982, Elisabeth de Massy suffered an intestinal haemorrhage. On 18 October 1984 in London, Elisabeth married choreographer Nicolai Vladimir Costello (b.24 December 1943; uses the surname "de Lusignan"). Elisabeth and Nicolai had one daughter, Mélanie-Antoinette Costello de Lusignan (b.Monaco 18 January 1985); they divorced on 28 March 1985.

Elisabeth was the only one of Princess Antoinette's two surviving children to successfully navigate the complicated dynamic that existed between Antoinette and her brother Rainier. She was a support to her mother as well as to her uncle and her paternal first cousins. In 1963, one of Princess Stéphanie's godparents was her first cousin Elisabeth. When Stéphanie married Daniel Ducruet in 1995, Elisabeth was one of the forty guests at her goddaughter/cousin's wedding.

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An unknown Grace Kelly circa 1949-1950.

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Grace and Rainier of Monaco during their honeymoon in Majorca, Spain, in May 1956. Photos by Joan Miró "Juanet" (colorized by @gracie-bird).

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Princess Grace, the former Grace Kelly attended an exhibit of 19th century painting and sculpture assembled by the Reader’s Digest tonight. The showing was arranged for the benefit of the Boscobel Restoration in Garrison-on-Hudson, New York, named for the English estate to which Charles I escaped during the Puritan revolution. The Princess is shown with the chairman of the benefit committee, Mrs. DeWitt Wallace, co-founder and co-editor of Reader’s Digest.

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Grace Kelly photographed on a jeep outside her parents' home in Philadelphia, helping to raise funds for her old high school on April 19, 1953. Photos by Joseph Wasko.

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Grace Kelly at her parents' home with her ooodle Oliver on May 22, 1955. Temple Archives.