Monegasque Royals not big on Grace of Monaco biopic

The royal family of Monaco pulled no punches in giving their royal opinion of “Grace of Monaco,” a biopic of Grace Kelly, the American film star whose fairy-tale romance and marriage to Prince Rainer of Monaco captivated the world in 1956.

The film features Nicole Kidman as Grace Kelly, whose son Albert is Monaco’s current ruler. Princess Grace died on September 14, 1982 at the age of 52, from injuries sustained in a car accident in France. Prince Rainier died on April 6, 2005 at the age of 81. The statement released on Friday reads:

“On the occasion of the upcoming screening of the film ‘Grace of Monaco’ at the opening of the Cannes Festival on May 14 and its release in theaters, the Prince’s Palace would like to reiterate that this feature cannot under any circumstances be classified as a biopic.

“The trailer appears to be a farce and confirms the totally fictional nature of this film. It reinforces the certainty, left after reading the script, that this production … is based on erroneous and dubious historical references.

“The Princely Family does not in any way wish to be associated with this film, which reflects no reality and regrets that its history has been misappropriated for purely commercial purposes.”

 
Ouch! In addition to Nicole Kidman, the film stars Tim Roth as Rainier III. And they’ve got Paz Vega as opera star Maria Callas, with Robert Lindsay playing her Greek tycoon lover, Aristotle Onassis. They’ve got Roger Ashton-Griffiths as Alfred Hitchcock and André Penvern as Alfred Hitchcock.

There was a TV movie back in the 1983 known as The Grace Kelly Story. Cheryl Ladd played Grace Kelly in that one and Christina Applegate played her while young. Ian Mcshane played Prince Rainier in that one and they had actors portraying Hitchcock, Clark Gable, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Alec Guiness, Raymond Massey, William Holden and designers, Oleg Cassini, Edith Head.