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Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to even the

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royals early and ad-free right now. Join Wondery

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Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple

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Podcasts. A quick note

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about our show. We do a lot of research

0:10

for our stories, but we also aren't your boring

0:12

high school history class, so some

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details and scenes are dramatized. And

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today's episode contains swearing that's not

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exactly suitable for high society, so

0:20

please be advised. Music

0:28

So, Arisha, in the summer of

0:30

2023, a life-changing event happened. Barbenheimer.

0:34

Mmm. But more importantly,

0:37

just Barbie, which I'm happy to

0:39

report to you. I finally watched.

0:41

Oh! Brock, you did? Yes, I

0:43

knew you'd be so excited. Oh

0:45

my God, finally. Yeah, last weekend.

0:47

So I know you obviously watched

0:49

it when it came out. What

0:51

was your biggest takeaway? It was a

0:53

fun movie. Now, I'll be

0:55

honest, it wasn't a movie that I was like, I

0:57

gotta see this over and over again. Sure. But

1:00

it was fun to go

1:02

back down memory lane of playing with

1:04

Barbies and the different Barbie

1:06

types. And of course, there

1:08

was America for Era's characters' big spiel

1:11

about how hard it is to exist in this

1:13

world, especially as a woman. Yes. Loved it for

1:15

all of that. Yes. America for Era's monologue was

1:18

a huge stand out for me too. I know

1:20

it was a huge stand out for everybody.

1:22

A lot of people were talking about it. It

1:24

honestly made me tear up, which I was surprised

1:26

about. Yeah. Because I don't usually

1:28

like get too teary. You're dead inside. I know.

1:31

I know, seriously. But, you know,

1:33

it's the essence of being a woman. Like, you can't be

1:35

too thin or too big. You can't be too nice or

1:37

too mean. It's like, give us a break. You can't win.

1:40

Yeah. And I will say, today's

1:42

story is about a princess who was

1:44

basically a real life Barbie. She

1:47

was a 1950s

1:50

Hollywood starlet turned princess

1:52

of Monaco. Oh, okay. I'm sure you

1:54

know where this is going. She is,

1:56

of course, the one and only Grace

1:58

Kelly. Grace Kelly. Yeah, See,

2:01

you know I love old

2:03

Hollywood. Yeah, Grace Kelly is

2:05

an eye time. I mean,

2:07

she was one of his

2:09

cock leading ladies, but if

2:11

you don't know, her pictures

2:13

stereotypical Barbie literally. Cigar blond

2:15

hair, blue eyes, obviously beautiful

2:17

and to the world. she

2:19

seemed like the ultimate good

2:21

girl. She was an Oscar

2:24

winning starlit who married a

2:26

real life friends. She lives

2:28

the ultimate fairytale, but. This

2:30

charmed life came at a price.

2:32

Gray spent her entire life working

2:35

towards perfection to be the perfect

2:37

actress, the perfect wife, a perfect

2:39

princess, and the perfect mother. And

2:41

this desire to be the best

2:43

ultimately cost Grace her own perfect

2:45

happiness. It's

2:54

the early morning hours on March. Thirty

2:56

First, Nineteen, Fifty Five and twenty five

2:58

year old Grace Kelly is just getting

3:00

back to her sweet as a Bel

3:03

Air hotel in Los Angeles. She kicks

3:05

off her heels and size. Her feet

3:07

are killing her and she's dying to

3:09

get out of the dress she's wearing

3:11

the first she gets to work washing

3:13

the make up off her face. Grace

3:15

looks at herself in the Mayor a

3:18

french twist in her hair as a

3:20

loose and mascara his streak down her

3:22

cheeks. Just a few hours ago she

3:24

looks glamorous. And now she looks how she. Feels

3:27

drained. Tonight

3:29

was a big night for Grace! She

3:31

want her first Academy Award for

3:33

best actress. It was a night

3:35

sell the celebration, dancing and laughter

3:37

but now the fun has come

3:39

to an end. Grace walks over

3:41

to the bad and flops down

3:44

for ears are still ringing from

3:46

the night partying. It's. Even more

3:48

noticeable now that she's back in our hotel

3:50

room, where there are no other noises except

3:52

for a buzz from the bedside lamp. There.

3:55

Are no family or friends waiting for her?

3:57

No. Special someone by your side Helpers.

4:00

to celebrate. Grace didn't even have

4:02

a date for the ceremony, so now

4:04

it's just her all alone. Grace

4:07

reaches around to unzip her icy blue

4:09

dress, but it's too hard to reach by

4:11

herself. After a minute, she gives

4:13

up and lies back on the bed. She

4:16

wishes she had someone to recap the night with,

4:18

or at the very least to help her unzip her damn dress.

4:21

That's why you go to these events with best friends. Exactly,

4:24

yeah. Eventually, Grace picks up the phone

4:26

on the nightstand. She starts

4:29

to dial a number she knows

4:31

by heart. Her ex-boyfriend, Dawn. But

4:33

then she stops and puts the phone back down. She

4:36

already called Dawn earlier to tell him about her

4:38

night. Grace racks her brain for

4:40

someone else she could call. But she

4:42

draws a blank. She's a fashion

4:45

icon, an A-list actress, and she just

4:47

won an Oscar. There should be plenty

4:49

of people to help her celebrate. It

4:52

should be one of the happiest nights of Grace's

4:54

life, but instead, it's one

4:57

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wondering. From

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Wondery, I'm Brooke Sifrin. And

6:35

I'm Arisha Skidmore-Williams. And this

6:37

is Even the Royals, where we bring you true

6:39

stories of the world's kings, queens, and

6:43

all the

6:46

wannabes in

6:48

their orbit.

6:51

It's a show

6:53

about pulling back the gilded curtain.

6:55

Because despite the whole anointed by

6:57

God's end, royals are just like

6:59

us. Yeah, they have message breakups,

7:01

facts about infernemies, and workplace drama.

7:04

Only theirs end in wars, beheading, and

7:07

sometimes the fall of dynasties. All

7:10

this ladies is unbound. This

7:14

two-part series is all about Grace Kelly, who

7:16

trades Hollywood glamour for a royal title and

7:18

domestic bliss. Only

7:20

to find that no matter who you are, being

7:22

the perfect woman is an impossible fantasy. This

7:24

is Part One. Fire

7:28

and Ice. Okay,

7:35

let's go back about 14 years to 1941. It's

7:39

a cold winter night in Philadelphia, and 12-year-old

7:41

Grace Kelly is walking through the snow on

7:44

her way home. Well,

7:46

actually, more like floating. She

7:48

just saw a play at the local theater,

7:50

and she's head over heels in love. Not

7:53

with a boy, with a stage.

7:56

Oh, I know that feeling too well, having

7:58

been in a balloon-bone high school. Yeah,

8:00

exactly. We all know that feeling. Now,

8:02

Grace watched the whole cast pretend to be other

8:05

people, and the entire audience cheered

8:07

for them. She loves playing

8:09

make-believe, but she never knew it could be

8:11

a career. So now, Grace

8:13

is pretty sure that acting is her

8:15

destiny. Kind of like Arita when she's high.

8:19

Or not high. But

8:22

before Grace can get started, she needs

8:24

to get her father's permission. She's

8:27

also kind of hoping that if she's great at

8:29

acting, her dad will be

8:31

excited and maybe even proud. Her

8:34

dad, Jack Kelly, expects the best from

8:36

his kids. He won

8:39

not one, but three Olympic gold

8:41

medals for Sculling, which is basically

8:43

rowing. Then he founded a

8:46

business and ran for mayor. He's

8:48

a huge deal in Philadelphia at this point,

8:51

and not exactly a chill guy or

8:54

father. Unlike her siblings, Grace

8:56

still hasn't figured out how to make Jack

8:58

proud. Her brother and younger

9:00

sister are sporty like their dad, and

9:02

Grace's older sister, Peggy, has his same

9:05

sharp sense of humor. But

9:07

Grace is awkward and quiet. Most

9:10

of the time, her family makes fun of her

9:12

or leaves her out. Yeah, see,

9:14

that's not what families are supposed to do.

9:16

What the hell? Exactly. But

9:18

maybe now she's finally found the thing that

9:20

will make her dad notice her. Once

9:23

he sees her name in lights, Jack will

9:25

believe she's a real Kelly, and

9:27

his eyes will light up like they do when he

9:29

talks about her siblings. Grace pushes

9:32

open the front door and kicks off her

9:34

snowy shoes. She knocks on

9:36

the door of her dad's smoke-filled study

9:38

and cautiously walks in. Jack

9:40

looks up at her impatiently, and

9:42

Grace almost turns right back around. But

9:45

she gathers her courage and blurts out, can I

9:47

please audition for a show in town? I want

9:49

to be an actress. Grace

9:51

holds her breath, waiting for Jack's

9:53

reaction. He doesn't say

9:56

anything for a long time. The

9:58

Silence feels thick. Finally

10:00

he sighs and as like

10:03

sure. That his

10:05

eyes don't light up like Grace hoped.

10:07

Her energy does slates like a

10:10

balloon. This. Wasn't a reaction she

10:12

was hoping for. But. Like

10:14

a good daughter, Grace thanks her dad

10:16

and leaves the room. She turns around

10:18

one last time as she exits and

10:20

sees that he's already back to work.

10:22

Like you forgot, she was even their

10:24

them. But Grace is a

10:26

collie which means so succeed and

10:29

when she's the best actress in

10:31

the world. Her dad will have

10:33

to be proud of her. Not.

10:37

Long after that awkward father daughter

10:39

conversation, Grace gets passed in a

10:41

lead role at her local theater.

10:43

It's just the kids play about a

10:46

circus by Grace tackles every rehearsal like

10:48

see starring in Wicked on Broadway like

10:50

me when I was a new blooper.

10:52

Exactly Yeah. She really digs deep

10:54

just like you. She's always on

10:57

time and she never forget the

10:59

line. Grace. Even volunteers

11:01

costume pieces straight from her

11:03

mom's closet. Listen, Costume budgeting

11:06

is not cheap. I get it.

11:08

You get it where you can find it. A

11:11

few months later, Grace makes her big

11:13

stage debut. She's nervous and not

11:15

just because it's her first. Show great

11:18

knows her family is sitting. In

11:20

the crowd when the curtain goes up

11:22

Grace can sense the audience the on

11:24

the lights and she had or cues

11:27

and blocking they respond to her. She

11:29

gets last and applause. It's thrilling to

11:31

put away her real personality and become

11:34

someone new. Grace might not fit in

11:36

with her family at this. Stage sure

11:38

feels like home. After

11:42

that first show, the Kelly's don't

11:44

suddenly do a one eighty at

11:46

home. They still dismiss her. But.

11:48

It seems a little less because now

11:50

Grace has found a place where she

11:52

belongs. she keeps performing with

11:55

her local theater and when grace gets

11:57

to high school she sags the lead

11:59

roles and peter and the

12:01

taming of the shrew. You gotta respect

12:03

the girls' range, even as a teen.

12:05

Truly, yeah. Yeah. So

12:07

meanwhile, all the stage experience is giving

12:09

Grace more confidence in life. By

12:12

the time she's 15, she's gone from

12:14

awkward duckling to swan. She

12:17

has the kind of poise you have when you just

12:19

know you're gorgeous, but you're not a dick about it,

12:21

you know? Oh, the kind of poise I have. Exactly,

12:24

yeah. You guys are so

12:26

similar. I know, it's like you're reading

12:28

my biography. I know, suncanny. So

12:30

obviously, the boys start to notice

12:32

her at school, but Grace starts

12:35

to notice boys, too. Her

12:37

acting chops make her a great date. Every

12:40

encounter is like a little play. Grace

12:42

knows how to turn the conversation back to

12:44

her date's favorite subjects. She's

12:46

gorgeous, a little shy, and willing to

12:49

mold herself into whatever her dates want.

12:51

What's not to love if you're a teenage boy in 1946? Or

12:55

any time period, really. I

12:58

was gonna say, not just 1946, yeah.

13:01

Yeah, and Grace is enjoying herself.

13:04

She loves flirting and a little

13:06

backseat canoodling. Basically, the

13:08

girl loves love, but

13:11

she stops at losing the big Z, even

13:13

if she might want to. This is

13:15

the 1940s and quote-unquote, nice

13:18

girls don't do that in high school.

13:21

Thank God we're not nice girls. By

13:24

the end of senior year, Grace has a lot

13:26

of confidence with boys, but she's still

13:28

having trouble with her family. Whenever

13:31

they get loud or opinionated, Grace

13:33

shrinks back to her old self. Her

13:35

parents think acting is a waste of

13:37

time at best. And

13:39

at worst, it's trashy and vain.

13:42

And to that I say, get me a mirror and

13:44

a dumpster baby, because I love acting. Yeah, this coming

13:47

from the guy that throws things. What?

13:50

Wasn't that his Olympic sport was

13:52

throwing things? No, it's like rowing.

13:54

Oh, that's right. He's just

13:56

throwing his shoulder out of its socket. Yeah,

13:58

yeah. Yeah. But Grace

14:00

is determined to prove that acting is

14:03

a worthy choice, even for a

14:05

Kelly. So she applies to one of

14:07

the top acting schools in the country,

14:09

the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New

14:11

York City. Grace is accepted for

14:13

the fall semester in 1947. But

14:16

getting in isn't the hard part. It's

14:18

staying in. There are tough

14:21

exams and constant critiques. It's

14:23

pretty common for half the class to drop out before

14:25

the first year is over. But

14:27

Grace is starting off behind. The

14:30

admissions board told her that her voice is,

14:32

quote, improperly placed,

14:35

which is a bougie 1940s way

14:37

of saying, we hate your nasally-fully accent.

14:40

So much kinder. Yeah, seriously. Most

14:43

actors at this time are using a

14:45

special accent that's a made-up combination of

14:47

American and British. Sometimes

14:49

it's called a transatlantic accent. You

14:51

know how Catherine Hepburn sounds like kind of

14:54

British, but not really? Yeah. It's

14:56

basically that. I'm not familiar with

14:58

this accent. Thanks, the Frasier. Oh, are you? You

15:01

got one in your pocket you want to pull out? God, no. That's

15:03

one accent I won't attempt. I

15:05

love doing a transatlantic accent. It's so

15:07

fun. All right, let's hear it. Okay.

15:10

Well, you see, I was like walking over to the couch and

15:13

then I had to lie down.

15:17

What's that note that she got? I'm going to give it to you.

15:20

How dare you? Well, listen, if we were

15:22

in acting school in the 1940s, we'd probably

15:24

be about as screwed as Grace is right

15:26

now. She got into

15:28

this school, but if she wants to stay,

15:31

she's got to leave Philly behind. Grace

15:36

spends night after night doing vocal

15:39

exercises. She's determined to

15:41

sound cultured and elegant. And

15:43

after months of trying, she finally nails

15:45

the accent. It's a total My

15:47

Fair Lady moment. But the hard

15:50

work isn't over. Grace is going

15:52

to need to use this voice every day to really

15:54

make it second nature, which will

15:56

be great for her acting career, but

15:58

not so great for her family. life. The

16:01

next time Grace visits her parents, her new voice

16:03

just becomes one more way for them to

16:05

make fun of her. Grace

16:07

tells herself it's no big deal. They'll

16:10

understand when she lands her first big role.

16:12

Until then, she focuses on all the fun

16:14

she's having in New York. She's

16:17

18, unsupervised, gorgeous, and living

16:19

in the city that never

16:21

sleeps. Grace doesn't feel like

16:23

the wallflower of the Kelly family when she's here.

16:26

In New York, she's confident, witty,

16:28

and even sexy. Her

16:31

idea of having fun is finding a cute

16:33

boy, or two, or three, or four, or

16:35

five, or six. And

16:37

there. Amen to that. And

16:39

unlike in high school, she's

16:42

now going all the way. But

16:44

this is the 1940s and the

16:46

sexual revolution is decades away. The 1940s

16:48

are really holding poor Grace back.

16:50

I know, they're a real bummer. Yeah, like

16:52

let a girl live, you know? I

16:55

know. Well, Grace kind of does that in her own 1940s

16:57

way. She

16:59

pretends to be modest in public while

17:01

doing exactly what she wants in private.

17:03

Okay, I love it. By the end

17:06

of her first year at school, Grace

17:08

has several gentleman callers and none of

17:10

them really know the others exist. God,

17:12

this girl's an inspiration. Yeah.

17:15

One boyfriend introduces Grace to a photographer

17:17

who helps her book a few modeling

17:19

jobs and the camera truly loves

17:21

her. Grace starts with print

17:23

ads, but within a year, she's featured

17:25

on the cover of some big magazines

17:27

like Red Book and Cosmo. She

17:29

even does a few commercials. Grace still

17:31

wants to act on stage most of

17:34

all, but it feels good to be

17:36

successful. And the modeling gigs earn decent

17:38

money, enough to pay her parents back

17:40

for acting school tuition and pay her

17:43

own rent, which good for Grace. Yeah.

17:45

Grace is finally getting somewhere. She's

17:47

putting her face out into the

17:49

world. She survived her first year

17:52

of acting school and she's got a

17:54

whole solar system of men orbiting around her.

17:57

But even with all of this, in a city as big

17:59

as New York, it's easy to

18:01

feel lonely. Grace is craving

18:03

real love, and she's about

18:05

to find it during the strangest meet-cute ever.

18:08

Unfortunately for Grace, the path to true

18:11

love won't be easy, because

18:13

this mystery man will have to go up

18:15

against the most intimidating opponent of all. The

18:18

Kelly Family. It's

18:36

the fall semester, and 19-year-old Grace

18:38

Kelly is walking down the academy's

18:40

main hallway. It's her second

18:42

year in acting school, and half of her

18:44

classmates have already dropped out. Only

18:46

the best are still standing. And

18:49

right now, Grace feels like the best. She

18:52

walks with the confidence of a model, because,

18:54

well, she is one. Her

18:57

face is on a literal billboard. Yes,

18:59

it's for beer instead of something fancy

19:01

like jewelry, but it's a billboard nonetheless.

19:03

A billboard's a billboard, yeah.

19:05

Exactly. The girl is on fire.

19:08

Well, almost. Her

19:10

success still means diddly-squat at home.

19:14

Grace's brother is now a champion oarsman,

19:16

and her older sister is married and

19:18

doing the whole white-picket-fence thing near their

19:20

parents. So Grace is still the family

19:23

disappointment. I mean, who cares about billboards

19:25

when you can grow a full yard of petunias, I guess,

19:27

Yeah, congratulations. Yeah,

19:30

congrats. Plus, not everyone

19:32

likes seeing Grace's perfect bone structure

19:34

splashed across billboards or magazine pages.

19:37

Some of her classmates are jealous. They

19:40

say she's a snob and an ice queen,

19:42

because we all know you can't possibly be

19:44

pretty and not a raging bitch. Yeah,

19:47

it's gotta be so hard to not have

19:49

success. It really must be.

19:51

Grace usually ignores the haters and puts

19:53

on her best resting, I don't give

19:55

a fuckface. But that's gonna be

19:58

hard today. Grace

20:00

steps into an elevator to head to her dorm.

20:03

But before the doors can close, a bunch of

20:05

her fellow classmates follow her in. They

20:07

smile at her and their

20:09

vibe is menacing. The

20:12

doors close and now Grace is

20:14

stuck in this slow ass elevator. She

20:17

tries to make herself as small as possible. And

20:20

that's when the taunting begins. For

20:23

some reason, one of the guys has

20:25

a puppy and he shoves its butt

20:27

in Grace's face. Wait, what? Yeah, it's

20:29

like, what? I mean, poor Grace, but

20:31

also poor puppy. Like, you don't do

20:33

that. Yeah, fuck that. I know. And

20:36

Grace tries to ignore them. And

20:38

when that doesn't work, she begs them to

20:41

stop. But they won't. It

20:43

gets so bad that Grace bursts into

20:45

tears. The

20:47

elevator doors open and a young male

20:49

teacher steps in. It's Don

20:51

Richardson, a hot shot director at the

20:53

school. Everyone freezes.

20:56

Don's eyes go from the kids and their poor

20:59

puppy to Grace's tear-stained cheeks.

21:02

For a minute, Grace wonders if he's gonna laugh

21:04

at her. But instead, he yells

21:06

at the kids and makes sure they leave

21:08

the elevator. Grace is alone

21:10

with the director for a few more floors. She's

21:13

embarrassed and can't quite look him in the

21:15

eyes. But when they reach the lobby, Grace

21:18

calms the waterworks and looks closer at the guy

21:20

next to her. Don

21:22

is her teacher this semester. He has

21:24

dark hair and brown eyes. She's

21:27

heard he's intimidating. But right

21:29

now, he seems kinda sweet and

21:31

cute. He can't be older than 30.

21:35

They leave the building together and Don hands

21:37

Grace a hanky, which is so 1940s.

21:41

And I love it. My dad still carries

21:43

hankies. Aww, that's cute. He gives

21:45

me ones whenever I'm crying. I

21:47

love your dad. Don tries

21:49

to hail her a cab, but it's snowing.

21:52

He finally gives up and suggests they grab

21:54

a hot drink nearby. But first,

21:56

he needs to get some cash from his apartment.

21:59

Grace, I- It has broad shoulders.

22:01

And looks back up into his eyes. And

22:03

I imagine she's like we don't need to

22:06

go anywhere. There's a hot Toddy right in

22:08

front of me as. A

22:11

citizen of a bunch of gentleman colors

22:13

or nothing, you know she got the

22:15

moves. so grace of follow this handsome

22:18

older man back to his place in

22:20

her mind is racing. Dawn might only

22:22

have a beverage on his mind, but

22:25

she's certainly thinking about more. Only thing

22:27

is in school, she has a reputation

22:29

for being a good. Girl: any

22:32

serious student. So tonight

22:34

she's really hoping that dans the

22:36

kind of guy who like surprises.

22:40

Sorry. Said you think Grace got more than

22:42

just a hot drink. On, I

22:44

hope so, I hope so while your

22:47

hopes will come true oh how ya

22:49

has when they get to Dance apartments

22:51

He offers to make her some coffee

22:53

before they had out again. And after

22:56

he leaves the room, Grace hops in

22:58

his bed totally naked eye me and

23:00

ludicrous that a passed leaning the street.

23:03

Freak. In this feeling in

23:05

the seats. Yeah, so Dime

23:07

South short. When he sees

23:09

her, he's clearly shocked that

23:11

the teary eyed girl he

23:13

invited over is actually a

23:15

sexual firecracker. But luckily he's

23:17

also not complaining and he

23:20

joins her. And after that,

23:22

it's all the way on

23:24

with Don may start hooking

23:26

up and secret because Dawn

23:28

is still Graces Teacher and

23:30

he's technically married. Oh damn

23:32

it for. Us Com. I'd say though

23:34

I will say he is in the process

23:37

of getting a divorce but still you know

23:39

is Stacey I was so excited cause I

23:41

was like you know what and she's initiating

23:43

this so it's not like.that creepy like peach

23:45

are preying on a student yeah and then

23:47

use the throne. The marriage Come on. Now

23:50

I know it's not exactly a great luck

23:52

for Grace to be dating him. So Zola

23:54

they come up with a system. They ignore

23:56

each other as much as possible at school

23:58

and then they do you ever the thing

24:00

except ignore one another at night. Ah,

24:03

Dons Apartments. It's

24:06

pretty soon Grace is in love and

24:08

dance, falling for her tail. He tells

24:10

everyone that Grace is gonna be a

24:12

film star and even helps or get

24:15

an agent the she really wants to

24:17

be on the stage, not in movies.

24:19

In Graces new version of her acting

24:21

dreams. she and on get married moved

24:23

to Philly and open up their own

24:26

theatre. He directs she acts

24:28

and they both. Make and Google

24:30

lies each other. Twenty four seven

24:32

sounds perfect. Lighting. I mean, I.

24:34

Need little for you know, acting

24:36

and married love, blah blah blah.

24:39

but she lost me at silly

24:41

So out why not? London or

24:43

Paris, The City of Love or

24:45

Hoboken, New Jersey? Just. Getting yeah,

24:47

others are all the same. Yeah,

24:50

but before any of this can happen,

24:52

Dawn needs his divorce to come through

24:54

and Grace needs to get her family's

24:56

approval. And that just because Dawn is

24:58

our c and married an older than

25:00

days. He's also Jewish, which

25:03

Greece know the won't go over

25:05

well with her Irish Catholic family.

25:07

Here we go. About

25:14

four months later, Grace and on are

25:16

having dinner with the Kelly that their

25:18

fancy country club in Philadelphia. And.

25:20

Then night has already gone awry.

25:23

Grace. Has been watching her brother and

25:25

his friends provoked on all. Evening Oh

25:27

no, do they have a puppy? Know.

25:29

Honestly, it's worse. They're making

25:32

anti semitic job of time

25:34

doing crude Jewish impressions.

25:36

Oh My. God. Like

25:39

total trash behavior and. Grace

25:42

is mortified by she's afraid to

25:44

make a scene. She still hoping

25:46

that a pleasant evening will convince

25:48

her parents that Dawn is a

25:50

good match. That. mr and mrs

25:52

kelley are any better than her brother

25:55

as the night wears on and the

25:57

kelly's keep the national grace does what

25:59

she always does when her family is being

26:01

judgmental. Shrink down in her chair

26:03

and try to fade into the background. At

26:06

one point, her mom, Margaret, leans over

26:08

to ask Don how Grace is doing

26:10

at school. Don smiles and

26:12

tells her, like he tells everyone, that

26:15

Grace is going to be a big movie star one

26:17

day. Grace's heart melts, but

26:19

her mom chokes on her food. And

26:21

it's not because she's in need of

26:23

the Heimlich maneuver, it's because she's laughing.

26:27

Margaret repeats Don's prediction to the rest of

26:29

the family, and the whole table cackles at

26:32

the idea of Grace being on the big

26:34

screen. What the fuck is up with this

26:36

family? They're terrible. Why don't they go and

26:38

row themselves into the ocean? They

26:41

really should try that. And once

26:43

again, Grace is mortified. She stares at

26:46

her lap and wonders how her family

26:48

can still make her feel so small. So,

26:53

Aritia, if you think the family visit was bad

26:55

already, it somehow gets

26:57

worse. Okay. The

27:00

next day, Grace's mom kicks Don

27:02

out of the house with no

27:05

explanation. Turns out, while

27:07

Don and Grace were out of the

27:09

house, Grace's mom went through Don's suitcase

27:11

and found a couple of things she

27:13

didn't like. A letter

27:15

from his lawyer about a divorce hearing

27:18

and condoms. It's like, how dare

27:20

he use protection? What does that say? Does

27:22

she want a grandchild? Like, come on. No,

27:24

seriously. But Grace's parents

27:26

are furious. They rail at her

27:29

about immorality and ban her from

27:31

going back to New York. But

27:33

for once, Grace doesn't melt under the

27:36

heat of a Kelly lecture. She's

27:38

determined to get back to the city and

27:40

out of the Kelly household. Grace

27:43

figures if she books a worthy show, her parents

27:45

will have to let her return to New York.

27:48

She takes a maneuvering, but she gets a

27:50

break and a few months later, she's cast

27:52

in her first Broadway play. So,

27:55

the Kellys give in and let Grace move back

27:57

to the city, but there's still a hard

28:00

no on Don. And Grace

28:02

can't bring herself to completely defy her parents.

28:05

So even though she loves him, she eventually

28:07

breaks things off with Don. No.

28:10

What they don't know can't hurt him. I know.

28:12

Yeah. But I will say,

28:14

it was that or a lifetime of

28:17

awkward Christmas dinners. Or possibly even being

28:19

banned from dinners altogether. Which honestly seems

28:21

like that'd be a blessing. I

28:24

was gonna say the same thing. Who wouldn't want that in

28:26

this family? I know, yeah. But

28:28

Grace can't seem to shake the need

28:31

for her family's approval and respect. And

28:33

in the summer of 1949, Grace

28:35

has more important things on her mind than

28:37

her relationship troubles. She's now

28:40

an acting school graduate and preparing

28:42

for her Broadway debut. Unfortunately,

28:44

it goes about as well as her

28:46

love life. The reviews come in and

28:49

they are harsh. One

28:51

even says that the cast performs like

28:53

a backwoods local theater group. Okay,

28:55

rude. That is rude. That's like the

28:57

worst thing you can say. Who's writing

29:00

this review, Niles Crane? Yep,

29:02

you guessed it. Grace

29:05

was voted the best of the lot, but

29:07

the show was a total flop. And

29:10

just like that, she's back on the

29:12

audition grind. She reads for

29:14

dozens of parts, but keeps getting no's.

29:16

They say she's too tall, too

29:19

leggy, too chinny. Which

29:21

I did not know could be a thing. Oh

29:24

my god, the entertainment industry will literally

29:26

find any body part to just

29:28

absolutely tear apart. That's true. That

29:30

is such a good point. But finally, in

29:32

August of 1951, Grace gets another break.

29:36

She receives a telegram from a Hollywood producer

29:38

with an offer to star in a

29:40

movie. It's a Western

29:42

called High Noon, and her character is

29:45

the leading man's young, mousy wife. But

29:47

get this, Grace didn't

29:49

even audition. The director

29:51

basically just saw a picture of her face and was

29:53

like, she's pretty, and I don't have to pay her

29:56

a lot. She'll do. Again, my

29:58

dream. I know, I was about to say it. This girl

30:00

is literally living my dream. Grace

30:02

has been focused on a career in the

30:05

theater, but Broadway went so badly, it seems

30:07

careless to turn down a big project. Plus,

30:10

she'll be acting opposite the

30:12

Gary Cooper. He's a

30:15

huge star and it's a great opportunity

30:17

to learn from the best. Coops. Coops,

30:19

yes, that's what we all call them. Yep, in the biz. It's

30:22

also Grace's chance to move into the big

30:24

leagues, but being in the majors means living

30:26

up to the standards of Hollywood. Grace

30:29

is about to be dropped into the deep end, and

30:32

she doesn't know if she'll swim or sink. A

30:39

year later, High Noon premieres

30:41

all across the country, and

30:47

even before Grace sees herself on the big screen,

30:50

she has a feeling she sank more

30:52

than slum. Early reviews

30:54

have barely mentioned her, and

30:56

when she finally sees herself in the movie, she

30:59

knows why. Well, I'm

31:02

begging you, please let's go. I can't. Don't try

31:04

to be a hero. You don't have to be

31:06

a hero, not for me. Grace

31:09

thinks her acting blows. She

31:11

thinks her voice sounds silly, her movements

31:13

are stiff, and her performance is

31:16

emotionless. Okay, here's the thing. It very much plays

31:18

like a movie that was made in the 50s.

31:20

Like, I'm not like, oh my God, it's Meryl

31:22

Streep, but I don't think she's sad. It feels

31:24

like a performance that I would expect to see

31:26

in a movie from the 50s. I

31:29

honestly had the same takeaway,

31:31

but she's mortified. It's

31:34

like getting to the Olympics and then coming in

31:36

dead last. Well, okay, is this a thing where

31:38

it's like, we're our own worst critics?

31:40

Possibly, but I think critics agreed.

31:43

Like, the consensus at

31:46

the time was that she wasn't great, but for

31:48

me watching, I'm like, she's hailing that accent

31:50

almost better than mine. And,

31:53

you know, when it comes to Hollywood, you only

31:55

get so many chances. Grace knows

31:57

that if she doesn't get better fast, Her

32:00

time as a movie star will be very

32:02

short-lived. Every director and

32:04

moviegoer in America will remember her

32:06

as nothing more than a pretty face. She's

32:09

put in too much work for this to be her

32:11

last lead role. She has to

32:13

unlock something that is altogether new for her,

32:16

emotional depth. If she

32:19

doesn't, Grace can kiss

32:21

her acting career goodbye. A

32:37

few months later, after the doomed premiere of

32:39

High Noon, Grace is sitting

32:41

face-to-face with a handsome, dark-haired man,

32:44

staring intensely into his eyes.

32:47

But not in a romantic way. More like

32:49

a theater geek kind of way. She's

32:51

in a room filled with other actors in a

32:53

class at the neighborhood playhouse in New York City,

32:56

and she's trying something completely new. The

32:59

teacher tells the students to dig deep and

33:01

push past their old-school ideas about acting.

33:04

They need to harness their emotions and bring them

33:06

to the surface. Grace is willing

33:08

to try anything to be a better actress, so

33:11

she digs deep. She focuses

33:13

on her partner and reaches for all

33:15

of the emotions buried inside. The

33:17

shame and loneliness of being the odd Kelly

33:20

out, anger she feels at her

33:22

parents' authority, sadness over losing

33:24

Dawn. Grace and her partner

33:26

start to improvise a scene. No

33:28

script, just genuine reactions. And

33:31

something starts to build inside of her. This

33:34

feels different from other kinds of acting. It

33:37

feels more real. If

33:39

this doesn't sound revolutionary, it's because

33:41

today it isn't. It's the

33:43

technique actors like Dustin Hoffman and Natalie Portman

33:45

have been doing for much of their careers.

33:48

But in 1952, it's pretty radical. The

33:52

teacher of the class is Sanford

33:54

Meissner, aka the father of method

33:56

acting. This is the technique

33:58

that makes actors really live. their roles

34:00

instead of just creating an illusion. Or

34:03

if you're Jared Leto, it allegedly makes

34:05

you send your co-stars anal beads, which

34:08

he's denied doing, but you know,

34:10

you get the point. Yep, I get it. Grace

34:13

isn't trying to go that far with it,

34:15

but she's desperate for a new technique. Her

34:17

performance in High Noon was stiff and

34:20

awkward, but the film was still a hit

34:22

with critics and at the box office. And

34:24

Grace was able to ride the film's

34:26

success to a seven-movie contract with MGM

34:28

Studios. But more movies means

34:31

more people seeing her act. And

34:33

Grace refuses to feel like a

34:35

failure again. So that's

34:37

why she's in this class today, yelling out

34:39

personal thoughts and opening up old wounds. She

34:43

reacts to her partner and shares whatever pops into

34:45

her head. And for the

34:47

first time, she starts feeling real emotions

34:49

bubbling inside of her, even

34:51

though she's supposedly acting. Now

34:54

Grace just needs to bring this to the

34:56

big screen. After

35:02

a year of honing the method approach, Grace gets

35:04

her first opportunity to put it to the test.

35:06

In the fall of 1952, MGM

35:09

sends her to Kenya to shoot a drama

35:11

called Magambo. Grace is

35:14

starring opposite a big star, Clark

35:16

Gable. You know, Mr.

35:18

Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.

35:22

Grace throws herself into her

35:24

work and also into the arms

35:26

of her co-star. She and

35:28

Clark start a whirlwind romance, even though he

35:31

is 28 years older than her. And

35:35

once again, Mary. Mary, no,

35:37

come on. I know, I

35:39

know. So of course the gossip columns

35:41

have a great time hinting about the

35:43

canoodling that may have taken place in

35:45

Kenya. The relationship doesn't

35:48

last beyond the film shoot, but

35:50

Grace's new reputation does. Hollywood

35:52

insiders start whispering that she goes after

35:55

all of her leading men. The

35:57

problem is that Grace likes to have a good time.

36:00

and this includes hooking up with her co-stars.

36:02

But this is the 1950s, and she

36:04

has a good girl reputation to maintain, and

36:07

she won't let anything get in the way of

36:09

her growing film career. So,

36:12

Grace hires a publicist who helps her

36:14

hide her wild side, which, Arisha,

36:16

I assume is the same reason you

36:18

wanted to hire a publicist? Yep,

36:20

you know my side is so wild.

36:23

So it needs to be tamed. Her

36:26

publicist has his work cut out for

36:28

him because Grace's star is rising. She's

36:30

not just a pretty face in the background anymore.

36:33

She gets cast in several more films,

36:35

including Dial M for Murder and Rear

36:38

Window, made by Hollywood's

36:40

most sought-after director, Alfred Hitchcock.

36:43

Grace loves working with him. He's

36:45

famous for complex characters, and Grace

36:47

is craving any chance she can get

36:49

to show the world what she's capable of. And

36:52

working with Hitchcock majorly boosts Grace's

36:54

career. She becomes one

36:57

of the director's quintessential elegant blondes,

36:59

the perfect combo of poised yet

37:02

playful and sexy. You know, just

37:04

the age-old impossible standard for femininity.

37:07

Oh, we love to see it. We do. But

37:10

Grace nails it on screen, and

37:12

the press loves her. Reviews

37:14

call her fine and fascinating, which

37:16

don't exactly sound glowing to me.

37:19

Fine? She's fine. Fine is

37:21

like, no, nothing is

37:24

more insulting. I'd rather you'd be like, she sucks.

37:27

She's fine, that's so boring and in the middle.

37:29

I don't know, maybe it's like one of those

37:31

1950s things where they're like,

37:33

you know, like fine, like a fine wine.

37:35

It was a fine performance, I guess. I

37:37

don't know. You know, those crazy kids in

37:39

the 1950s. I don't know how words

37:41

work. But in the spring of 1954, Grace

37:44

lands the cover of Life Magazine. The main

37:47

article predicts 1954 will be the year of

37:49

Grace. You'd

37:52

think at this point, her family would be proud of her.

37:55

But as usual, none of this

37:57

is enough for Grace's dad. Her

37:59

brother... won some rowing race in

38:02

England around this time, and Jack

38:04

Kelly threw him a literal parade

38:06

in Philadelphia. Oh my god. Yeah.

38:09

But when Grace goes home for a

38:11

visit, someone asks Jack if he's excited

38:13

about her huge career success, and

38:15

she watches him shrug and say he doesn't know

38:17

why she wants to act. But

38:20

hey, at least she's making a living. This

38:22

guy can honestly go fuck himself. I

38:24

know. Is he not impressed that

38:26

she finally starred with Jimmy Stewart in Rear Window?

38:28

I mean, come on. God. Like,

38:30

oh my god. Just be proud of your

38:33

kids. It's not that hard. You

38:35

know, these stories we tell make it seem

38:37

like it is really hard, though. Yeah. For

38:39

some reason. Yeah. And it stings Grace,

38:41

even after all this time. Plus,

38:44

compared to her sister's charmed wife

38:46

life, the Kellys being every guy

38:48

Grace brings home. Even

38:50

famous Hollywood actors. Like, the girl

38:52

can't do anything right, apparently. Just

38:54

the idea of like, what if I brought home George Clooney?

38:57

And my parents were like, not

38:59

enough. Yeah. BFD. Get

39:02

him out of here. No parade for you, idiot. Yeah.

39:04

But instead of dismissing her dad as jealous

39:06

or just being a dad, Grace decides that

39:09

all of this is because she's just not

39:11

the best yet. Her dad's got

39:13

an Olympic gold medal, right? So

39:15

the equivalent of that is obviously an

39:17

Oscar. And without one, she

39:20

can't really prove herself to her family.

39:22

The Kellys respect the best. So

39:25

Grace needs to be the

39:27

literal best actress. Airtight

39:29

logic. Oh yeah. No flaws.

39:33

Yep. That same year, Grace gets her shot

39:35

at an Academy Award-worthy role. It's

39:37

the lead in a movie called The Country Girl. She'll

39:40

be starring opposite Bing Crosby, who happens to

39:42

be her new beau and in the worst

39:44

Christmas movie of all time, White Christmas? Don't

39:47

you dare say it, Brooke!

39:49

Blast for me. I

39:51

couldn't wait to drag that movie in front of you. Fucking

39:53

blast for me. But

39:56

her former ex is also in

39:58

the cast. X

40:00

her family had once again rejected.

40:02

But I mean, this is just

40:05

the potential for an onset love

40:08

triangle and the drama like be

40:10

another don't worry darling situation.

40:12

Oh god, but better. Yeah. Anyway,

40:15

the country girl is 100% pure Oscar bait. Her character is

40:20

bitter and depressed. She spends

40:22

most of the movie dressed down in glasses and

40:25

frumpy sweaters. And if you watch that movie, it's

40:27

basically the equivalent of putting glasses on Rachel Lee

40:29

cook and she's all that. Oh yeah. We can

40:31

still tell she's gorgeous. Come on. Well, if you

40:33

have glasses, you have to be hideous. That's Hollywood's

40:36

number one rule. I don't. Those are the rules.

40:38

But for once, Grace can't rely

40:40

solely on her glamour. The

40:43

movie comes out in 1954

40:45

and critics rave about her

40:47

gritty performance. And a few

40:49

months later, Grace gets the news she's been waiting

40:51

for. She's been nominated for

40:53

an Academy Award. Grace

40:55

could finally win the gold medal

40:58

of acting, the ticket to Kelly

41:00

pride. She's worked hard for this

41:02

moment. But for once, hard

41:05

work isn't enough to guarantee success. All

41:07

Grace can do is hope and play that her

41:10

performance was enough to sway the Oscar voters.

41:13

Because if she's lucky enough to win, then maybe

41:15

she'll finally know what it feels like

41:17

to be a gold medal. Kelly. In

41:29

the spring of 1955, Grace

41:32

Kelly sits in Hollywood's RKO

41:34

Pantages theater, practically glowing in

41:36

a stunning blue satin dress.

41:39

So far, the ceremony has been boring.

41:41

But then actor William Holden takes the

41:43

stage to announce this year's best actress

41:45

winner. And P.S., the guy about to

41:48

open the envelope is the ex who

41:50

was in the country girl. So Hollywood

41:52

is a very small world. It really is.

41:54

I can't wait to get in it. And

41:58

Grace is nervous. but not

42:00

because her ex is on stage.

42:03

She's up against legends like Audrey

42:05

Hepburn, Dorothy Dandridge, and Judy Garland.

42:08

Grace watches as William Holden opens the

42:10

envelope and leans toward the microphone. William

42:14

announces the winner, and it takes

42:16

Grace a minute to realize it was her name

42:18

that was called. For

42:20

a second, she's stunned. She actually

42:22

did it. Grace gets

42:24

up and glides across the stage to

42:27

accept her award. She beams

42:29

at the audience and makes sure

42:31

to show off her perfect transatlantic

42:33

accent. I can only

42:35

say thank you with all my heart to

42:38

all who made this possible for me. She's

42:44

every bit the elegant Grace Kelly that the

42:46

world has come to love. She

42:48

spends the rest of her night in a

42:50

happy daze. She's surrounded by

42:52

friends and fans, and she keeps bursting

42:54

into tears of joy. But

42:56

what should be Grace's happiest day ever

42:59

ends up being her loneliest. After

43:02

a night of partying, Grace goes back to

43:04

her hotel room alone, and

43:06

we're right back to where we started our episode.

43:09

She looks at her gold statuette, and

43:11

the quiet of the room becomes deafeningly

43:14

loud. Grace has been left

43:16

to celebrate by herself. No family,

43:18

no boyfriend or husband to share in

43:20

her moment of joy with, thanks

43:22

in part to a family who chronically rejects

43:25

any man Grace has ever loved. But

43:28

if nothing else, Grace Kelly has won

43:30

her gold medal. Her family

43:32

will finally be proud of her, right?

43:35

Well, the next morning, Grace opens

43:37

up the newspaper, and right

43:39

there in print is a comment her

43:41

dad wired to all the papers. He

43:44

said, quote, I can't believe

43:46

it. I simply can't believe Grace won. Of

43:48

the four children, she's the last one I'd

43:51

expect to support me in my old age.

43:53

Wait, wait, wait, what? What

43:56

does that have to do with anything? Literally nothing,

43:58

a way for him to make it. make it about himself,

44:00

I guess? I'm speechless. I don't

44:02

even know how to respond to that. Like,

44:04

I don't, what? Yeah, well,

44:07

I'm sure Grace doesn't either. She

44:09

puts the newspaper down and shakes off

44:11

the hurt. She sacrificed so

44:13

much to become the perfect actress,

44:16

the best actress, to continue

44:18

doing what she loves, sure, but also

44:20

to make the Kelly family proud. Now

44:23

it's clear that acting will never be good enough

44:25

for her dad. She closes the

44:27

newspaper and dumps it in the trash. But

44:29

even now, Grace doesn't think about quitting.

44:32

She knows she's just at the start of her

44:34

career. With an Oscar comes pressure,

44:37

sure, but also

44:39

tons of opportunities. Grace

44:41

will have more control than ever over

44:43

her scripts, her co-stars, and her

44:45

life. But in May of 1955, just a

44:47

month after the Oscars, Grace

44:51

heads to the Cannes Film Festival in France,

44:54

which is when her promising

44:56

career gets knocked completely off

44:58

course. By

45:00

a fucking prince. Follow

45:07

Even the Royals on the Wondery app, Amazon

45:09

Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. You

45:11

can listen to every episode of Even the

45:13

Royals early and ad-free right now by joining

45:15

Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on

45:17

Apple Podcasts. Before you go,

45:19

tell us about yourself by completing a

45:21

short survey at wondery.com/survey. This

45:24

is Fire and Ice, part one of our two-part series on

45:28

Princess Grace Kelly of Monaco. We use many sources

45:31

on researching our stories, and you can follow us,

45:33

your hosts, on social, at Brooke Ziffrin and at

45:35

Aresha Skidmore-Williams. I'm

45:38

Brooke Ziffrin. And I'm Aresha Skidmore-Williams.

45:40

Corinne Wallace wrote and produced this

45:42

episode. Story editing by Michaela Bly,

45:45

and sound design by John Lloyd. Back tracking by

45:48

Sonia Maynard. And we're back to

45:50

the show. Back

45:52

tracking by Sonia Maynard. Our associate

45:54

producer is Hannah Ward. Our coordinating

45:56

producer is Taylor Sniffen. And our

45:58

managing producer is Sophia Martin. Julie

46:01

Magruder and Rachel Engelman are our

46:03

producers. Our executive producers are Jenny

46:05

Lower Beckman, Ginny Bloom, Marsha Lewy

46:07

and Erin O'Flaherty for Wondery.