Princess Grace, Cartier to get the royal treatment on Rodeo’s Walk of Style
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The Rodeo Drive Walk of Style is apparently expanding the universe of ‘style legends’ it plans to honor on the famed shopping street, adding movie stars and jewelry labels to the ranks of designers, photographers and costume designers when the late Princess Grace of Monaco and French jeweler Cartier are immortalized with permanent plaques placed on the sidewalk of the retail row Oct. 22.
As Grace Kelly, the future princess starred in a handful of movies including Hitchcock films ‘To Catch a Thief,’ ‘Rear Window,’ and ‘Dial M for Murder,’ and won the 1955 Academy Award for best actress in a leading role for ‘Country Girl.’
She met Prince Rainier III of Monaco on a 1955 visit to the principality, and married him the next year, living in Monaco until her death in a 1982 auto accident.
Cartier, which dates to 1847 and recently marked the 100th anniversary of its arrival in the United States, has quite a track record with royal families. The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) dubbed the jewelry house ‘Jeweller of kings and king of jewellers,’ issuing a royal warrant marking the firm as supplier to the king. Numerous other royal families followed suit -- including the Principality of Monaco in 1920.
But the connection is more personal than that. When they became formally engaged in January 1956, Prince Rainier III presented Grace Kelly with a platinum Cartier ring set with a 10.47-carat, emerald-cut diamond, which she wore in her final film ‘High Society.’
His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco is slated to accept the award on behalf of his mother at the evening ceremony, which will benefit the Princess Grace Foundation-USA and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, and takes place at an as-of-yet undisclosed Beverly Hills location the day after the Princess Grace Foundation-USA’s annual awards gala fundraiser at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City.
Started in 2003, previous recipients of the Walk of Style Award include designers Giorgio Armani, Tom Ford, Salvatore Ferragamo, Gianni and Donatella Versace, James Galanos and Manolo Blahnik, photographers Herb Ritts and Mario Testino, and costume designers Edith Head, James Acheson and Milena Canonero. The most recent recipient was designer Valentino Garavani, who was honored in April 2009.
-- Adam Tschorn
High Society (1956), Grace Kelly wears a Cartier engagement ring, bearing an emerald-cut diamond of 10.47 carats. Credit: Dennis Stock/Magnum Photos
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