Hollywood royalty

She was the Hollywood icon who married a prince. On the 30th anniversary of her death, PJ Gibbons looks back at the life of Grace Kelly.

THE world has few princesses and Ireland has had only one. Grace Kelly, born to a former bricklayer with roots in Co Mayo, was of such regal bearing and ineffable beauty that she transformed Monaco from an afterthought into a nation with an identity.

Thirty years after her death, at 52, in a car crash, Princess Grace remains one of Monaco’s two leading resources (it is also the world’s most glamorous tax haven).