Bride and Groom

The wedding of Rainier III of Monaco, and Grace Kelly took place on 18 and 19 April 1956 at the Prince's Palace of Monaco and the Saint Nicholas Cathedral. The groom was the sovereign prince of the Principality of Monaco. The bride was an American film star. The wedding, which was watched live by over 30 million viewers on black and white television, was broadcast by Télé Monte-Carlo, and relayed to nine television broadcasters in other countries via Eurovision. In addition, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios filmed the religious ceremony on film and in color, and later distributed it to theaters. The marriage was met with mass attention from the public, described as the "wedding of the century" and the "world's most anticipated wedding" by the media, as well as "the first modern event to generate media overkill" by biographer Robert Lacey.