Quiet Wedding

New Zealand Listener, Volume 34, Issue 874, 4 May 1956, Page 4

Quiet Wedding

N extraordinary hubbub has lately been heard from Monaco, a tiny principality whose ruling family is supported by the gambling rooms of Monte Carlo. Prince Rainier, third of that name, had engaged himself to marry Grace Kelly, a film star from Hollywood. The engagement was announced in the world’s Press with a sound as of silver trumpets, at first faint and faroff, but becoming louder than is usual in a fairy tale. It was a romance so redolent of Hollywood (where all the fairy tales come from nowadays) that women accustomed to sitting in cinemas became bright-eyed, and for a time were somewhat distant towards men who owned neither yachts nor palaces. After the first pulsating days, people of all kinds began to converge on Monaco. The inhabitants of that place, who we now learnt were known as Monegasques, bestirred themselves to celebrate and prepare. Yachts were chartered by interested persons abroad; hotel bookings poured in; and there was much discussion of protocol, official invitations (how to get them), and concessions for newsreels and television. Then, as all the world waited, the future princess departed, escorted by family and friends, in the liner Constitution. News of Miss Kelly’s demeanour was flashed daily, almost hourly, from the ocean across which the happy ship was wafted by propitious en.sines. And the world, not merely w: ‘ting, was now agog. The arrangement of a wedding, no matter how quiet it is intended to be, is often attended by difficulties which make people emotional. From the moment of Miss Kelly's arrival in Monaco the temperature seemed to rise rather quickly. There were incidents, and once almost a_ crisis. Prince Rainier did not understand the peculiar rights and privileges of photographers, who clashed violently with the police (Monegasque). A camera was smashed, a blow was struck, a hand bitten; and the enraged photographers were heard to boo the Prince and Miss Kelly on the steps of a

casino. From the. guests, also, frustrations and private griefs were soon reported. Jewel thieves, attracted from afar by the glitter of diamonds, moved here and there, walking delicately. Lady Docker, flushed from triumphs in the ancient game of marbles, was indignant because she had not been invited to a party. These and many other choice items of information made the headlines throb with interest. And what large person is this, heavily concealed in sun-glasses, who flits in from Rome with a bodyguard? Had not ex-King Farouk announced that he would have to stay away in the interests of personal safety? Yet an exKing may change his mind; and Farouk is here; indeed, he is defiantly here, and has: signed the visitors’ book at the palace as "King of Egypt"-a title which, as the Egyptian Ambassador to France feels constrained to point out, has lately become obsolete. A diplomatic crisis is averted; but meanwhile reports are received that Tina, "gorgeous 26-year-old blonde wife" of the shipping magnate, Aristotle Onassis, and regarded as Monaco’s No. 1 woman citizen, is recovering gracefully from a broken nose on the family yacht (12 bathrooms in marble, etc.), and is sharpening her claws to do battle with Miss Kelly for social supremacy. Can such things be? The excitement at this stage was so inténse that the civil wedding was almost an anti-climax. Still, that’s how it is with weddings: the arrangements threaten to break down, and all concerned are on the edge of a nervous col-lapse-until suddenly everything moves like clockwork and the ordeal is over. The Monaco wedding was not as quiet as some, but then it was in the Hollywood tradition, which does not rate quietness very highly. And the display of social behaviour at what could be described as "the international level" was at least instructive. But now the show is ended: the people of Monaco may return to practical things, especially the promotion of gambling, their main contribution to the work and welfare of mankind.