#royal gardner

[annesoftheisland]

Anne of the Island - Chapter XXV

Enter Prince Charming

"I'm contrasting the claims of indoors and out," said Anne, looking from the window of Patty's Place to the distant pines of the park.

"I've an afternoon to spend in sweet doing nothing, Aunt Jimsie. Shall I spend it here where there is a cosy fire, a plateful of delicious russets, three purring and harmonious cats, and two impeccable china dogs with green noses? Or shall I go to the park, where there is the lure of gray woods and of gray water lapping on the harbor rocks?"

"If I was as young as you, I'd decide in favor of the park," said Aunt Jamesina, tickling Joseph's yellow ear with a knitting needle.

"I thought that you claimed to be as young as any of us, Aunty," teased Anne.

"Yes, in my soul. But I'll admit my legs aren't as young as yours. You go and get some fresh air, Anne. You look pale lately."

"I think I'll go to the park," said Anne restlessly. "I don't feel like tame domestic joys today. I want to feel alone and free and wild. The park will be empty, for every one will be at the football match."

"Why didn't you go to it?"

"`Nobody axed me, sir, she said' -- at least, nobody but that horrid little Dan Ranger. I wouldn't go anywhere with him; but rather than hurt his poor little tender feelings I said I wasn't going to the game at all. I don't mind. I'm not in the mood for football today somehow."

"You go and get some fresh air," repeated Aunt Jamesina, "but take your umbrella, for I believe it's going to rain. I've rheumatism in my leg."

"Only old people should have rheumatism, Aunty."

"Anybody is liable to rheumatism in her legs, Anne. It's only old people who should have rheumatism in their souls, though. Thank goodness, I never have. When you get rheumatism in your soul you might as well go and pick out your coffin."

It was November -- the month of crimson sunsets, parting birds, deep, sad hymns of the sea, passionate wind-songs in the pines. Anne roamed through the pineland alleys in the park and, as she said, let that great sweeping wind blow the fogs out of her soul. Anne was not wont to be troubled with soul fog. But, somehow, since her return to Redmond for this third year, life had not mirrored her spirit back to her with its old, perfect, sparkling clearness.

Outwardly, existence at Patty's Place was the same pleasant round of work and study and recreation that it had always been. On Friday evenings the big, fire-lighted livingroom was crowded by callers and echoed to endless jest and laughter, while Aunt Jamesina smiled beamingly on them all. The "Jonas" of Phil's letter came often, running up from St. Columbia on the early train and departing on the late. He was a general favorite at Patty's Place, though Aunt Jamesina shook her head and opined that divinity students were not what they used to be.

"He's VERY nice, my dear," she told Phil, "but ministers ought to be graver and more dignified."

"Can't a man laugh and laugh and be a Christian still?" demanded Phil.

"Oh, MEN -- yes. But I was speaking of MINISTERS, my dear," said Aunt Jamesina rebukingly." And you shouldn't flirt so with Mr. Blake -- you really shouldn't."

"I'm not flirting with him," protested Phil.

Nobody believed her, except Anne. The others thought she was amusing herself as usual, and told her roundly that she was behaving very badly.

"Mr. Blake isn't of the Alec-and-Alonzo type, Phil," said Stella severely. "He takes things seriously. You may break his heart."

"Do you really think I could?" asked Phil. "I'd love to think so."

"Philippa Gordon! I never thought you were utterly unfeeling. The idea of you saying you'd love to break a man's heart!"

"I didn't say so, honey. Quote me correctly. I said I'd like to think I COULD break it. I would like to know I had the POWER to do it."

"I don't understand you, Phil. You are leading that man on deliberately -- and you know you don't mean anything by it."

"I mean to make him ask me to marry him if I can," said Phil calmly.

"I give you up," said Stella hopelessly.

Gilbert came occasionally on Friday evenings. He seemed always in good spirits, and held his own in the jests and repartee that flew about. He neither sought nor avoided Anne. When circumstances brought them in contact he talked to her pleasantly and courteously, as to any newly-made acquaintance. The old camaraderie was gone entirely. Anne felt it keenly; but she told herself she was very glad and thankful that Gilbert had got so completely over his disappointment in regard to her. She had really been afraid, that April evening in the orchard, that she had hurt him terribly and that the wound would be long in healing. Now she saw that she need not have worried. Men have died and the worms have eaten them but not for love. Gilbert evidently was in no danger of immediate dissolution. He was enjoying life, and he was full of ambition and zest. For him there was to be no wasting in despair because a woman was fair and cold. Anne, as she listened to the ceaseless badinage that went on between him and Phil, wondered if she had only imagined that look in his eyes when she had told him she could never care for him.

There were not lacking those who would gladly have stepped into Gilbert's vacant place. But Anne snubbed them without fear and without reproach. If the real Prince Charming was never to come she would have none of a substitute. So she sternly told herself that gray day in the windy park.

Suddenly the rain of Aunt Jamesina's prophecy came with a swish and rush. Anne put up her umbrella and hurried down the slope. As she turned out on the harbor road a savage gust of wind tore along it. Instantly her umbrella turned wrong side out. Anne clutched at it in despair. And then -- there came a voice close to her.

"Pardon me -- may I offer you the shelter of my umbrella?"

Anne looked up. Tall and handsome and distinguished-looking -- dark, melancholy, inscrutable eyes -- melting, musical, sympathetic voice -- yes, the very hero of her dreams stood before her in the flesh. He could not have more closely resembled her ideal if he had been made to order.

"Thank you," she said confusedly.

"We'd better hurry over to that little pavillion on the point," suggested the unknown. "We can wait there until this shower is over. It is not likely to rain so heavily very long."

The words were very commonplace, but oh, the tone! And the smile which accompanied them! Anne felt her heart beating strangely.

Together they scurried to the pavilion and sat breathlessly down under its friendly roof. Anne laughingly held up her false umbrella.

"It is when my umbrella turns inside out that I am convinced of the total depravity of inanimate things," she said gaily.

The raindrops sparkled on her shining hair; its loosened rings curled around her neck and forehead. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes big and starry. Her companion looked down at her admiringly. She felt herself blushing under his gaze. Who could he be? Why, there was a bit of the Redmond white and scarlet pinned to his coat lapel. Yet she had thought she knew, by sight at least, all the Redmond students except the Freshmen. And this courtly youth surely was no Freshman.

"We are schoolmates, I see," he said, smiling at Anne's colors. "That ought to be sufficient introduction. My name is Royal Gardner. And you are the Miss Shirley who read the Tennyson paper at the Philomathic the other evening, aren't you?"

"Yes; but I cannot place you at all," said Anne, frankly. "Please, where DO you belong?"

"I feel as if I didn't belong anywhere yet. I put in my Freshman and Sophomore years at Redmond two years ago. I've been in Europe ever since. Now I've come back to finish my Arts course."

"This is my Junior year, too," said Anne.

"So we are classmates as well as collegemates. I am reconciled to the loss of the years that the locust has eaten," said her companion, with a world of meaning in those wonderful eyes of his.

The rain came steadily down for the best part of an hour. But the time seemed really very short. When the clouds parted and a burst of pale November sunshine fell athwart the harbor and the pines Anne and her companion walked home together. By the time they had reached the gate of Patty's Place he had asked permission to call, and had received it. Anne went in with cheeks of flame and her heart beating to her fingertips. Rusty, who climbed into her lap and tried to kiss her, found a very absent welcome. Anne, with her soul full of romantic thrills, had no attention to spare just then for a crop-eared pussy cat.

That evening a parcel was left at Patty's Place for Miss Shirley. It was a box containing a dozen magnificent roses. Phil pounced impertinently on the card that fell from it, read the name and the poetical quotation written on the back.

"Royal Gardner!" she exclaimed. "Why, Anne, I didn't know you were acquainted with Roy Gardner!"

"I met him in the park this afternoon in the rain," explained Anne hurriedly. "My umbrella turned inside out and he came to my rescue with his."

"Oh!" Phil peered curiously at Anne." And is that exceedingly commonplace incident any reason why he should send us longstemmed roses by the dozen, with a very sentimental rhyme? Or why we should blush divinest rosy-red when we look at his card? Anne, thy face betrayeth thee."

"Don't talk nonsense, Phil. Do you know Mr. Gardner?"

"I've met his two sisters, and I know of him. So does everybody worthwhile in Kingsport. The Gardners are among the richest, bluest, of Bluenoses. Roy is adorably handsome and clever. Two years ago his mother's health failed and he had to leave college and go abroad with her -- his father is dead. He must have been greatly disappointed to have to give up his class, but they say he was perfectly sweet about it. Fee -- fi -- fo -- fum, Anne. I smell romance. Almost do I envy you, but not quite. After all, Roy Gardner isn't Jonas."

"You goose!" said Anne loftily. But she lay long awake that night, nor did she wish for sleep. Her waking fancies were more alluring than any vision of dreamland. Had the real Prince come at last? Recalling those glorious dark eyes which had gazed so deeply into her own, Anne was very strongly inclined to think he had.

[annes-blog-of-dreams]

WE *NEED* PHIL

All I’m asking for is a book accurate Anne of the Island show

I need Patty’s Place

I need Phil

I need Gilbert’s first and second proposal

I need ALL of the proposals Anne is victim to

I need Anne realizing she’s IN LOVE with Gil and being tortured with the possibility he may die before she tells him her true feelings

I need Rusty the Cat

I need the very sad sad scene where Ruby dies :(

I need Davy and Dora!

I even need Roy who I hate!!!!!

How do I make this happen 😩

[theroyalsandi]

British Royal Family - The Prince of Wales played a game of cricket with 97-year-old Alford Gardner, at his home in Leeds | October 2023

[artsimmys]

Queer vibes only 🏳️‍🌈🫶🏳️‍⚧️✨

[willstafford]

Wit to Woo

LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford upon Avon, Thursday 25th April 2024 Three men and a King pledge to devote the next three years of their lives to study, abstinence and celibacy.  Of course, as soon as the oath is signed, along come four beauties on a diplomatic mission.  Each of the men starts writing love notes and poems to one of the beauties, behind his confederates’…

[wanderingmind867]

Doctor Light and Amos Fortune are my favorite Justice League villians so far. Doctor Light is just a clever premise, Light is such a powerful force. It's blinding and painful but beautiful and powerful. If we could've seen him team with Shade to fight the JSA and JLA...now, that would have been perfect. Light and Shadow! But also, Doctor Light is so persistent! He fails against the League, so Gardner Fox has him focus on picking them off one by one. He fought The Atom, Green Lantern and The Flash in their own comics, and he still managed to lose in one on one fights. But you know, I admire that persistence. Respect Doctor Light!

Also, Amos Fortune is just great. For one thing, he's heavier set (which is nice to see). But for another, his gimmick is amazing. He's a former gambler who's obsessed with controlling luck and probability. He builds a luck controlling machine once and he goes on to found the Royal Flush Gang, presumably based on his old gambling career. He deals in the tarot at some point too, which is really cool. He'll just mess with anything fortune themed. I love him. Also, honourable mention must be given to Felix Faust. I really love that sorcerer, it's just these two stood out slightly more.

[duchessofostergotlands]

she reminds me of Ava Gardner

I don't generally do similarities, everyone just has a face to me!

[thedreadpiratejames]

Not only would he be buying turnips, he’d be discussing with the farmer the different methods and cultivars he uses, as well as the weather and planting seasons and the signs that a drought is likely to occur

I bet after Aragorn became king he would continue to be Just Some Chill As Fuck Dude. You go to the market and there’s the king of Gondor. Buying turnips.

[paul-archibald]

Overtures You Might Not Know

Overtures are popular pieces with concert goers the world over. The overtures to The Marriage of Figaro, The Magic Flute and William Tell receive regular performances but what about many of the other overtures that are hardly performed at all? In this edition of In Conversation we look at some great overtures that are worth hearing… Carl Maria Weber (1786-1826)Overture to Euryanthe Op 81London…

[kwebtv]

The Guy Lombardo Show - Syndicated   -  November 12, 1954 - September 13, 1956

Music (16 episodes)

Running Time:  30 minutes

Stars:

Guy Lombardo

Carmen Lombardo

Lebert Lombardo

Victor Lombardo

Kenny Gardner

Bill Flannigan

The Royal Canadians

[gigisgoblog]

You kknow what i really need to read? Fanfics of Crowley interacting with his earthly friends.

Stories of how he met Da Vinci, of how he told him his nature and showed him his eyes. Story of nights they spent engineering and designing new tools to explore the earth, and maybe later the universe. Stories of Crowley encouraging him to draw the Mona Lisa, or giving him details of the Last Supper: who was next to whom, who drank what, who ate what, and what Juda exactly did that night. Stories of them travelling together, from one patron to another, talking about science and art. And maybe a little about Aziraphale too.

I want stories of Crowley meeting Copernic, Gallileo, and the great astronomers of their time. Watching them get closer to the truth, rediscovering truths that their ancestors knew already, but Crowley loved them anyway, because they asked questions. Because they exploited loopholes. Because they stood to the Church.

I want stories with Shakespeare, where they brainstorm witty plays and romantic lines. And I want stories of Crowley and Jane Austen, going on crazy spy adventures and going home right on time for the night's ball.

I want Crowley to have been there on the moon as Appolo 11 landed, watching his protégés get closer to his stars. Hell didn't hear about it, and they didn't need to.

And stories about Crowley and his love for plants. Wouldn't it be funny, if he was in Madame de Pampadour's suite ? "Amazing gardner", remember? "I am infiltrating the french royal court to spread overspending and abuse of power", he could tell Hell. None of that would be true, of course. The french didn't need him for that. No, he was there for the gardens, the ducks, and Madame de Pampadour's delicious company. When she died, she left him a letter, and an incentive to keep care of her garden. He did, till the revolution came. And when he fled, he took the seeds and planted them in St James' park.

[Part 1][Parts 2&3]

[tristansfreezingtheirbrain]

Thought Id share some quotes for my merlin OC’s, with the main characters

Andred- royal Gardner ( unpaid therapist )

Andrea- female knight, lotta lore here but I won’t go into it.

Fabron- blacksmith, employed after Gwen’s father died.

Lynn- Fabrons little sister.

Arthur: You're really campaigning for asshole of the year, aren't you?

Morgana: As defending champion, you nervous?

Merlin: *leans over to whisper to Andred* is there a flower for that?

Andred: *whispering as well* Hyacinth. Want me to make a bouquet?

Merlin: Yup.

Arthur: I can excuse mass genocide. But I draw the line at homophobia.

Andrea: you can excuse mass genocide?!

Merlin: *whistles and looks anywhere but at the group*

Andred: *sees someone crying* *brings flowers*

Fabron: flowers can’t solve everything, Andred….

Andred: *throws flowers* *gives them a croissant*

Uther: You’ve all proven yourselves as allies in the fight against magi-

Fabron: *profuse sweating*

Merlin: *trying not to laugh*

Andred: pffft-

Andrea: *knows about it too* *talks over Andred wheezing* yeah… very good allies…

Uther: don't use magic. *under his breath* or you'll get pregnant and die..

Arthur:.. wait what-?

Merlin: *looks down at his stomach, panicked* *looks to Gaius*

Gaius: oh hush merlin your not gonna get pregnant.

Fabron: *does the same thing and looks at Andred*

Andred, who saw: I hope the baby’s ginger.

Fabron: YOURE GINGER THOUGH-

Arthur: your ears are huge.

Merlin: so is your ego.

Andred and Andrea: so is the crush you have on each other.

Arthur:….

Merlin:…

Andred and Andrea: *fist bump*

Gwen: just be yourself! Be nice!

Morgana: we’ll which one is it, Gwen? I can’t be both.

Andrea: please be mean to me.

Morgana: …..

Gwen: …. Seek help Andy.

Gaius: If you're looking for someone to save you, look in the mirror.

Andrea: Bloody Mary finally coming in clutch.

Fabron: Andrea no-

Andred: y’know there’s a flower for that.

Lancelot: i will die for merlin

Percival : no i will die for merlin

Gwaine : absolutely not it will be me who dies for merlin

Leon : as the oldest, it should be me who dies for merlin

Elyan : he saved my life it will be me who dies for merlin

Arthur : as king it is my right to die for merlin

Merlin: guys i'm right here, i'm fine. Why are you pointing swords at eacn other?

Andred: because they’re idiots.

Andrea: I can concur

Lynn: CONQUUEEERRE

Fabron: we need to stop letting her hang out with Morgana.

[earlycuntsets]

mcr shows on youtube pt. 4 (2011 - 2023) last one :]

-> pt. 1 (2002 - 2005)

-> pt. 2 (2005 - 2007)

-> pt. 3 (2007 - 2011)

08/05/2011 pnc bank arts center holmdel nj - the academy is my beautiful romance

08/13/2011 hersheypark stadium hershey pa - the academy is my beautiful romance

08/20/2011 first midwest bank amphitheater tinley park il - the academy is my beautiful romance

08/26/2011 little john's farm reading england - em

08/31/2011 rogers arena vancouver canada - catie cunningham

09/03/2011 usana amphitheater west valley city utah - delaney nye

09/04/2011 comfort dental amphitheater greenwood village co - the academy is my beautiful romance

09/09/2011  capitol federal park at sandstone amphitheater bonner springs ks - the academy is my beautiful romance

09/11/2011 dte energy music theater clarkston mi - justanotherkilljoy

09/18/2011 farm bureau live at virginia beach va - the academy is my beautiful romance

09/20/2011 verizon wireless amphitheater charlotte nc - the academy is my beautiful romance

1/22/2012 gold coast parklands gold coast australia - the academy is my beautiful romance

02/03/2012 adelaide showground adelaide australia - the academy is my beautiful romance

02/05/2012 mccallum park perth australia - myxinfinitexromance

05/19/2012 north beach asbury park asbury park nj - ryan hanratty

12/20/2019 the shrine expo hall los angeles ca - gabe havel photo

05/16/2022 the eden project day one st austell england - the academy is my beautiful romance

05/17/2022 the eden project day two st austell england - the academy is my beautiful romance

05/21/2022 stadium mk milton keynes england - TheChickenGiraffe

05/24/2022 royal hospital kilmainham dublin ireland - the academy is my beautiful romance

05/28/2022 sofia gardens cricket ground cardiff wales - the academy is my beautiful romance

06/04/2022 bologna sonic park arena parco north italy - the academy is my beautiful romance

06/06/2022 olympiahalle munich germany - the academy is my beautiful romance

06/07/2022 budapest park budapest hungary - the academy is my beautiful romance

06/09/2022 progresja warsaw poland - the academy is my beautiful romance

06/11/2022 o2 arena prague czech republic - the academy is my beautiful romance

06/13/2022 stora scenen gröna lund stockholm sweden - live from stockholm

08/19/2022 paycom center oklahoma city ok - tony

08/23/2022 bridgestone arena nashville tn - the academy is my beautiful romance

08/24/2022 heritage bank center cincinnati oh - the academy is my beautiful romance

08/29/2022 wells fargo philadelphia pa - ronaldb2985

08/30/2022 mvp arena albany ny - the academy is my beautiful romance

09/05/2022 scotia bank toronto ca - the academy is my beautiful romance

09/16/2022 riot fest douglass park chicago il - geoffrey gardner

09/20/2022 prudential center newark nj - deadhoarse

09/24/2022 fla live arena sunrise fl - the academy is my beautiful romance

10/03/2022 tacoma dome tacoma wa - seattle concerts

10/05/2022 oakland arena oakland ca - HisoKu

10/07/2022 t-mobile arena las vegas nv - wormspeddler (smeagles)

10/08/2022 aftershock discovery park sacramento ca - the academy is my beautiful romance

10/09/2022 barclays center brooklyn ny - the academy is my beautiful romance

10/15/2022 kia forum inglewood ca - the academy is my beautiful romance

10/23/2022 when we were young day day two las vegas - the academy is my beautiful romance

10/29/2022 when we were young fest las vegas nv - PichyJr

11/18/2022 autódromo hermanos rodríguez mexico city mexico - leashalia

03/11/2023 the outer fields at western springs auckland new zealand (soundcheck) - the academy is my beautiful romance

03/23/2023 qudos bank arena sydney australia - the academy is my beautiful romance

-> pt. 1 (2002 - 2005)

-> pt. 2 (2005 - 2007)

-> pt. 3 (2007 - 2011)

[theroyalsandi]

British Royal Family - The Prince of Wales visits one of only two surviving passengers of the Empire Windrush, 97-year-old Alford Gardner, at his home in Leeds | October 2023

[graceandfamily]

The largest trove of personal Grace Kelly letters to come to market

An extensive and important archive of letters, ephemera and correspondence between Grace Kelly and her friend and personal secretary Prudence Wise. [Various places including Hollywood, New York, Cannes, Monaco, and elsewhere: 1949-1968]. A large archive including autograph and typed letters signed, various notes, postcards, photographs of Grace, Prince Rainier and their children (both official and personal), telegrams, royal invitations, and other ephemera all relating to the life of Grace Kelly and her relationship with Prudence "Prudy" Wise. Kelly generally does not date her letters but the postmarked envelopes provide a chronology. Some handling wear, usual folds, wear to envelopes, very well preserved overall and the letters individually sleeved.

Prudence "Prudy" Wise Kudner was raised in Jacksonville, Florida and attended Duke before moving to New York City and becoming roommates with Grace Kelly, Sally Parrish, and Carolyn Scott at the Barbizon Hotel for Women. The earliest items in this extensive archive include a photograph of Grace with two of the women, a phone message note on Barbizon stationery, and a note from Grace to Prudy in Jacksonville mentioning both Sally and Carolyn. The first substantial letter is postmarked April 1949, months before her Broadway debut that November, and is eight pages in pencil on a delicate stationery. The letter regales Prudy with the long tale of a dinner introducing a suitor named Don [Richardson] to Grace's parents which went disastrously resulting in the end of their relationship and an argument with her parents, but on the bright side Kelly makes note of the positive theater connections made through Don. Following some successful modeling work and her performance on Broadway in Strindberg's The Father, Grace had her first film role in Twentieth Century Fox's 1951 Fourteen Hours. In early 1952, Kelly answers questions for Prudy regarding her newest suitor Gene [Lyons] and mentions in a postcard that follows seeing a screening of Fred Zinneman's High Noon, her first major film role. High Noon was followed by the filming in Nairobi of John Ford's Mogambo, a role offered to Kelly after Gene Tierney was forced to drop out due to health issues, and two letters are written from Africa, one on fantastic Mogambo stationery. Kelly mentions "after leaving camp two weeks ago, Frank [Sinatra], Ava [Gardner], and Clark [Gable] & I went to Malindi on the coast for 5 wonderful days... there was a terrible champagne binge for about ten days over Christmas ... we all went on the wagon until Rome. Ava and I are now great pals..." before reporting that illness, injuries and deaths had plagued the production and "the old man [Sinatra] is very anxious to leave Africa." Into 1953, Kelly is at the Savoy Hotel in London while Mogambo is edited, she here reports that "Gable and Sam Zimbalist are cutting the picture to pieces which breaks my heart - I'm not speaking to Clark these days and neither is Ava - but don't tell anyone that." For her performance in Mogambo, Kelly won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress and was nominated for her first Academy Award.

In the few years from mid-1953 through her marriage to Prince Rainier in 1956, Grace Kelly starred in some of the best and most stylish films of the period and became a bonafide movie star. The archive is rich in long letters from this period, including several on the stationery of the legendary Chateau Marmont in Hollywood starting in July 1953. It is here that Kelly first mentions that she "met Hitchcock" at the time she was filming Dial M for Murder, the first film in their important collaboration. In the first letter, Kelly mentions her arm is sore from playing tennis - her character is the wife of a professional player - and that "Tomorrow I test my wardrobe and see how it will all turn out in 3D," the medium for which the film was intended although most theaters showed the film in 2D. She also notes in the next letter that "They are still debating the colour of my hair. It comes out bright red in Warnercolour and Hitchcock is having a fit." In the next letter, Kelly reports "Sat. night I had dinner with the Hitchcocks. We went to Perino's which was lovely... there are really so few nice places to have dinner here - most of them are flashy eating joints." She closes noting how on the one-year anniversary of the Grace Kelly fan club she took time to speak all 15 girls who attended a party and called her on the phone.

Early the next year, Kelly is preparing to move into her new apartment in New York in the Manhattan House but tells Prudy she is first moving to the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles. One short letter is written on Paramount Pictures stationery, possibly during the filming of The Country Girl as in the next letter on Hotel Bel Air stationery Kelly mentions seeing a screening of the film and having spent a day swimming in the pool of the famous costume designer Edith Head. It is in this letter that Grace Kelly first mentions a new suitor, Oleg Cassini, and describes how he procured the typewriter she uses ("the only one in Beverly Hills") and their spectacular outings together, writing "last Saturday we went to a big part at Jack Warners... and the weekend before we went up to Hitch's ranch in Santa Cruz... We had dinner with Bing one night... My father isn't very happy over the prospect of Oleg as a son-in-law ... but the plan now is to be married the first part of October..." This excellent letter closes with a manuscript mention of tickets for Rear Window. 1954 was the most significant year thus far in Grace Kelly's career, having won the Best Actress Oscar for The Country Girl and starred in two Hitchcock features: Dial M for Murder and Rear Window.

We catch up with Grace in early April 1956, just days before her royal wedding to Prince Rainier of Monaco who she had met in May 1955. Kelly tells Prudy "it is alright with me if you want to write an account of the wedding as long as it is not on the spot reporting and written afterwards as I am not supposed to have any press on my list of invitations." From the period of the wedding are invitations and printed materials, picture postcards, and envelopes with stamps bearing images of the new couple, all vestiges of Grace's new life as the Princess of Monaco. Many of Grace's letters from here on are written on royal stationery. In August 1956, Kelly asks Prudy "Can you believe that I am pregnant?" and mentions buying maternity clothes in Paris before heading to the U.S. About a week before the arrival of Princess Caroline in January 1957, Kelly expresses anxiety that "I still can't get used to being a wife let alone a mother... it has been so long since I led a normal life that I imagine it will take a while to become completely domesticated..." A very fine item is a picture postcard depicting Prince Rainier standing in uniform next to a gowned Princess Grace holding baby Caroline. In early 1958, Prince Albert was born and Grace glowingly reports "Our little boy is really too sweet for words. He is gaining weight rapidly and will soon be a big fatty. Caroline loves him but gets very upset when he cries. It is really wonderful having two such beautiful babies and one of each!" Grace has included several pictures of her with the children in these letters. Later that year, Grace is stateside and describes a trip to California to meet with Metro Pictures, a trip to Jamaica with Colliers, and her and Rainier's new apartment on Fifth Ave which she will decorate with a "clock from one of the To Catch a Thief sets" gifted to her by Cary Grant.

While the final years of the correspondence is voluminous, most topics include Grace's travels and instructions for when Prudy visits her, news of her children, and her efforts with orphans, the Red Cross, and other organizations. This group of letters offers insight to Grace's day-to-day in a relatively private time in her very public life. In 1958, Prudy married (with Grace as her matron of honor) and settled on a farm in Maryland where the letters continued to reach her from Monaco, Switzerland, Spain and elsewhere. The correspondence in this archive concludes in 1968, this being about the time Prudy began to suffer the leukemia that ended her life at just 42 in 1973. Grace Kelly died in 1982 at just 52 years old from injuries sustained when a cerebral hemmorhrage caused an automobile accident.

This is a remarkable archive that we believe to be unpublished and unknown to biographers. Grace Kelly's rise from her first days as an actress in New York to becoming the Princess of Monaco is a real-life fairy tale. Worthy of collector, institutional, and scholarly interest, we trace no other archive that tracks the career and personal life of Grace Kelly in her own words in such depth.

[willstafford]

Window on the World

ACCIDENTAL DEATH OF AN ANARCHIST Theatre Royal Haymarket, London, 29th July 2023 In 1970, Dario Fo and Franca Rame presented this masterpiece in response to the real-life death by defenestration of a railway worker while in custody of Italian police.  Now revived for the London stage in this new adaptation by Tom Basden, the issues raised by the play could not be more pertinent.  You only have…