Grace Kelly, the award-winning Hollywood actress who became Princess of Monaco, remains an icon of elegance, style, and grace. Beyond her royal status and acting achievements, those who knew her describe a woman with a "hands-on" approach to beauty and a dedication to a healthy lifestyle. This article explores the diet, exercise, and self-care practices that contributed to her timeless appeal.
Fragrance as a Reflection of Refinement
Princess Grace's meticulous attention to detail extended to her fragrance choices. Claudia Poccia, CEO of Grace de Monaco, notes that her perfumes reflected her refined sensibilities and were a signature element of her personal style. On the night she won the Oscar for Best Actress in 1955, she wore Chateau Krigler 12, a blend of lily of the valley, mimosa, rose, and musk. A year later, Prince Rainier III commissioned the House of Creed to create Fleurissimo, a blend of bergamot, tuberose, iris, and Bulgarian rose, to complement her wedding bouquet.
To honor her legacy, Grace de Monaco fragrances are crafted to embody the sophistication that defined Princess Grace’s persona. Each formulation features a thoughtful blend of florals, especially roses. Promenade Sur Le Rocher, Danse Étoilée, and Ombre Sereine are all designed to capture her pivotal evolution from Hollywood to Monaco.
Notably, 100-percent of the profits from every purchase of Grace de Monaco product flow directly into the Princess Grace Foundation-USA, which supports new generations of extraordinary and diverse talent in theater, dance and film.
Skincare and Beauty Routine
Princess Grace "remained discreet about her makeup and skin-care routine," but during her time in Hollywood, Erno Laszlo was a skin-care expert relied on by many actresses. One of her favorite skin-care products was his Phormula 3-9 Repair Cream. In 1965, Princess Grace named Lancaster of Monaco her official skin-care and sun-care supplier. The House of Dior gifted Princess Grace a box of 14 lipsticks, but her favorite was the iconic red Dior Rouge 999, released in 1953.
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Even after becoming Princess of Monaco, Princess Grace had a hands-on approach to beauty, preferring to do her own hair and makeup. She always carried a brush and powder for touch-ups and adhered to a strict skin-care routine, including a double-cleansing method and splashing technique said to have been pioneered by Erno Laszlo. Makeup and hair stylist Peter Lamas revealed that Princess Grace prioritized keeping her hands hydrated, considering them the first area to show signs of aging.
Maintaining an Active Lifestyle
Princess Grace was diligent about self-care, as detailed by biographer Gina McKinnon in her book What Would Grace Do? She prioritized hydration, avoided smoking, and maintained an active lifestyle through swimming, dance, ballet, yoga, horseback riding, and tennis. Her dancer’s background and modeling experience instilled in her a focus on posture, a trademark of her signature poise and elegance.
In a 1982 interview with People, the princess shared her exercise routine of walking “very quickly” for at least an hour almost every day or occasionally going on long hikes with friends.
Diet and Eating Habits
While she followed occasional diets during her Hollywood days, she later embraced a more relaxed approach to food and well-being. She admitted to having no time for crash diets, because they would make her “nervous and bad-tempered.” She claimed to enjoy food, while also trying to eat “the right things,” including foods like whole-meal bread and whole rice, and avoiding sugar.
According to Spoon University, Grace would swear by her morning oatmeal to kickstart her day and help curb later cravings. If she did happen to have any cravings before lunch, she always had healthy snacks like dried fruit, carrot sticks and celery on hand. Grace rarely ate meat or fish and kept herself hydrated by drinking plenty of water and eating water-rich foods, like apples, throughout the day. When it came to indulging, she was known to break her sugar ban for a cookie now and then.
Read also: Body and Soul Rejuvenation
Grace strictly avoided sugar, along with white bread and rice, opting instead for wholegrain whenever she could. She seemed to favor three drinks throughout her stardom-water, skimmed milk, and green tea (often with a teaspoon of honey). She removed alcohol from her diet and kept hydrated with enough H2O and high-water-content fruits. She kept her meals light and small-portioned. As she told one reporter, ‘I do enjoy good food but try to eat correctly, the right things’.
Grace Kelly's Favorite Things
Prince Rainier knew roses were Grace Kelly's favorite flower. Grace loved accessories, especially the Hermes brand. On their retreats from palace life to less glamorous homes, Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly found a simpler way of life. Grace reportedly loved cheeseburgers.
Old Hollywood Beauty Secrets
Grace Kelly wasn't the only celebrity to frequent the Café de Paris. Frank Sinatra and Eartha Kitt were other celebrities in her day.
For many people, working out isn’t necessarily the most enjoyable pastime in the world. And apparently, the traditional way of working out wasn’t super fun for some Old Hollywood actresses either. Betty Grable was known for her “million-dollar legs” throughout the 1940s. To keep those famous legs toned, she trained them through dance. She also exercised with a fun, dance-like move called “bird-pecking” in order to avoid getting a double chin. “Bird-Pecking” involved a person pushing out their lips (like a modern-day “duck face”) and pushing their neck forward.
Rita Hayworth also used dancing as a way to stay in shape. Hayworth was trained as a dancer before she began making movies. Once she became an actress, she revealed that she danced up to eight hours a day to keep slim. When she wasn’t dancing, Rita Hayworth participated in an early form of aerobics called the Bagot Stack Stretch and Swing System. She also was cautious of what she consumed.
Read also: The Grace Dent Story
For some Hollywood starlets, dancing was used to justify a cheat meal. Academy award winner Ginger Rogers was known for her dance skills that were on display in films made with Fred Astaire in the 1930s. Rogers worked on intense dance choreography multiple times a day with MGM’s in-house trainer, Donald Loomis. Her hard work justified her indulging in her favorite meal as a reward - southern chicken and gravy.
To stay in shape, one has to stay active and maintain proper eating habits. For one thing, classic Hollywood stars worked extremely hard to be in a calorie deficit. Many of them did this by eating very little food. An article published in the magazine Photoplay in January 1929 breaks down what actress Joan Crawford ate in a day.
On the other end of the bizarre food spectrum was actress Ava Gardner. While many Hollywood actresses dieted and attempted to stay in a calorie deficit, Gardner’s meals consisted of carbs, sugar, butter, and dairy. She ate a high caloric diet because of her “nervous stomach,” which prevented her from eating normally. She also didn’t gain weight because of her busy schedule, which made her forget to sit down and have a meal.
In the 1920s, especially, many female actresses had “weight clauses” in their contracts. These clauses stipulated that actresses had to maintain or stay below a designated weight. For example, actress Clara Bow had to stay under 118 pounds.
Today, fad diets are frequently marketed as the easiest and fastest approach to losing weight. Many Old Hollywood stars had their own version of fad diets that they swore by to keep slim. For example, actress Jean Harlow was determined to keep her 33-25-35 figure. To do so, Harlow followed a four-day tomato-based diet. While filming, Harlow would eat two whole tomatoes and black coffee for lunch and dinner. Her breakfast consisted only of black coffee and orange juice.
Actress (and future princess) Grace Kelly also had an interesting diet, dubbed the “elevenses.” Basically, this meant that at 11 in the morning, Kelly would have a snack to ensure she didn’t overeat at lunch.
Some Old Hollywood celebrities even got into juicing before was a mainstream fad diet. Greta Garbo was a client of “diet guru” Gayelord Hauser, who introduced her to many new ways of eating, including juicing.
Marilyn Monroe was not only a sex symbol, but her body was revered as a blueprint for what women everywhere should strive for. Monroe discussed her fitness routine with Pageant magazine in 1952, stating: “My biggest single concern used to be getting enough to eat. Now I have to worry about eating too much. I never used to bother with exercises. Now I spend at least 10 minutes each morning working out with small weights. Another interesting aspect of Marilyn Monroe’s fitness routine was that she actually ate enough. As we know today, more calories burned equals the need to consume more food. Monroe’s meals were high-protein and high-nutrient-based. She would crack two eggs into a glass of warm milk for breakfast.
Audrey Hepburn was another actress who believed women should eat three meals a day. Hepburn trained as a ballerina for years with hopes of one day becoming a prima ballerina. Although there were rumors that she suffered from an eating disorder because she was so thin, she actually was never partial to dieting. Audrey’s favourite dessert was vanilla ice cream with maple syrup. Audrey was also famous for her tomatoes, basil and garlic pasta, a not complicated, but delicious dish.
Ingrid Bergman liked to eat good food, and her body was just right, healthy. However, as I read in Bee Wilson’s article The Appetite of Ingrid Bergman written for The Telegraph, Ingrid’s first husband, Petter Lindström had the habit to watch her food habits and cut her rations. Poor Ingrid would leave the table still famished, but she fortunately could satisfied her hunger with a hidden box of cookies. 😉 Wilson also talks about her life in Italy. I’ve often read that Ingrid said that she was able to keep a healthy shape by eating pasta. As it is written in Wilson’s article, this was because “Europeans do not eat between meals” (Ingrid Bergman).