Revisiting the Seizure and Car Crash

Princess Grace Kelly died on Sept. 14, 1982, after suffering a stroke and getting into a car crash near Monte Carlo.

Before she became European royalty, the Philadelphia native was a prolific actress. She was most well known for Alfred Hitchcock’s The Rear Window and Dial M for Murder, but appeared in 11 movies in her acting career — including The Country Girl, for which she won an Academy Award and To Catch A Thief — and dozens of live theatre productions.

Already a household name, Princess Grace attended the Cannes Film Festival in May 1955, where she was introduced to Prince Rainier of Monaco by Gone with the Wind Actress Olivia de Havilland. The couple married in April 1956, and Princess Grace became Her Serene Highness Princess Grace of Monaco, subsequently leaving her acting career.

Princess Grace and Prince Rainier then welcomed three children together: Princess Caroline in 1957, Prince Albert in 1958 and Princess Stéphanie in 1965. Seventeen years after welcoming their youngest, on Sept. 14, 1982, Princess Grace died of a brain hemorrhage in a Monaco hospital after suffering a milder hemorrhage behind the wheel of her car, veering off the road and plummeting more than 100 feet down a ravine. Princess Stéphanie was in the passenger seat at the time.

“Many times during a day, a week, not only do I find myself thinking of her, but numbers of people still recall her to me,” Prince Albert told PEOPLE on the 40th anniversary of Princess Grace’s death in 2022. “They remember her and that’s a great tribute to her and who she was — to what an exceptional human being she was.”

Here’s everything to know about Princess Grace Kelly’s death and the legacy she left behind.

How did Princess Grace Kelly die?

Princess Grace experienced a stroke while driving her car near Monte Carlo, and later died of her injuries and a more intense brain hemorrhage in a Monaco hospital.

On the morning of Sept. 13, 1982, Princess Grace and her 17-year-old daughter Princess Stéphanie got into her British Rover 3500 and set out to drive from their summer home in Roc Angel, France, to their home in Monaco.

While on the winding road at Cap-d’Ail, Princess Grace lost control of the car and it tumbled more than 100 feet down an embankment, turning over repeatedly and bursting into flames at the bottom, per The New York Times. After the crash, it was reported that Princess Grace had suffered a stroke while behind the wheel, and her daughter attempted to pull the handbrake to prevent the crash, as she told The Guardian in October 2002.

French police reported that neither Princess Grace nor her daughter were wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash, per The New York Times, and the accident was so serious that Princess Grace was flung into the backseat of the car, as Princess Stéphanie told The Guardian. The passenger side door was completely smashed in, and the young princess had to be removed from the vehicle through the driver’s door.

The former actress and her daughter were taken to the hospital with serious injuries. Princess Stéphanie’s ailments included broken ribs, three cervical fractures and a shattered collarbone, while Princess Grace suffered from a broken thighbone, collarbone and ribs.

While in the hospital, Kelly experienced a second brain hemorrhage, which ultimately caused her death.

When did Princess Grace Kelly die?

Princess Grace died on Sept. 14, 1982, as a result of injuries she sustained in a car accident the day before.

After the accident, she and Princess Stéphanie were transported to a Monaco hospital and over the course of the night, Princess Grace’s health “deteriorated,” according to a Monaco government announcement the day of her death, per The New York Times. “At the end of the day all therapeutic possibilities had been exceeded,” the announcement read.

More than three decades after Princess Grace’s death, her son, Prince Albert, spoke out about how the family handled her death. In a 2017 interview on In Depth with Graham Bensinger, Prince Albert said that the family was by Princess Grace’s side in the hospital for hours before doctors determined that she would not survive her injuries.

“It was a very shocking moment, you’re not quite sure what to think, and of course, you think that things are going to improve and it’s not as bad an accident as you thought it was. And so those few hours there were very tense and very emotional,” he said. “It wasn’t until later that evening that it became apparent that the outcome was not going to be a good one.”

Where did Princess Grace Kelly die?

Princess Grace died in a Monaco hospital.

She never regained consciousness after the car crash, according to The New York Times, and was kept on life support for several hours until it was determined that nothing could be done to save her.

How did Princess Grace Kelly’s family react to her death?

Princess Grace’s unexpected death impacted every member of her family. In his 2017 interview on In Depth with Graham Bensinger, Prince Albert said that his father never recovered from his mother’s death. “He was deeply affected, and he wasn’t quite the same man as he was before the accident,” Prince Albert said.

While all of the princess’ children were heartbroken over her death, Princess Stéphanie — who was with her mother in the accident — found grappling with the tragedy particularly difficult.

In the 2017 Bensinger interview, Prince Albert explained that it took his sister “a very long time” to recover from the accident. “It took a number of years for her to come to terms with that — the pain of being in that car with our mother and not being able to pull her out or to have a different outcome,” he said.

For her part, Princess Stéphanie spoke about the effect of her mother’s death in a 2015 interview with the French publication Point de Vue. “After I got over my anger, got past the sense of injustice that was inside me, instead of feeling sorry for myself, I said, ‘Wait! Logically, you should have died, too,’ ” she said. “If I was kept alive, it was for a reason. You have a place in this world. You have to find it.”

In 2017, Prince Albert also acknowledged that it took years to make peace with his mother’s death, but “you recover thanks to your other family members and to your friends and to people who are dear to you who can provide comfort.”

When was Princess Grace Kelly’s funeral?

One week after her death, Princess Grace was mourned by her family, friends, fellow royalty and the Monaco public.

On the morning of Sept. 18, 1982, Prince Rainier and two of his children, Princess Caroline and Prince Albert, led a funeral procession down the streets of Monte Carlo from the family’s palace to the Cathédrale de Monaco, per The Washington Post and The New York Times. Their daughter, Princess Stéphanie, was unable to attend the funeral, as she was recovering from her injuries in the hospital.

The funeral services at the cathedral (where Princess Grace and Prince Rainier were married in 1956) lasted 75 minutes with hundreds of mourners in attendance and included a mass, readings and music.

In attendance at Princess Grace’s funeral were her brother and two sisters, President Ronald Regan’s wife, Nancy Reagan, Princess Diana — along with many other European royals — and actor Cary Grant, her To Catch a Thief costar.

Several hours after the funeral, a second mass was held for Monaco’s 28,000 residents to pay their respects to Princess Grace. Later, she was buried in the royal crypt behind the main altar of the cathedral, per The Washington Post.

What is Princess Grace Kelly’s legacy?

Princess Grace left behind a long-lasting legacy that spans from her Hollywood career to her elegant fashion sense and her philanthropic work.

The Oscar-winning princess is best known for her film roles, from her features in Hitchcock films — earning her a spot as a “Hitchcock blonde” —  to her theater productions.

“Forty years on, she still captures people’s imagination,” Prince Albert told PEOPLE in 2022. “She managed to capture the imagination and attention of several younger generations and not many have done that. It’s an incredible gift that she had.”

Princess Grace’s glamorous style also has a profound impact today, inspiring the fashion decisions of celebrities, other royalty and the general public.

In 2007, 25 years after her death, Princess Grace’s children exhibited hundreds of her personal possessions — including private letters and many of her most recognizable outfits, according to The New York Times.

The exhibition was held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco in the summer of 2007, followed by a smaller display at Sotheby’s in New York that fall. Included in the collection was Princess Grace’s wedding dress, a costume from the 1956 film High Society — her final acting project before becoming royalty — and the iconic mint-satin dress she wore to accept her Oscar for The Country Girl in 1955.

The princess’ philanthropy also left a lasting mark on the world — specifically in her support and mentorship of emerging artists.

During her time as a royal, Princess Grace dedicated time to improving the arts institutions in Monaco and founded AMADE Mondiale, a nonprofit dedicated to the well-being of children around the world. Princess Caroline now serves as the chairwoman, and Prince Albert is an honorary chair, per the nonprofit’s website.

Just after Princess Grace’s death, Prince Rainier founded the Princess Grace Foundation-USA to honor his wife and her work, and also started the Princess Grace Awards to reward emerging talent and those who give back to their communities. Decades later, both are still in operation.

“It’s a great satisfaction, and it’s also inspiring to see that my father’s commitment to carry on my mother’s legacy and her passion to support the arts community has impacted so many lives,” Prince Albert told PEOPLE in October 2024. “My mother really wanted to recognize young talent in these fields and help them because it’s never easy at the beginning of a career in the arts.”

Princess Grace’s life also inspired countless books as well as a 2014 biopic, Grace of Monaco, with Nicole Kidman in the starring role.