It has been 10 years since her death in a horrible auto accident in Monaco and more than 35 years since her last film, yet Grace Kelly’s charm, cool beauty, and elegant style have not faded from our minds or our hearts

Her mother said it first: there was something “special” about Grace. As a child she had a steely determination to act, and with comparatively little trouble, she became one of Hollywood’s brightest stars in the 1950s. Though some perceived her as an “ice princess,” those who knew her well knew she was warm, funny, and it was said, partial to flirting with her leading men. Then, in 1955, she met her prince— Rainier of Monaco—and in less than a year she was sailing across the Atlantic to marry him and to become a real-life American Princess. As Her Serene Highness, Grace devoted herself to her husband and their three children: Caroline, Albert and Stephanie. She also took seriously her duties as Monaco’s first lady and gave much of her time to charities and to making Monaco a place to visit and to be seen. One day as she and Stephanie were returning to the palace from their country farm, their car failed to navigate a twisty mountain road and crashed.

Her death days later shocked the world and left her family dazed with a hurt that still shows. On September 14, 1982, Rainier lost a wife, his children a mother, and Monaco lost the princess who had been the glue that held everything together. And the world lost a “special” woman.