structural:expansion, information:filtering
Princess of Monaco

Princess Grace gave birth to the couple's first child, Princess Caroline, on January 23, 1957. Their next child and the heir to the throne, Prince Albert, was born on March 14, 1958. Their youngest, Princess Stéphanie, was born on February 1, 1965.

During her marriage, Grace discontinued her acting career. Instead, she performed her daily duties as princess and became involved in philanthropic work. As princess consort, she became the President of the Red Cross of Monaco (with her sister Peggy Davis and sister-in-law Princess Antoinette as the Vice-Presidents) and the Patron of Rainbow Coalition Children, an orphanage which was run by former dancer, singer and actress Josephine Baker. She hosted an annual Christmas celebration with presents for orphaned children in Monaco. The Princess also served as president of the Garden Club of Monaco, and president of the organizing committee of the International Arts Foundation. Grace retained her link to America by her dual U.S. and Monégasque citizenship.

Grace and her husband visited Ireland on three occasions, and in 1976 she purchased her family's ancestral homestead in Drumilra, near Newport, County Mayo.

Grace founded AMADE Mondiale, a Monaco-based, non-profit organization which is recognized by the UN, after she witnessed the plight of Vietnamese children in 1963. According to UNESCO 's website, AMADE promotes and protects the "moral and physical integrity" and the "spiritual well-being of children throughout the world, without distinction of race, nationality or religion, and in a spirit of complete political independence." The organization currently has cooperative branches across Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa. They retain consultive status with UNICEF, UNESCO, and U.N. Economic & Social Council, alongside participative status with The Council of Europe.

Princess Grace was active in improving the arts institutions of Monaco, forming the Princess Grace Foundation in 1964 to support local artisans. In 1965, she accepted the invitation to be an honorary member of La Leche League, a worldwide mother-to-mother support group which focuses on mothering through breastfeeding. She was a speaker at their 1971 conference in Chicago, addressing 1,400 mothers, 1,600 fathers and babies. Grace was a known advocate of breastfeeding, and successfully fed her three children. In 1975, Grace helped found the Princess Grace Academy, the resident school of the Monte Carlo Ballet. She later advocated to preserve the Belle Époque -era architecture of the principality. Grace hosted a yearly American Week in Monaco, where guests would play baseball and eat ice cream. The palace also celebrated American Thanksgiving annually.

Alfred Hitchcock offered Princess Grace the lead in his film Marnie in 1962. She was eager, but public outcry in Monaco against her involvement in a film where she would play a kleptomaniac made her reconsider and ultimately reject the project. Director Herbert Ross tried to interest her in a part in his film The Turning Point (1977), but Rainier dismissed the idea. Later that year, she returned to the arts in a series of poetry readings on stage and narration of the documentary The Children of Theatre Street. She also narrated ABC's made-for-television film The Poppy Is Also a Flower (1966).

Grace joined the board of the 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation in 1976, becoming one of its first female members. In 1980, she published My Book of Flowers with Gwen Robyns, detailing her sense of floral aesthetics, symbolism, and flower pressing. Grace and Rainier worked together on a 33-minute independent film titled Rearranged in 1979, which received interest from ABC TV executives in 1982 after its premiere in Monaco, on the condition that it be extended to an hour. Before more scenes could be shot, Grace died and the film was never released, nor was it publicly shown again.

In the early 1980s, Grace collaborated with Springmaid Company, the now-defunct bed linen brand. The collaboration was titled GPK after the initials of her maiden name and features bed linens, tablecloths, napkins, placemats, and others. Both collaborated after Neil Mandell, a newly hired Springmaid stylist, found the designs Grace made in a People magazine article on the exhibition in a Paris Gallery. Princess Grace received more than $1 million in royalties, which she donated to her favorite charities.