il faut rester fidèle à l’esprit d’un texte.

Dearest Ava,

Grace Kelly wrote this letter to Ava Gardner shortly after she married Prince Rainier of Monaco. In it, she mentions being pregnant, closing her apartment in the States, and her appreciation for Ava attending her wedding.

In 1952, Mogambo not only allowed Ava to reunite with one of her favourite leading men, Clark Gable, but it also introduced her to Grace Kelly, who would become a lifelong friend. Ava recalled some of the good times they had on set together in Ava: My Story: “I remember on Gracie’s birthday we got a bottle of champagne from some bootlegger, and she and Clark and Jack Ford and I had a little party out in the tent. Later, we did the same thing for mine. And after that, no matter where in the world I was, every year a birthday present would arrive from Grace.”

Ava also described "Gracie", as she called her, as a “great lady, and also great fun, but she was never much of a drinker, though she tried hard. Her little nose would get pink, she’d get sick, and we’d have to rescue her.”

Ava convinced Grace to join her on a Roman vacation after filming in Africa had wrapped. Grace wrote to a friend from Rome: “Ava and I are now great pals.” Ava attended Grace’s wedding to Prince Rainier of Monaco in 1956 and attended galas Grace organized in Monaco. She was also among the celebrity guests at the wedding of Princess Caroline, Grace’s daughter, in 1978. Ava and Grace remained close friends until Grace’s untimely death in 1982.