The Cour d’Honneur of the Prince’s Palace of Monaco will host a special screening on Monday, July 20, at 9:30pm, marking the first-ever big screen premiere of the newly restored 4K version of “Le Mariage de Monaco.” The 1956 documentary, directed by Jean Masson, chronicled the wedding of Prince Rainier III and Grace Kelly, celebrated in Monaco from April 12 to 19, 1956, a moment that helped cement the Principality’s international prestige and media visibility at the time. The film’s distribution across Europe, as well as in the United States and Japan, contributed significantly to that global reach.
The restoration project traces back to a discovery made three years ago, when around a dozen boxes containing the film’s original reels and outtakes were uncovered. That find set in motion a preservation effort for what had become an emblematic yet largely inaccessible piece of Monaco’s audiovisual history, having remained effectively unseen since its original theatrical release.
Alongside the photochemical and digital restoration carried out in laboratory, researchers also studied the film’s original production conditions, offering new insight into the ambitions and challenges behind capturing such a major event on camera.
Monday’s screening will take the form of a film lecture, presenting the newly restored footage alongside other archival sources for the first time on the big screen, within the historic setting of the Palace’s own courtyard. A second screening is scheduled for October 16 at the Grimaldi Forum.