In June 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Grace Kelly in their list of top female stars of American cinema. In 1993, she became the first U.S. actress to appear on a U.S. postage stamp. But many are not aware that she had a chance to become the Queen. The Shah and Grace met at the Waldorf toward the end of 1949, when the thirty-year-old Shah arrived in America on an official visit. The Shah and Grace dated at least six times, probably overlapping with Shah’s marriage to Soraya.
Although Shah was ruling since 1941, he had no intention of hiding his new American paramour. To the contrary, he invited Grace to accompany him to the opera, amid great pomp and circumstance. He was besotted by her and demonstrated his feelings in the way he understood – presenting her with three pieces of Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry: a gold birdcage housing a diamond and sapphire bird, all fashioned into a perfect pin; a gold vanity case with a clasp set with thirty-two diamonds; and a gold bracelet with an intricate pearl and diamond face.
