Why Grace is still a legend

A steamy May morning in Monte Carlo and Princess Grace of Monaco's best friend is being interviewed by an American television network about her. Since Grace died in a car crash almost 20 years ago, Jean Van Remoortel - a restaurant owner of indeterminate age - has given almost 600 interviews about her. "Honey," she says in her Texan accent, "I just know that they keep on coming, asking me about her, getting me to tell them her story."

Grace's life story - beautiful Irish Catholic rich girl from the wrong side of the tracks cultivates an aristocratic air, becomes a Hollywood star, then gives it all up to marry a prince - may be a Cinderella saga of mythic proportions, but it is as a screen icon, a style icon and as a woman that Grace continues to fascinate.

With the re-release tomorrow of High Society - Grace's swan song before she retired from Hollywood and married Rainier - a new generation is being introduced to the last of the legendary Hollywood goddesses. Ironically, High Society, a 1956 musical version of The Philadelphia Story, is not her best film (Rear Window and To Catch a Thief compete to qualify). However, her performance as wilful heiress Tracy Lord, torn between two lovers - Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby - highlights exactly why Grace Kelly remains relevant today, and shows what current so-called stars, pretenders to her throne, could learn from her.

In it she plays a glamorous, independent woman. Hitchcock, who was enthralled by the hint of unbridled passion simmering under her regal facade, dubbed her "a snow-covered volcano". There is no nudity, no overt eroticism, in High Society, but Grace's ladylike performance exudes sexuality.

It is generally thought that audiences are influenced by TV or film love scenes, often imitating on-screen lovers. For a blueprint of how to project sexual desire, look no further than the High Society scene in which Sinatra sings You're Sensational, to Grace and note the veiled lust in her eyes, her sensuous body language, the invitation in her voice. Or watch her slow-motion kiss with Jimmy Stewart in, Rear Window. Or the picnic scene in To Catch a Thief,

The secret of Grace's on-screen sexuality is that, for the most part, she was playing herself. Like Hepburn, Dietrich, Garbo and Bette Davis, Grace gave audiences what they wanted - a consistent screen image to which they could return again and again.

Her on-screen mix of fire and ice worked - simply because it was real off-screen as well. She managed to put it about royally, yet was always discreet. In her private life, she projected an aura of wholesome purity, yet was wildly promiscuous. Her lovers included John Kennedy, the Shah of Iran, Clark Gable, Ray Milland and William Holden. "Grace had more lovers in a month than I did in a lifetime," says Zsa Zsa Gabor, herself no slouch in the bedroom.

Since the Fifties, Grace's on-screen sexual aura has spawned countless imitators, none of whom made the grade. Loren and Lollobrigida scorched with Latin sexuality, but Grace's more subtle brand of sex appeal proved more enduring.

Faye Dunaway imitated her cool blonde languor in The Thomas Crown Affair, but her sleek elegance was overshadowed by a feline sexuality tinged with vulgarity. Sharon Stone made a bid at besting the classy actress in Basic Instincts, even using Grace's trademark Hermès scarf to tie up her lovers. Ultimately, though, she lacked Grace's charm and breeding. Another ersatz Grace, Gwyneth Paltrow, tried to rival her glamour in A Perfect Murder - a remake of Dial M For Murder - but merely succeeded in being tissue-pale, wafer thin and profoundly uninteresting.

Had Grace lived, her image would still be everywhere today. She would have continued to outshine all her imitators. Instead, she died in a mysterious Monaco car accident at 52, yet she remains a film goddess and a style icon who has never gone out of fashion.