Grace of Monaco Page #2

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And what do you want

us to do about it?

Stop courting them.

- (DOG BARKING)

- GIRL:
Oliver, come here! Come on!

- Casinos.

- GIRL:
Come here, now!

That's what I've inherited, Emile.

GIRL:
Good dog!

A playground for French aristocrats.

And that's a problem?

Oh, for the 10,000 people

who live here, yes.

Ordinary people need

schools, hospitals.

We make nothing, we export nothing.

If France is going to drain

Monaco of all she has,

it's not unreasonable to expect

French businesses to pay for it.

We find ourselves at an

impasse, Your Highness.

Because the President wants you to

not only impose income tax in Monaco,

but to pay the proceeds to France.

(MURMURS OF DISMAY)

You want us to pay tax to France?

This is a French protectorate

which has only ever existed

because of French good will.

This is a sovereign nation.

(DOG BARKS)

GIRL:
Oliver, come on, boy.

(DOG BARKING)

My peers in Paris are not

as understanding as I am.

I'm to return tomorrow

with your full acceptance.

Please work with me, Your Highness.

Does de Gaulle really want

the children of Monaco

to grow up to be croupiers?

Some would say that

would be an improvement.

Some of Monaco's children are

running around like their mother,

the offspring of a

Philadelphia bricklayer.

Let me go.

- Let me go.

- Mr. Pelletier...

May I, Mr. Pelletier?

(DOG BARKING)

He slapped a French representative?

Yes, he sent me away,

expelled me from Monaco.

Tell De Gaulle he's becoming

dangerously anti-French.

GRACE:
You've been the principality

priest for a long time.

You must know how complicated

things are here, Tuck.

- Yes, I know, Gracie.

- I feel I made a mistake.

What kind of mistake?

Everything I do or say is wrong.

Everything.

Do you know how I spent my afternoon?

I was trying to persuade the

good ladies of the Red Cross

that repairing a hospital wing

might just be more important

than... planning a ball.

You're in Monaco, Grace.

(GRACE SIGHS)

I know I'm in Monaco.

What do you think would happen

if I went back to making movies?

What's it about?

A frigid, compulsive thief.

Really? Hm.

But it's a great role.

I'm sure it is.

Have you spoken to Ray about this?

What do you think?

Of course not, it's always...

I don't know, it's always

politics with him.

Ray is never gonna accept

the idea of his princess

going back into the movies,

you know that, Gracie.

After 7 years of conflict in Algeria,

disorder reigns in France.

To consolidate power and

secure her borders,

the government must

finance the war effort.

In its sights, Monaco.

Mr. Denard spoke to the French

this afternoon from the Elyse.

On the orders of the

French President,

Monaco has a 6-month ultimatum

to begin taxing her citizens

and cease her open courting

of French companies.

Unless they stop scheming

to steal French revenue,

and demand that Monaco

become part of France.

Our food, our water, our power,

everything runs through France.

We'd be squashed in an instant.

Ray, you don't have an army.

You're in no position to

hardball the French President.

GRACE:
It's so nice to have a

real family meal for a change.

RAINIER:
I only wish I could stay and

enjoy it. I have a meeting with Onassis.

What if de Gaulle doesn't

accept your apology?

Then we'll have the shortest

war in the history of mankind.

What happens in a war, Maman?

Oh... Big bad men decide

that they're tired of talking

and so they er...

pull each other's noses.

Someone once asked my father,

"If you could be any monarch,

which monarch would you be?"

He said...

"The Tsar of Russia,

or the Prince of Monaco.

The Tsar, because he knows the

name of none of his subjects,

- the Prince of Monaco...

- Thanks.

...because he knows all of them."

- Why don't you just pay him?

- How?

We could mortgage some of the estate.

It's already mortgaged.

(CLICKS TONGUE)

How did it go with the Red Cross?

Will they pay for the orphanage?

The treasury'll put up a share, which

leaves Countess Baciochi no choice

but to match it with her funds.

You're forcing her to do something

other than for her own benefit?

You should see the conditions, Ray.

These children, they can't

live like this. It's appalling.

Well, don't upset her too much, OK?

I need her husband's

political support.

We're running out of money

and he has a lot of it.

Hitchcock offered me a role.

I think it might be

inappropriate to accept it now.

Were you considering accepting?

I wanted to ask you.

Well, if you really can't do without it,

I won't stand in your way.

But would it be appropriate?

I don't want people saying that I'm

running away or abandoning you.

Why would they say that?

The only thing I ask is,

you manage the publicity.

Really?

It's a risk. But take it if you must.

I miss it.

I can't stand it, I'll die!

I'll die!

If you touch me again, I'll die!

I can't stand it, I'll die!

If you touch me again...

If you touch me again, I'll die!

(EXHALES)

(SOFTLY) I can't stand it, I'll die.

If you touch me again, I'll die!

GRACE:

Gentlemen, I have wonderful news.

I am going to make a film

for Mr Alfred Hitchcock.

And I'd like to introduce

to you Rupert Allan,

my publicist from Hollywood.

Try not to look too astonished.

No Princess of Monaco has ever

taken to the stage before, Altesse.

It's not the stage, it's the screen.

There is a first time for

everything, Mr Delavenne.

Yes, what about your duties,

ma'am, and the crisis?

As your press officer, I don't know how

to present this without causing outrage.

Monsieur Cornet!

I can be a mother and a wife,

and hold down two jobs without the

people getting too upset, can't I?

- But what about the Prince?

- The Prince is very supportive.

As the Minister of the Interior,

it is my duty to protest.

What if the studio

wants to publicise it?

It'll cause unrest.

Mr Hitchcock has

agreed to be discreet.

Yes, they will not publish

until the palace publishes.

Which won't be until

this crisis is over.

RUPERT:

Making her return to Hollywood,

her Serene Highness

Princess Grace of Monaco

has accepted to appear

for Mr Alfred Hitchcock

in Universal Pictures' Marnie.

Good.

And this is the only

copy of the release?

GRACE:
Yes.

And action!

I'm gonna be the queen

of the all Western...

(CHILDREN ALL SHOUT AT ONCE)

Phyllis, the microphone's in film.

GIRL:
We're going to be famous!

- I'm John Wayne!

- BOY:
No, I'm John Wayne!

- Ha ha!

- Action!

Yes, that's it.

Spare me the indignation, Madge.

- We're just playing.

- GIRL:
Maman is an actress!

GRACE:

One more time before bed. And action!

It's a good likeness, no?

REPORTER:
Yeah.

Our readers want to know, how important

has the hospital project been to you?

I think that people have

to work hard enough

to make sure that the standards

for those who aren't as privileged

are no different than

from those who are.

Wherever in the world they may be.

Not everybody is lucky

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