Andrew Cannon, Honorary Consul of Monaco

Saturday is the official opening of Grace Kelly: Style Icon.

The exhibition is an insight into one of the most beautiful women of the 20th century who typified elegance and style.

This is the story of how this exhibition came to be at Bendigo.

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One of the most important historic sporting events in the world is the Diamond Sculls rowing event at Henley, England.

As a young man I went to Philadelphia, the home of the Kelly family, to train for this event.

Incidentally, East River Drive in Philadelphia is now named Kelly Boulevard after Princess Grace’s brother, who won the diamond sculls and a bronze medal at the Melbourne Olympics in 1956.

At the end of the rowing course is a statue of Princess Grace’s father, who won three Olympic gold medals in rowing.

The family is synonymous with sport in Philadelphia and for me that was the reason to be there – to row and train with the best.

Further to the rowing it was obvious the pride the city had with its connection to Princess Grace. In fact in the early 1980s (before her tragic death) the Princess came to Philadelphia to name a rowing-eight in her honour.

The connection of family and friends was very important to her.

My connection goes back to these early days, and being privileged enough to have the opportunity to row with Jack Kelly and meet his family, which was an inspiration to my endeavours with rowing.

I lived with Gus Ignas for three years, who was Jack’s rowing partner and my coach.

That connection is still there 30 years later as Honorary Consul for Monaco and, John B Kelly, III (son of Jack Kelly) is a close friend who I’ve rowed with and against.

As the nephew of Princess Grace, it is exciting that he has chosen to come to Bendigo to support the opening of the Grace Kelly: Style Icon exhibition. This collaborated effort means a lot to me.

Further to my role as Honorary Consul representing Monaco I was actively on the lookout for an event or exhibition that could benefit either or both countries.

When Switzerland won the America’s Cup I initially pursued, with His Serene Highness Prince Albert, the opportunity for Monaco to host part or all of the America’s Cup regatta. Unfortunately this was not to be.

When the Grimaldi Forum put together the wardrobe of Princess Grace to go on tour (initially in Paris) I thought, ‘what an opportunity for Australia’. In fact, the then Minister of Tourism, Michel Bouquier, alerted me to the potential for it come to Australia – I went to work, as I felt it was something Australians would want to see.

Prince Albert was fully supportive of the idea and stated that when his mother, Princess Grace, passed away in 1982, he had received more letters of condolence from Australia than any other country.

So with the support of the Palace and the Grimaldi Forum (which manages the exhibition) I went to work finding the correct venue, as Australia has many museums, but not that many galleries that could satisfy the criteria to host such an event.

There was then much dialogue with major galleries and also some of the smaller ones. I went as far north as Brisbane and as far west as Perth, seeking advice from well-respected leaders of the arts community particularly Rupert Myer AM, Marilyn Darling AC, Tony Elwood, and Shane Carmody.

It made sense for the National Gallery of Victoria and Dr Gerard Vaughan was excited by its concept and worked to tailor the exhibition to suit what he believed Australians would want to see. However their organisation was preparing for 150-year celebrations and had got so large that decisions were slow to progress and their figures on visitation were conservative.

At the same time the exhibition was proving to be a blockbuster in Europe and the opportunity was slipping away. Bendigo meanwhile had finalised its Age of Couture exhibition with numbers that were far in excess of what the National Gallery projected for Grace Kelly, and Bendigo Art Gallery director Karen Quinlan had gained the respect of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

With the exhibition becoming a major success overseas it was becoming a bidding process. A number of countries with strong financial backing were now very keen to host what was to be the final leg of the exhibition.

Thanks to the relationship with the Grimaldi Forum and the Palace itself, and the collaborated effort of friends and family (including, in particular, Laura Anderson from the Melbourne Fashion Festival, and Ken Ryan, Qantas), funding was secured from the Victorian government, the City of Greater Bendigo, and the Bendigo Art Gallery.

All the criteria was proven and Bendigo Art Gallery was rewarded with this spectacular insight into one of the most photographed women of the 20th century.