When the princess came to Pittsburgh
Forty years ago, Princess Grace arrived on the Bluff to honor poetry and was, in turn, honored by a city of which she grew quite fond, recalls Duquesne professor emeritus SAMUEL HAZO
On Feb. 26, 1978, Princess Grace of Monaco presented a poetry program entitled “Birds, Beasts and Flowers” in Carnegie Music Hall under the auspices of the International Poetry Forum. It was her first professional appearance in the United States since her marriage in 1954 and her first visit to Pittsburgh. Though a Philadelphian, she had never been to Western Pennsylvania.
What prompted her coming was a news item that a friend of the forum, Denise Ellis, called to my attention. It was reported that Princess Grace had presented a poetry program with British actor Richard Pasco in Edinburgh.
With nothing more to go on, I sent an invitation through the Monaco consulate and within a week received an acceptance from Princess Grace in longhand. She could come with Mr. Pasco in late February as she returned to Monaco from Los Angeles.
As a faculty member at Duquesne University, I then suggested to Father Henry McAnulty, the president at that time, that he might offer the princess an honorary degree in conjunction with the visit. He smiled Irishly and agreed. Although the princess had received numerous honors, she had never accepted an honorary doctorate, and many had been offered.
Before her arrival in Pittsburgh, there were many issues to be resolved concerning residence, transportation, security and so on. Also, there was a threatened coal strike. City and state officials warned that evening events might have to be postponed or canceled in
the interest of saving energy. At a crucial time, Gov. Milton Shapp intervened, and the performance as well as a second performance the following night went on as scheduled.
To arrange for security, I contacted the city’s Department of Public Safety to request a bodyguard for the princess. The guard assigned was a veteran detective named Charles (or Charlie, as we all came to call him) Jordan whose regular beat was with the vice squad. He handled the task perfectly.
Charlie was always polite but frank, never obsequious. That could have been why the princess was always at ease in his company. Some of their scenes together could have come from a script called “The Cop and the Princess.”
“Your slip’s showing on the right, princess,” he said once as they walked to a rehearsal. She thanked him and adjusted it. It was as if she had just been admonished by her brother. On the evening before she left, he introduced her to Iron City Beer and the proper way to drink it — from a bottle.
As she departed Pittsburgh, Charlie told her that he could not accompany her to her gate because he was carrying a weapon, but he took her hand and said, “Princess, it’s been an honor to guard you. If I ever get to Monaco, I’d like to invite you out for a cup of coffee.” She smiled and said, “Sure, Charlie.”
When Charlie died on the job three years later of a heart attack, all who came to the viewing saw a photograph of him and Princess Grace that Mrs. Jordan had propped in the casket. Later Mrs. Jordan received a handwritten letter of condolence from the princess and similar letters from Mr. Pasco and others from their group.
Although Princess Grace would be associated with the International Poetry Forum on two subsequent occasions — at a 1980 poetry program in Monaco and again in Pittsburgh in 1981 — it was the Duquesne doctoral investiture in 1980 that made the front pages of local newspapers and received national attention. It also has been prominently mentioned in biographies of the princess.
Dr. Princess Grace
At the investiture, the ballroom of the student union was filled to capacity. The orchestra was in formal dress, and Julia Lerner, a professor of voice, opened the program by singing the anthem of the Principality of Monaco. As the princess said a few final words, she emotionally thanked one and all for the honor. Applause followed her when she left the stage and continued as she returned to her car, completely surrounded by students.
Just before leaving Pittsburgh, Princess Grace had a final meeting with Father McAnulty in which he mentioned that the university was planning to build a theater and said it would be an honor to have it named the Princess Grace Theater. She told him the honor would be all hers and that she would contribute memorabilia and help in other ways.
Princess Grace was killed in an automobile accident Sept. 14, 1982, and the theater-naming never came to be, despite her emotional connection to Pittsburgh and all her achievements. It was a shame. After all, the princess was a universally respected Academy-Awardwinning actress, an influential player in Hollywood, a co-ruler of Monaco, a president of the International Red Cross whose annual ball in Monaco raised millions for the needy, the person who regenerated the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, the founder of the Monaco hospital that bears her name, the founder of a mission called AMADE that promotes the rights of children around the world and an internationally recognized botanical authority fluent in English, French and German.
All who had attended the doctoral investiture of the princess at Duquesne University received the news of her death in 1982 with particular sorrow. I was in Washington, D.C., on that day arranging for a poetry reading she planned to give at Wolf Trap. I drove home without having turned on the radio to find a host of reporters at my home who informed me of her death.
When I recounted this history to Duquesne’s current president, Kenneth Gormley, he immediately wondered how we could memorialize Princess Grace’s visit on its 40th anniversary. The answer was to create a memorial plaque encircled with photographs from that day mounted in the room where the princess received her only honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters. A more public memorial is also under consideration.