30th Anniversary of the Princess Grace Awards

Their Serene Highnesses Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene were in New York City for the big event...

The full details on all the winners can be found at the Princess Grace Foundation website.

Prince Albert and Princess Charlene in America

T.S.H. Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene have been in North America and have had to cover quite a great distance to be everywhere they were required. Late last month Prince Albert II, because of his years of work with the Olympic Games, was honored with a doctorate from the United States Sports Academy. This was presented at the (previously covered) 5th annual Peace and Sport International Forum. His helping in putting the forum together was also cited as merit for his new honorary doctorate. On the west side of the Atlantic, the Prince and Princess were busy this week, starting the month off with the Princess Grace Awards gala in New York City. Among those honored this year were Jon M. Chu (yes, the guy who made the Justin Bieber movie -not kidding) who received the Princess Grace Statue and stage and screen legend Dame Julie Andrews DBE who was presented with the Prince Rainier III Award. She deserves any award she receives as far as I’m concerned and I doubt anyone would argue that. There was also a special luncheon in honor of the Princely couple attended by most of the social elites of New York City. If you’re somebody in the Big Apple -you were probably there. Keeping a busy schedule as usual, the next day the Prince and Princess of Monaco zipped up to Toronto, Canada to attend the opening of the “Grace Kelly: From Movie Star to Princess” Exhibition. The special will run until January 22 and is based on the exhibition “The Grace Kelly Years” which has been such a big hit at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.

Princess Grace Awards in New York City

HRH Princess Caroline of Hanover was in New York City on Wednesday to honor the winners of the Princess Grace Award which are distributed to those who have made a significant contribution in the areas of the arts and charity. This year the big winners were Mr. and Mrs. Denzel Washington. Most know Denzel Washington for his long list of acting credits, being an Oscar-winner and so on. However, he and his wife Pauletta have also been very active in helping a number of charities over the years with little fuss or fanfare. They have established the Gifted Scholars Program in Neuroscience which provides scholarships to medical students who have shown promise to go and study under Dr. Keith Black, chairman of the neurosurgery department at Cedars-Sinai. Denzel Washington has done a great deal of good for many people, without drawing attention to himself and the Washingtons are very much deserving of this award. Pauletta Washington told Bloomberg News, "We are so blessed, and we are blessed to be a blessing to others. That’s our family mantra about giving. The main thing is to have an appreciation for what we have, and we teach that to our children."

Tony Award winning theatre director Anna D. Shapiro was also honored Wednesday for her contributions to the arts, in this case the theatre. Princess Caroline was all smiles as she handed out the awards.

Albert II Back in the USA

H.S.H. Prince Albert II and girlfriend Charlene Wittstock have wrapped up a visit to the United States. He visited Washington DC to tend to some government business, met with Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon at the United Nations in New York on the 19th and yesterday attended the Princess Grace Awards, presenting the prizes to the winners and rubbing elbows with numerous celebrities. The Princess Grace Awards Gala was held at Cipriani 42nd Street. At the end of this week the Sovereign Prince will be in San Diego, California to speak at the Bright Green Future Conference where he will also be given the Scripps Institute of Oceanography’s Roger Revelle Prize on Friday. The award, and what the prince will most likely be speaking about, was given for the Prince's work in studying and raising awareness of the danger to marine life from rising levels of co2 in the oceans caused by global warming.

Filmmaker Chosen for Princess Grace Award

August 22, 2009, Greencastle, Ind. — Chinonye O. Chukwu, a 2007 graduate of DePauw University who is an M.F.A. candidate at Temple University, is a recipient of a 2009 Princess Grace Award. Presented by the Royal Family of Monaco, the Princess Grace Foundation-USA honors six student filmmakers in the nation. Chukwu will receive $24,000 to produce her next film, Chidinma and Buchi, which will be shot in her native country of Nigeria late this year.

Chukwu and the other honorees will also be feted at the annual black-tie Princess Grace Awards Gala, held in the presence of HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco, on October 21 in New York City.
Chidinma and Buchi is "a story about two feuding cousins (who) discover a unique way of bridging the cultural differences and communication barriers between them," notes the foundation's Web site.

Chinonye's most recently completed film, Igbo Kwenu!, received a PIFVA Subsidy Grant from the independent film community and was honored with both the "Best Motion Picture Award" and "Best Screenplay Award" at the 2009 Diamond Screen Festival.

National in scope, the Princess Grace Foundation-USA is dedicated to identifying and assisting emerging talent in theater, dance, and film by awarding grants in the form of scholarships, apprenticeships, and fellowships. Working in conjunction with nominating schools and non-profit companies, the Princess Grace Awards recognize the talent of individual artists in theater, dance, and film. Princess Grace of Monaco, known to millions of movie lovers as Grace Kelly, died in 1982.

Visit the foundation online.