Mattel is lionizing the Hollywood leading lady-turned-princess with three collectible Barbies.
FULL OF GRACE: Prince Albert’s bride, Charlene Wittstock, is the newest member to Monaco’s royal family, but his late mother Grace Kelly is the one who has been deemed a real doll. As part of its Barbie Collector series, Mattel is lionizing the Hollywood leading lady-turned-princess with three collectible dolls. The “To Catch a Thief” Barbie features the plastic blonde with an upswept chignon and wearing a sky-blue gown with a fitted bodice and gathered skirt, and accessorized with a coordinating chiffon scarf and clutch.
The Grace Kelly bride doll wears a long-sleeve lace wedding gown reminiscent of the one the princess wore. This Barbie, which arrived in stores Friday, also dons a delicate headpiece and veil, and holds a bouquet of white flowers and a prayer book, as Kelly did when she exchanged vows with Prince Rainier III in 1956.
The Romance doll will make its debut in October wearing a black floral dress, a matching headpiece, white gloves and a string of pearls — an ensemble that replicates what the Philadelphia native was wearing when she met the prince at the Cannes Film Festival in 1955. That collectible will also have a second outfit — a white blouse, navy skirt and coat, a wide-brimmed hat, long gloves and a floral bouquet — essentially the same look Kelly sported when she arrived in the principality for her nuptials.
A percentage of sales of each doll, which retail from $35 to $175, will benefit the Princess Grace Foundation-USA, which helps up-and-coming artists in theater, dance and film through scholarships, apprenticeships and fellowships.
