>> Princess Grace: Another side of him I remember...
well he turned to me suddenly and asked: "Is
that a Givenchy you're wearing?"
And I said, "Why how clever of you, Mr.
President! However did you know?"
"Oh," he replied, "I'm getting pretty
good at it—now that fashion is becoming
more important than politics and the press
is paying more attention
to Jackie's clothes than to my speeches.
>> [Music: France Gall "Pense a Moi"]
>> Paul Gallico: Was this the first time that
you had met the President?
>> Princess Grace: Well actually, no. The
first time was before he became President,
during that year that he was in the hospital
in New York with his back.
I had been to a dinner party where I had met
Mrs. Kennedy and her sister [Lee Bouvier Kennedy]
for the first time.
They asked me to go to the hospital with them
to pay a visit to help cheer him up.
They wanted me to go into his room 
and say I was the new night nurse.
>> Paul Gallico: Did you?
>> Princess Grace: Well I hesitated. I was
terribly embarrassed.
Eventually I was sort of pushed into the room
by the two girls.
I introduced myself, but 
he had recognized me at once
and couldn't have been sweeter or more quick
to put me at ease.
>> Paul Gallico: When today you think of the
late President Kennedy [John F. Kennedy],
what is it that comes to your mind most vividly—or,
shall we say, to your heart?
>> Princess Grace: His youth. He was one of
my own generation,
so that for the first time in my life I became
deeply involved,
spiritually, and sympathetically, with the
presidency—the office as well as the man.
I felt personally involved.
>> Paul Gallico: Speaking as an American?
>> Princess Grace: Oh, yes, as a born American
but also as the wife of the head of an independent
European country.
We felt somehow that at last the United States
had a leader who,
from the point of view of age, appearance,
and dynamic personality,
genuinely reflected his era.
My husband often remarked what a pity
it was that a great country like America,
which in Europe is still regarded as such
a young nation,
should be represented seemingly only by old
or infirmed men.
>> [Music: Julius Hemphill Sextet "The Hard
Blues"]
Princess Grace: From the moment he became
President,
it seemed as though a wave of excitement ran
through
all of the young painters, poets, writers
and musicians of the United States.
Now that someone of their own age was in the
White House,
there was somehow a better chance for them
to be seen or heard.
>> [Music: "The Hard Blues" continues]
>> Princess Grace: I remember the luncheon
that we were privileged to have at the White
House.
I kept the menu. I'm one of those people
who keep everything.
We had soft-shelled crabs and spring lamb
and strawberries Romanov.
Mrs. Kennedy and I fell into woman talk
with a discussion of our children of course—our
two Carolines
[Caroline Bouvier Kennedy; Princess Caroline]—and
our special problems
connected with bringing them up. I remember
Jacqueline was very upset
about that time at the photographers who were
hounding the children.
She was determined that Caroline and John
[John F. Kennedy, Jr.]
should be able to get in and out of the White
House
without being pestered by photographers
or being made constantly aware of their position.
>> [Music: -Advent Chamber Orchestra "Concerto
for 2 Oboes in Fmajor Op9 no3 Allegro"]
>> Paul Gallico: Do you feel that his life—and death,
will have any lasting effect upon international
relationships?
>> Princess Grace: Are you asking me whether
I think that President Kennedy died in vain?
>> Paul Gallico: In a sense, yes.
>> Princess Grace: Well, it might not seem
so today, but I, for one,
cannot believe that a man of Mr. Kennedy's
stature and achievements
was put upon this earth for no other purpose
than to stop an assassin's bullet.
I believe that God allows these certain tragedies
to happen
in order to emphasize the man and his achievements
and to inspire those who follow to have the strength
and the will to accomplish his unfulfilled dreams.
>> [MUSIC: XPURM "BRPLE"]
[END]
Subtitles by the Amara.org community
