The carefully calculated camp of All’s Fair has its moments of historical research. Between extraordinary clothes, multimillion-dollar divorces and the melodrama Kim Kardashian and Ryan Murphy embrace with such conviction, the second season revisits a party that actually happened: the Scorpio Ball, hosted by Grace Kelly to celebrate her 40th birthday. Elizabeth Taylor was among the guests, wearing a cape so theatrical that it survived the decades before finding a new home in the Kardashian wardrobe.

According to Kim, the story behind that garment inspired Murphy to recreate a similar party for Allura Grant. Kris Jenner now owns the cape, which she lent to her daughter for the series. Kim’s obsession with Liz thus acquired both a costume and a place in the script.

It is a perfect connection for a production that makes luxury part of its language. But the original hostess’s story adds something the glittering photographs do not immediately reveal: Grace was deeply troubled by turning 40. The ball would also be a way of getting through that birthday.

A divine princess, frightened of turning 40

By November 1969, Grace had been living in Monaco for 13 years, since her marriage to Rainier III in 1956. The Hollywood star had become a princess, preserving an image of elegance that would continue to inspire generations. She looks divine in the photographs from that evening, which makes discovering her perception of her own age especially unsettling.

In an interview with William B. Arthur published in the December 16, 1969, issue of LOOK, Grace described turning 40 as a shock. In the transcript preserved by the independent Grace&Family archive, she expresses astonishment at having reached so quickly an age she knew would eventually come. The journalist tries to put her concern into perspective, saying he is already over 50. Grace responds by distinguishing men’s experience from women’s: “For a woman it is torture, the end.” She then explains that she is throwing a party for Scorpios to ease the pain, after which she intends to stop thinking about age.

The questions that follow help explain the atmosphere surrounding that pressure: weight, exercise, creams and gray hair. A woman anxious about the passage of time is immediately invited to explain how she manages its signs. Even the possibility of returning to the movies is colored by the question of whether she is still professionally wanted.

An intimate record reinforces that relationship with her appearance. According to an Irish Times report about an exhibition devoted to the princess, on the morning of November 12, her birthday, Grace recorded her weight and body measurements in her diary. The woman celebrated as an ideal of beauty also seemed to subject her own image to rigorous scrutiny.

The pact between Grace and Elizabeth Taylor

Liz shared that anxiety. In a 1992 interview with Johnny Carson, she recalled that the two had discussed their uneasiness about turning 40 and decided to face the occasion with big parties. Taylor attended Grace’s celebration in Monte Carlo; Grace returned the visit for her friend’s 40th birthday in Budapest in 1972.

The sources consulted do not reliably establish when they first met. Taylor’s account, however, offers something more revealing than a date: two women whose beauty was publicly scrutinized shared a private concern and had found a way to support each other through that transition.

Grace’s presence in Budapest is documented in archival photographs. Other images show the two women with Richard Burton at Monaco’s Red Cross Gala in August 1971. The Scorpio Ball was part of a friendship that continued in the following years.

To get in, you had to be a Scorpio

The ball took place on Saturday, November 15, 1969, at the Hôtel Hermitage in Monte Carlo, three days after Grace’s birthday. Her interest in astrology dated back to her Hollywood years: Carroll Righter, known for his celebrity clientele, visited her on the set of The Swan in 1956. According to Spanish Vanity Fair, she turned to the astrologer when organizing the celebration.

The guest list, numbering approximately 60, followed an unusual rule: you had to be a Scorpio or married to one, with exceptions for the princess’s relatives. Those present included Rock Hudson, Virna Lisi, Josephine Baker, David Niven and his wife, Hjördis Genberg. Elizabeth Taylor, a Pisces, gained admission alongside her Scorpio husband, Richard Burton.

Red and black dominated the dress code. Portraits of famous Scorpios, including Marie Antoinette and Auguste Rodin, completed the decorations. The enormous fuchsia cake featured golden scorpions and a large replica of the creature on top. According to accounts of the evening, it had to be divided to fit through the dining room doorway. Grace took the theme seriously.

Balenciaga for Grace, scorpions for Liz

Grace chose a black velvet gown from Balenciaga’s Fall/Winter 1966 haute couture collection, with bare shoulders and rosettes near the neckline. She added ruby-and-diamond brooches detachable from a Cartier tiara she had received as a wedding gift. Her hair was braided and pinned into a bun. Rainier wore a red shirt beneath his tuxedo.

The theatricality extended to the staff, who wore powdered wigs and red velvet costumes inspired by the 18th century, carrying silver candelabras with red candles. The photographs preserve a party that seems to have been planned with its future remembrance already in mind.

Taylor arrived in her black velvet Tiziani Roma cape, lined in ivory silk, with two diamanté scorpions on the front and another on the hood. Christie’s documents the garment’s provenance and notes that Karl Lagerfeld was working as a freelance designer for the house at the time. His authorship remains a possibility rather than a confirmed attribution.

And then there was the diamond. Liz wore the extraordinary Taylor-Burton, weighing approximately 69 carats, recently acquired by her husband. Her entrance brought together a movie star, an outfit created for the occasion, and one of the world’s most famous jewels. The Grimaldi Forum itself highlights the diamond’s presence when recalling the princess’s birthday.

Taylor’s image became one of the most enduring of that evening. It is easy to understand why: the cape, the scorpions and the diamond distilled the extravagance we associate with the actress. Grace was the hostess; Liz offered a decidedly personal interpretation of the invitation.

Kim’s fascination finds its costume

In 2011, the cape sold for $74,500 at the auction of Elizabeth Taylor’s collection. In October 2026, it reappeared on Kris Jenner at the presentation of All’s Fair’s second season in Rome. Kim confirmed that her mother owned the garment and had allowed her to wear it in the series. She also explained that Murphy decided to create Allura’s ball after learning the story behind the costume.

Kim’s admiration for Taylor finds a particularly fitting expression here. By wearing the cape, she draws closer to an established image of beauty, power and celebrity. The garment allows her to participate in a story that began long before reality television and social media, when Hollywood already knew how to turn clothes, jewels and parties into public events.

It is also precisely the kind of reference that suits All’s Fair: excessive, luxurious and fully aware of its own effect. The camp comes with provenance.

But Grace restores humanity to the spectacle. The woman in Balenciaga, surrounded by stars, flowers, candles and extraordinary jewels, feared an age that now seems so young. Public recognition of her beauty did not protect her from the feeling that she was losing something.

Perhaps that is the loveliest part of the story. Grace and Liz did not wait for the fear to disappear before celebrating. They attended each other’s parties, dressed magnificently, and entered their 40s with company. All’s Fair brings back the cape and the scorpions. Behind them remains that conversation between two friends trying to work out how to grow older.