Grace Of Monaco starring Nicole Kidman is to open The Cannes Film Festival 2014. Just days before the film premiers at the festival there have been a controversy that has been attached to it.

Monaco’s Royals have accused those behind a biopic starring Nicole Kidman as their mother Grace of hijacking their family history.

Grace Of Monaco also stars British actor Tim Roth as Prince Rainier, and focuses on a six month period in 1962 when Alfred Hitchcock offered Grace Of Monaco a chance to return to acting, an opportunity she eventually turned down.

Grace Of Monaco, directed by France’s Olivier Dahan, will officially open The 67th Cannes Festival on May 14, 2014 when it will be simultaneously released in France and several cities around the world.

But even before its release, the film has been mired in controversy, with Dahan locked in a standoff with the film’s US producer Harvey Weinstein and the Monaco royals slamming it as pure fantasy.

In a statement, Prince Albert II and Princesses Caroline and Stephanie said the film did not accurately portray events involving their mother, the Hollywood actress who married Monaco’s Prince Rainier III in 1956.

This Is What The Monaco Royals Said In Their Statement:

“The Prince’s Palace would like to reiterate that this feature film cannot under any circumstances be classified as a biopic. The trailer appears to be a farce and confirms the totally fictional nature of this film. It reinforces the certainty, left after reading the script, that this production, a page of the Principality’s history, is based on erroneous and dubious historical references. The Princely Family does not in any way wish to be associated with this film which reflects no reality and regrets that it’s history has been misappropriated for purely commercial purposes.”

The Monaco Royals have been occasionally attending the opening of The Cannes Film Festival, but it is unlikely that they will do so this year.