Beautifully regal: First look at Nicole Kidman as Grace Kelly in new film Grace of Monaco

Simply stunning: Nicole Kidman plays Grace Kelly and recently came to the defence of the film after Kelly's children and members of the Monaco royal family described it as 'inaccurate'

She was known as a screen beauty and Nicole Kidman looks simply radiant as the first images of her playing Grace Kelly are released.

Australian Nicole is playing screen legend Kelly in Grace Of Monaco and in stills from the film the 45-year-old stuns as the actress who gave up her Hollywood career for love when she married Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, in 1956.
Despite Kelly's children describing the film as 'pure fiction', Nicole has hit back at the comments, describing her portrayal of the late star as 'respectful'.

Set in 1962, the biopic follows the personal life of the former actress during the famous dispute between France and Monaco over tax laws.
Kelly's children, Prince Albert II, Princess Caroline and Princess Stéphanie, have blasted the historical inaccuracies of the film and even requested changes to the plot claiming it 'needlessly glamorised' their mother. 

 Royal wedding: Grace Kelly married Prince Ranier III in Monaco in 1956 - the film focuses on actress' life after her marriage 

Nicole hit back at the criticism last week, saying: 'I wanted to be respectful of her, her story and her essence so hopefully that will all come through.'
The story begins six years into the former actress's marriage to the Prince, where she must help her husband reform Monaco's tax laws as demanded by the French leader of the time Charles de Gaulle.
But fans of both Kidman and Kelly will have to wait until 2014 before the film is released in the cinemas.

Grace Kelly and Frank Sinatra in a scene from the 1956 film High Society