Glamorous grandmother fell over the cable while charging her beloved G-Wiz

A former personal assistant to the actress and former Princess of Monaco, Grace Kelly, has died after tripping over while charging her electric car outside her Maida Vale home.

Phyllis Earl, 77, fractured her hip when she fell over the charging cable connected to her beloved G-Wiz on Randolph Avenue and died in hospital after complications during surgery.

The much-loved grandmother lived in the Palace of Monaco alongside Princess Grace and Prince Rainier for four years from 1958 until 1962 when she married Julian Earl, the great-nephew of English author William Somerset Maugham.

Prince Albert of Monaco was the ring bearer at their wedding and Princess Caroline a flower girl.

Mrs Earl, who later in life ran a property business and volunteered extensively for charity, appeared in a feature on the American news channel CNN in 2008 under the headline Granny Loves Her G-Wiz.

She also successfully campaigned to Westminster Council to get electric charging points installed in Sutherland Avenue.

Speaking about her mother, Mrs Earl’s daughter Cordelia Uys, who lives in Queen’s Park, said: “She was a big environmentalist and loved her G-Wiz. It was a bit of a foolish car for a woman of her age to have because it requires a lot of maintenance but I don’t think she thought of herself as elderly.

“I don’t think she would have looked at it in the sense that the car was to blame.

“It was just an unfortunate fluke that was completely random and out of her control. She could have tripped on anything.”

The incident occurred on December 6 last year and Mrs Earl died in hospital the following day. An inquest scheduled for last month was postponed until later this year.

Mrs Uys says her mother’s time spent working with Princess Grace saw the two families form a long-lasting friendship with family holidays spent together. Princess Grace was Mrs Uys’ godmother and Prince Albert attended Mrs Earl’s funeral.

“Princess Grace was only a couple of years older than my mother and she had the most wonderful time working for her,” said Mrs Uys. “She absolutely adored her.”

Describing her mother, she added: “She was the most cultured person you could ever imagine and she had a phenomenal energy. She was really quite remarkable.”