We’re just days away (eleven, to be exact) from the end of Scorpio season, but it’s never too late to talk about the zodiac sign of repressed emotions (I know what I’m talking about—I once dated a Scorpio). Today, let’s take a closer look at one of history’s most iconic and exquisite Scorpios: Grace Kelly. On Saturday, November 15, 1969, in celebration of her 40th birthday, Kelly hosted one of the most memorable soirées of the era’s high society, an event that has stood the test of time under the name “The Scorpio Ball.”

If you think getting an invitation to the MET Gala is exclusive, gaining entry to Kelly’s 40th birthday bash at the Hôtel Hermitage in Monte-Carlo, Monaco, was even trickier than getting Anna Wintour to notice you on the first Monday in May. For starters, you had to be born in the right month, as the socialite extended her invitation only to her fellow Scorpios. Of course, ever the gracious host, Grace allowed other signs to attend as long as they were married to someone from the house of Scorpio (like Elizabeth Taylor, a Pisces who scored an invite thanks to her husband, Richard Burton).

Hjördis Paulina Genberg, Virna Lisi, and Rock Hudson were among the lucky few who shared the night with Kelly and other illustrious water signs, who mingled and drank under portraits of famous Scorpios like Edgar Allan Poe and Marie Antoinette.

True to her sign’s tendencies, the Princess Consort of Monaco set a black-and-red dress code, dazzling in a Balenciaga Haute Couture Fall/Winter 1966 gown adorned with two diamond-and-ruby brooches. Stunning? Yes. Affordable for any one of us, mortals? Never.

If this celebration isn’t proof enough of the talent, creativity, and ego of Scorpios, what is?