ONE OF THE GREATEST LOVE STORIES OF THE 20TH CENTURY
Jeffrey Robinson lived in the south of France for 12 years and during that time was friends with both Princess Caroline and Princess Grace. In 1988, insiders close to Prince Rainier suggested that, in the wake of scurrilous books about his wife’s tragic 1982 death, he might consider cooperating with Jeffrey to tell the real story of the Grimaldi family.
After a family meeting, during which Princess Caroline told her father, “Mother liked Jeffrey a lot,” Rainier agreed that he, his son Prince Albert, his daughters Princesses Caroline and Stephanie, and all of their friends would cooperate.
Rainier only made one stipulation to Jeffrey, “Tell the truth.”
The result, an international best-seller, the book was named by the St. Louis Post Dispatch as, “One of the best biographies of the year.
Given the exclusive and intimate contact that Jeffrey had with Princess Grace’s family, plus access to their friends, to Prince Rainier’s papers and his personal archives, this is still widely acknowledged as the inside story of the Grimaldis and their statelet, Monaco.
Candid and forthright, Prince Rainier reveals the true, private story of his romance with Grace Kelly.
Prince Albert talks about his hopes and fears for the day when he assumes the throne.
Princess Caroline explains what it was like to grow up in a "fish bowl" as the beautiful, sometimes difficult daughter of a Hollywood legend.
Princess Stephanie speaks here, for the very first time, about the car accident that killed her mother and how that tragedy changed so many lives forever.
The book's supporting cast of characters includes Frank Sinatra, Aristotle Onassis, Winston Churchill, King Farouk, Sammy Davis Jr., Cary Grant, Charles de Gaulle, the men and women who broke the bank at Monte Carlo and those who went broke trying to.
The audio book, which I narrated in 2014, was a labor of love. Ten days in the studio produced a 9 disc set which runs 9 hours and 43 minutes. But it gave me the chance to recount, in my own voice, one of the most famous romances of the 20th century.
Here was Europe's most eligible bachelor, Prince Rainier of Monaco, and America's most beautiful movie star, the Academy Award-winning actress Grace Kelly, falling in love against the backdrop of the closest thing the modern world has to a magical kingdom - the French Riviera's Principality of Monaco.
She lived 26 years as Grace Kelly, and then 26 years as Princess Grace and has left an indelible legacy on so many lives.
Including mine.
As parents, Rainier and Grace brought into the world Albert, a really terrific guy, my old pal Caroline and the totally wonderful Stephanie. The three of them are nothing less than spectacular. Proof positive that breeding works.
Writing the book, and then recording this, gave me the opportunity, unashamedly, to display my deep affection for the five of them. It also gave me the chance to take readers and listeners beneath the surface glitz and the glamour of Monte Carlo for a never-to-be-forgotten portrait of some very special people/ JR
St. Louis Post Dispatch: "One of the best biographies of the year."
Daily Express: "Rekindles the magic of one of this century’s greatest love stories."
USA Today: "Wonderful."
Boston Herald: "Creates a picture of a fascinating woman and an enduring love affair."
Sunday Mirror: "The first inside story of the world’s most glamorous family."
Booklist: "The real-life fairy tale that continues to fascinate."
At Princess Grace’s funeral in 1982, one of her old Hollywood buddies, Jimmy Stewart, summed up what so many people in the church that day, already knew: “I just love Grace Kelly. Not because she was a princess, not because she was an actress, not because she was my friend, but because she was just about the nicest lady I ever met. Grace brought into my life, as she brought into yours, a soft, warm light every time I saw her. And every time I saw her was a holiday of its own.
