Originally published in 1989 as "Rainier and Grace," Jeffrey Robinson lived in the south of France for 12 years and during that time was friends with both Princess Caroline and Princess Grace. Six years after Princess Grace's tragic death, insiders close to Prince Rainier suggested that, in the wake of certain scurrilous books about his wife, he might consider cooperating with a biographer to tell the real story of the Grimaldi family.
Someone close to the family approached Jeffrey and, in turn, he formally asked Prince Rainier if he would cooperate on the project. 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 with a book.
Rainier then made one single stipulation of Jeffrey, “Tell the truth.”
The result was an international bestseller that USA Today described as, "Wonderful."
Robinson revised the book the first time in 2012, for the 30th anniversary of the death of Princess Grace, and then again a few years later to coincide with the Nicole Kidman biopic of Grace's life. Although the film was a total disaster - with pure unadulterated fiction pretending to be the truth - Robinson's biography of the Grimaldis remains the most widely accepted and most preeminent look of this storied family.
Written with warmth and affection, this is the ultimate portrait of the Grimaldis and their "statelet," Monaco. Candid and forthright, Prince Rainier revealed the true, private story of his romance with Grace Kelly; Prince Albert talked about his hopes and fears for the day when he assumes the throne; Princess Caroline explained what it was like to grow up in a "fish bowl" as the beautiful, sometimes difficult daughter of a Hollywood legend; and Princess Stephanie spoke, for the very first time, about the car accident that killed her mother and how that tragedy changed so many lives forever.
The supporting cast of characters included 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.
