The Royal House of Monaco: Dynasty of Glamour, Tragedy and Scandal

by John Glatt

In all its glittering splendor and decadence, here is the uncensored story of a family bred for glory, and destined for tragedy.

The jewel in the crown of Europe's lush Cote D'Azur, the fiercely independent principality of Monaco gleams like a diamond above the Mediterranean. This playground of the rich and beautiful reached its zenith with Prince Rainier, Princess Grace, and their three children-- until Grace's tragic death in 1982. As the myth began to crumble, scandal rocked Monaco in every way, from its institutions to its image to the royal family itself. Now, through searching interviews with family members, personal friends, and long-time courtiers, the intimate, shocking truths about Monaco are explored in vivid detail, including:

* The ancient Curse of the Grimaldis and its legacy of misfortune
* The never-before-told story of Princess Grace's abortion before she married Prince Rainier
* New details about Princess Grace on the night before she died, and her death in a Monaco hospital
* The alleged secret plot to destroy Princess Stephanie's marriage
* The appalling rumors about the death of Stefano Casiraghi, Princess Caroline's second husband
* The wild love life of Prince Albert and the rumors that haunt him

With eight pages of dramatic photos!

Genres: Nonfiction, Royalty, History, Biography

320 pages, Hardcover

First published March 26, 1998

About the author

English-born John Glatt is the author of Golden Boy Lost and Found, Secrets in the Cellar, Playing with Fire, and many other bestselling books of true crime. He has more than 30 years of experience as an investigative journalist in England and America. Glatt left school at 16 and worked a variety of jobs—including tea boy and messenger—before joining a small weekly newspaper. He freelanced at several English newspapers, then in 1981 moved to New York, where he joined the staff for News Limited and freelanced for publications including Newsweek and the New York Post. His first book, a biography of Bill Graham, was published in 1981, and he published For I Have Sinned, his first book of true crime, in 1998. He has appeared on television and radio programs all over the world, including ABC- 20/20Dateline NBC, Fox News, Current Affair, BBC World, and A&E Biography. He and his wife Gail divide their time between New York City, the Catskill Mountains and London.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/johnglatt

Reviews

[Sasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a decent read. Well-researched and bare-bones. I was hoping for more anecdotes and personal warmth, but instead it felt like it had been sensationalized just for me, as if a paparazzi was writing a celebrity's memoir, rather than the celebrity themself. Not bad, but not very engaging. The tidbits about Princess Steff's divorce are particularly conniving and heartbreaking. It definitely elicited sympathy for Prince Rainier - to have to go through the unspeakable tragedy of losing your wife, then to live in a kind of infamy as a widower and father of rapscallion children. I learned a lot about the Grimaldi dynasty, and though I appreciated the veil was lifted off the glamour, I kind of miss being wool-eyed, so to speak.

[Tania · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Royal House of Monaco relates the story of Monaco's ruling family over a period of 40+ years from the match between Prince Ranier III and Grace Kelly up to its publication in 1998. Here are the stories of early meetings between the Prince and Princess, the birth of their children, the death of Princess Grace, and the subsequent melt down of the entire family unit. Through their ups and downs, through scandals and successes, the book chronicles the Grimaldi family in modern times. There are brief segways into fascinating topics such as the history, security, education, and citizenship requirements of Monaco - if only there had been more of that information included. Instead, the reader is subjected to one failed affair after another of each of Princess Grace's children. Tragedy upon tragedy, break up after divorce after sex scandal, the focus on romantic entanglements far outweighs that of their worthwhile causes and big business dealings. Princes Stephanie's various ventures are mentioned, it seems, only as a means for sharing the scandalous details about the many love affairs she was entangled in. The lesson here is that the Grimaldis dated a lot of people willing to kiss and sell, because there are some explicit details about various romantic encounters.

The Royal House of Monaco is closer to tabloid fodder than biography. At times the attack on the House of Grimaldi feels churlish, as if the author has an axe to grind, though he's thankfully at least generous with regards to Princess Grace (I mean, nobody wants a book where everyone is a villain or a cuckold - well maybe some people do but I don't). Prince Albert's sporting nature is treated as a childish pastime, even though we live in a culture where sport is king and people plan weddings around when the big game is on. Princess Caroline is ridiculed for health issues when she loses her hair, and Princess Stephanie was only redeemed by motherhood. Many times the statements made within a paragraph are contradictory to each other, as if Glatt can't resist throwing in every jibe he can think of and then suddenly feels bad and inserts something good as well. Even so, it was an interesting read, and an insight into the true devastation the death of Princess Grace dealt to her children.

[Elma Voogdt · Rating 2 out of 5]

“The Ruling House of Monaco” is an book that tells the story of the Grimaldi family of Monaco over a period of more than 40 years from the meeting between Prince Ranier III and Grace Kelly to its publication in 1998.

For example, we read about the first meetings between Prince Rainier and Princess Grace , the birth of their children, the death of Princess Grace and the subsequent collapse of the entire family. We also read about the many ups and downs within the family, the “scandals” and the successes.

However, the book is not a biography at all, but rather you have the feeling of reading a tabloid. It’s really about nothing but the affairs, whether or not failed relationships, of the children of Rainier and Grace. Drama all over. The focus on all this gossip far outweighs their good work, business and the development of the mini-state of Monaco.

You can therefore only say that after the death of Princess Grace, the author collected all the gossip as important information to make it into a juicy book. Of course, the seemingly fairytale fate or life of glamorous Hollywood movie star Grace Kelly who becomes Princess Grace of Monaco in 1956 provides the perfect fodder for all sorts of ghost stories. However, the book raises questions about the timing of its release (1998). Short paragraphs and inappropriate remarks seem to have been inserted after the fact to link the Grimaldis of Monaco to Diana and take advantage of the Diana Mania then prevalent.

The author has sought an easy way to make money, taking advantage of the two deceased princesses. The author had been wise to do a thorough research into the life of Grace and her family. Then it would probably have been a fascinating biography.

For Grace Kelly fans, including myself, the book is nothing innovative, the stories, gossip or whatever you want to call them .. we had all seen that in the tabloids etc. It’s difficult to imagine that people close to Prince Rainier, Princess Grace and the children contributed to this…. Doubtful….

A book that you do have or want to have in the Grace Kelly collection, to read once and then leave it in the bookcase.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Royal House of Monaco was an enjoyable read, if not a little gossip-y. Despite the Grimaldis ruling for over 700 years, I haven't found too many books on the family.

If you're more interested in the history of Monaco and its royal family, this book probably isn't what you're looking for. But if you're interested in Grace Kelly's role in the family and her (very messy) children, I would recommend it!

While I was hoping for a bit more background on Monaco and the Grimaldis, I was definitely entertained by how wild the modern Grimaldis are. Shout out to my girl Stephanie, you absolute menace of a woman <3

[Rhonda Hankins]

This book, published in 1998, is full of tabloid-style stories about the royal family of Monaco. It includes some interesting facts about Monaco's constitution, economy, and history. Though it has a nice section of photographs, it's fun to have the Internet handy so you can google pictures of the occasions/events/people mentioned. At the end I enjoyed googling up each of the surviving main characters to see what they're doing these days.

Poor proofreading means there are a fair number of typos and spacing problems throughout this book. Once or twice there are incomplete sentences that seem to be abruptly cut off. Mildly distracting for a reader, but very curious for me since this is a reputable publisher.

[Lennie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although Grace Kelly was a Hollywood movie star from my parent's generation, I always found her life fascinating and so I'm glad that I came across this book so I could learn more about her and the royal family she married into. It's unfortunate that she had to die young because it seemed like she brought so much glamour to Monaco and I feel like she took her royal duties seriously, always doing what was in the best interest of her country. It would be nice if only her children could act in the same way now that they are in charge and head of the Grimaldi family.

[Mary Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Instead of following the life of Princess Grace through her early years and ending in her death, this account picks up at her death and focuses on her family as their lives unfold from 1982 through 1998. Fascinating look at Prince Ranier, the children Caroline, Albert and Stephanie and the turbulent lives they lead. The book is aptly titled!

[Rd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book though it's now a bit dated. Good view of what "Monaco" really is...