Taraborrelli - Once Upon a Time

Copyright 2003 by Rose Books, Inc.
All rights reserved.

Warner Books, Inc.,
Hachette Book Group
237 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10017

Visit our website at www.HachetteBookGroup.com.

First eBook Edition: April 2003

ISBN: 978-0-7595-2790-4

Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot

For my mother, Rose Marie Taraborrelli

I f you could talk to the person you were twenty years ago, what would you say? Would you advise your younger self to forge a new and different path? Or do you think that the person youve become, the place in which you find yourself today, is exactly as you had planned?

When I began writing this book, I set out to tell the story of two people from disparate backgrounds brought together by a strange twist of fate to then share a life that was, I thought, as close to a true fairy tale as anyone could imagine: A famous actress, Grace Kelly of Philadelphia, gives up a successful career for the man of her dreams, Prince Rainier III of Monaco, to live royally at his side, as his Princess. Obviously, I was aware that the story would have a tragic ending because of Graces untimely death. However, as I dug deeper, I found the tale to be far more complex than what first meets the eye. I discovered that it is also about choices, consequences, regrets, and, ultimately, acceptance.

Grace Kelly, at the top of her profession, was a woman ahead of her time, a person accustomed to blazing her own path, making important decisions about her life, refusing to become stuck in any circumstancewhether romantic or career-related. When this particular Cinderella was presented a glass slipper by her Prince Charming, she did what many women would do: She stepped into it, eagerly and into his world. It was a perfect fit, or so they both thought. However, once the Princess got to the Palace, she was in for a big surprise. The illusion of perfection that surrounded her life in Monaco hid certain harsh realities: her imperfect marriage, her imperfect husband, and, eventually, her imperfect children.

For reasons explained in this book, Grace found herself trapped, unable to make a hasty exit as she had always done in the past when dissatisfied with a choice. Rather, she was caught in a strange place thousands of miles away from friends and family, and far from her career. The world she once knew and loved was gone forever, a casualty of her failed attempt to meld fantasy and reality.

Captive in a fairy tale of her own making, Grace felt she had ruined her life. It was only with the help of Rainier that she would then make some important and tough choices. She would learn that love is more than just a passion. It is an obligation. It is a commitment. While her world would still not be perfectwhose is?she and her husband would bravely face future challenges, make the best of them, and have twenty-six years of marriage to show for their efforts, for better or worse.

While Princess Graces circumstances are obviously extreme, her story is universal. Sometimes, the real challenge of living has to do with making a life that seems to no longer work work. All of us have had hope that was, over time, transformed into regret. The secret is to not succumb to those regrets, but to rise above them, and then get on with things just as Princess Grace did and, as youll learn here, Prince Rainier continues to do, to this day.

It is my hope that, through the pages of this book, you will step into their world and get to know Grace and Rainier as real people, not only as royalty but as a man and woman courageous enough to face their demons, admit their shortcomings, and come to terms with their choices. She transformed a lost and lonely prince, product of a cold and loveless bloodline, into a kind and gentle leader. He helped the woman he loved find a way to say good-bye to the past and feel at home in the present. Together, they faced the future, raising three children who will, one day, continue their dynasty.

The story of Grace and Rainier begins as many fairy tales do: two young people drawn to each other, unaware of what awaits them, filled only with hope for the future once upon a time.

J. Randy Taraborrelli
Los Angeles
March 2003

When love beckons to you follow him though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden . Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.

KAHLIL GIBRAN

G race Patricia Kelly was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on November 12, 1929, the third of four children to Johnbetter known as JackBrendan Kelly and Margaret Majer Kelly. It is not difficult even today to come across Philadelphians who have fond memories and fascinating anecdotes about local legend Jack, recently described by a journalist there as one of the greatest characters in the history of the City of Brotherly Love. The son of an immigrant farm boy from County Mayo, Ireland, Jack promoted the myth that he had started out as a poor bricklayer, quit high school to help his parents and nine siblings, started his own company, and then worked his way up the ladder of hard knocks until finally becoming a millionaire. In truth, Jack did quit high school, but only in order to have more time to practice sculling on the Schuylkill River, not to support his family. He did, eventually, lay bricks, but not on his own, at least not at first. He actually worked for two older brothers, Patrick and Charles, who had already established their own successful construction company. When the ambitious Jack later started his own company, Kelly for Brickwork, he did so in competition with those brothers. Eventually Charles went to work for Jack, alienating Patrick and causing a huge family rift.

Jack Kelly was a man to whom image was paramount. He realized that his rags-to-riches story had great appeal, especially in 1935 when, at the age of forty-five, he was the Democratic candidate for mayor of Philadelphia. Although he lost that electionthe Republicans had held the office for the previous sixty yearshe garnered more votes than had any Democrat before him. He was a popular, formidable man in Philadelphia, and would remain so for decades.

While most of the Kellys simply accepted Jacks fibs as an element of his image-making mentality, George Kelly was always the one dissenting voice, the brother eager to set the record straight. An award-winning playwright, his successes included The Torch-Bearers (his first Broadway hit in 1922), The Show-Off, and Craigs Wife (for which he won a Pulitzer Prize). Jacks stories of an impoverished background were completely at odds with Georges version of his own childhood. In truth, George could be as pretentious as his brother, but in his own way. For instance, he fabricated the story that he had been privately tutored; he had actually attended public school like the rest of his family. Though fastidious, a man of impeccable manners with an obsession for the proper serving of high tea, George couldnt escape his and Jacks background: They were middle-class, at best.

What needs no embellishing, however, is that Jack Kelly was dedicated and persistent enough in his practicing to finally win a gold medal in sculling in the 1920 Olympic Games, after having been previously excluded from competition at Henley. His medal, his ready wit, and his good looks would take him far. When he wanted to start his own business, he did not have to scramble for seed money. Instead, his brothers supplied the funds, George as well as Walter, a noted vaudevillian performer. (There had also been a sister, Grace, who had show business aspirations and for whom Grace Kelly would be named. Sadly, she died at the age of twenty-three of a heart attack while ice skating.)