Royal House of Monaco

Before there was Di, there was Grace--personable, stylish and the casualty of an unusual car crash. Those readers enchanted by the fairy tale of Grace Kelly's marriage to Prince Rainier should find this latest examination of the Grimaldi family intriguing. English journalist Glatt describes Monaco as part police state and part Disneyland because of its glamorous facade and its squeaky-clean environment. He makes a strong argument that Princess Grace was far more valuable to the principality of Monaco than anyone could have imagined, andthat when she died in September 1982, Monaco's tourism and fortunes declined dramatically into ""a spiral of scandal, betrayal, and divorce."" Within five years of Grace's death, reports Glatt, the Grimaldi family was awash in scandal and disgrace; the round of paternity suits, out-of-wedlock children and divorces shows no sign of ending. In 23 concise chapters, the author covers everything from the 700-year history of the Grimaldi family to its financial underpinnings, Grace's pre-Rainier sexual escapades (including becoming pregnant with and aborting Oleg Cassini's child), Caroline's and Stephanie's scandals and how the Central Park-sized Monaco has managed to rebound despite the scandals. The author does an excellent job of positioning Monaco as a business that relies on crucial publicity to maintain its glamorous image--a state of affairs with unforeseen repercussions on every member of the royal family. Most books on Monaco's royals tend to focus on Grace's life and the fairy tale publicity; Glatt looks at her death and the cost of that publicity. 16-page b&w photo insert. (Oct.)