Author(s): J. Randy Taraborrelli

Non-Fiction

From the internationally acclaimed biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli comes the powerful and moving story of one of royalty's most secretive families. . . Grace Kelly was swept away when the handsome Prince Rainier asked for her hand in marriage. After a series of unsatisfactory relationships the Academy Award-winning actress was exhausted by the showbusiness lifestyle. If she married Rainier she would be more than just a movie star, she would be Her Serene Royal Highness Princess Grace. It seemed like a dream come true. The first major study in a decade, and based on hundreds of exclusive interviews with friends and relatives, Once Upon A Time reveals the very real - and less than picture perfect - men and women of the Kelly and Grimaldi families. Here are honest and full portrayals of Grace and Rainier, not only as prince and princess, but as a married couple and as parents struggling with the conflicts that can challenge any household. Perhaps for the first time, we see Grace in all her complexity: the daughter whose heartbreaking relationship with her father coloured her every decision, the down-to-earth young woman who accepted a proposal from a man she barely knew and leapt into an unknown culture and destiny. Once Upon A Time unveils her feelings about the wedding that captured the imagination of the world, the royal family's shocking prenuptial requests, and the sacrifice of her career. From scandals in the Grimaldi family to the strange behaviour of Grace's mother, the tensions within the Rainier marriage and the dramatic and mysterious death of Grace herself, Once Upon A Time proves that no polished image reflects the truth. Even in what appears to be a fairy tale, the players are always flesh-and-blood human beings. Master biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli portrays his subjects with passion and sympathy, revealing Grace, Rainier, Caroline, Albert and Stephanie in ways both startling and compelling.