From Publishers Weekly
Proper, demure and wholesomely beautiful, Grace Kelly was quite the opposite of what she seemed, according to this seductive biography. Lacey (The Kingdom) writes of "the eruptions of sexuality that she usually managed to conceal behind her virginal exterior." The book is likely to be much discussed, less for the story of Kelly's family background, film career and marriage to Monaco's Prince Rainier than for its startling details of sexual promiscuity before and after her marriage. Lacey captures the pageantry of the 1956 marriage, then focuses on the somewhat sleazy reality behind Monaco's charming facade and its easily bored, practical-joking ruler. The author's description of Princess Grace's passivity before her unappreciative husband and spoiled daughters will also surprise readers. "When fairy tales do not finish happily," he writes, "their ending often tends to be cruel." In his examination of the road accident that led to the princess's death in 1982 at age 51, he turns up some unpleasant possibilities. Photos. 100,000 first printing; major ad/promo; first serial to Vanity Fair; Literary Guild main selection. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
After Hollywood stardom in the Fifties, Grace Kelly, daughter of a wealthy Philadelphia businessman, retired while still glamorous to become Her Serene Highness, Princess Grace of Monaco. Her death in a 1982 automobile accident has never been explained. The fairy tale that was-or seemed to be-Kelly's life has already served as the basis of several popular biographies; the only well-written, critical biography available is James Spada's Grace: The Secret Lives of a Princess (LJ 5/1/87). Historian and journalist Lacey (Ford: The Men and the Machine, LJ 9/1/86) owes much to Spada, but Lacey's own prestige as a writer has shaken loose many new interviewees around the world. The serious work that results is rich in anecdote yet captures the broad story of an outwardly controlled "ice princess" whose promiscuous habits were the natural result of the affection withheld by the men she loved. Public libraries should expect demand.Joyce Smothers, Monmouth Cty. Lib., Manalapan, N.J.Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
A very respectable, responsible biography of Grace Kelly by an equally honorable British biographer, author of, most notably, Majesty: Elizabeth II and the House of Windsor (1977) and Ford: The Men and the Machine (1987). Kelly was a living legend, but Lacey makes her real without really diminishing her effect and effectiveness. The facts have been presented many times before, including those about her childhood in a very competitive family from suburban Philadelphia, her early entry into acting, her relatively fluid transition into television and movies, her immediate stardom, and of course, her headline-making marriage to Prince Rainier of Monaco. But Lacey does far more than recite known facts. He digs deeper, and his picture is one far more realistic than the impossibly wholesome depiction that Hollywood and the princely court of Monaco wanted us to accept. As an actress, Kelly "conducted her private life with extraordinary recklessness." Her marriage to the prince was far from idyllic (and her original reasons for marrying him were fairly complicated). She was a distinguished individual who contributed not only to the history of cinema, but also to the fortunes of tiny Monaco; however, she was no fairy-tale princess--thank goodness! Brad Hooper

From Kirkus Reviews
A highly readable and workmanlike history of Grace Kelly-- still one of the saddest stories ever told. Regrettably, Lacey overanalyzes, dumbing down a well-researched effort. Even in her Mon‚gasque tomb, Princess Grace, the former Gracie Kelly of East Falls, Pa., receives as many as 9,000 visitors a day. Lacey (Little Man, 1991, etc.) paces through her life, step by step, explaining why Grace did this and why Grace did that, and what it all meant. Terms like ``inner child,'' ``enabler,'' and ``empowering'' bring her biography into the '90s, as does Lacey's insistence on allowing a more honest portrait of Grace to emerge from the ruin of illusion. The animus of Grace's life appears to have been her handsome, authoritarian father, Jack Kelly, champion oarsman and head of Kelly for Brickwork. Grace had a series of affairs with older men, including Clark Gable, Oleg Cassini, William Holden, and Philippe of the Waldorf. Much is made of the fire-and-ice duality of Grace's character: docile in a Junior League cashmere coat and then dancing naked to Russian music in front of her lover. There are spicy anecdotes and good Hollywood gossip. Grace makes it to the top, but once she boards the U.S.S. Constitution for Monaco, her life's a downhill proposition. Apparently her dysfunctional family couldn't hold a candle to Rainier's. The prince's mother arrived at the royal wedding with her newest prot‚g‚, a paroled jewel thief, and decided immediately to despise Grace. Rainier was mean and moody; her children were mean and spoiled. ``Grace had become everybody's doormat,'' says Lacey. He publishes new information from interviews with her ``toy boys,'' the lovers she had in middle age, and Rogev Bencze, who investigated the fatal car crash. In the end little of the biography is as eloquent as the cover portrait. But Lacey creates a powerfully engaging woman, then mercilessly, he shows us how Grace did not live happily ever after. And if she couldn't do it, what chance do the rest of us have? (32 b&w photos, most not seen) (100,000 first printing; first serial to Vanity Fair; Literary Guild main selection) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Book News, Inc.
Lacey (Ford, the Men and the Machine) gives us a sympathetic bio in which he attempts to sell an image of the tragic Grace Kelly. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

FROM OUR EDITORS

This balanced portrait of Grace Kelly, whose serene demeanor belied her personal conflicts, traces Kelly's life from her Philadelphia upbringing, through her acting career and her many romances, through her years as Princess of Monaco, to her tragic death. B&W photos.

ANNOTATION

Before she became a princess, Grace Kelly was a legend. And now, biographer Robert Lacey has unearthed the extraordinary secrets behind Grace Kelly's rise from Hollywood star to Princess of Monaco--the fascinating story of a complex woman who dared to make her dreams come true. "The 'definitive biography' of Grace Kelly."--Los Angeles Times Book Review.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Long before she became a princess, Grace Kelly was a legend, a fabled movie star whose aloof and aristocratic bearing belied a deep sensuality within. Grace the icon and Grace the woman were two very different creatures, and now celebrated biographer Robert Lacey has managed to unearth the secrets beneath her serene surface. In Grace, he presents the first balanced portrait of a complex, deeply conflicted actress, wife, and mother who dared to make her dreams come true. Lacey, who has written definitive books on Queen Elizabeth II, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the Ford family, gained unprecedented access to Grace's friends and colleagues. He weaves an extraordinary story that begins in Philadelphia, where Grace's father, an Olympic athlete and local hero, often shunned his shy and sickly daughter. Grace was determined to win the attention of her father and the world. While carefully cultivating the image of the white-gloved young lady, she became a surprisingly brazen, even reckless, young woman. She fell into bed with her best friend's husband, her drama teacher, and some of the most glamorous film stars of her era, including Clark Gable and William Holden. By the time Grace met her prince, she had flirted repeatedly with the altar, only to have her parents veto her choices. Rainier, however, won over Grace and her family in a whirlwind courtship, cemented by a secret correspondence. Lacey writes of Grace's joy at her wedding and her gradual disenchantment with her cloistered palace life. He reveals that after ten years of marriage to Rainier, Grace was deeply wounded by his arrogance, petulance, and autocratic treatment of her. As she approached middle age, the princess found herself living a separate life from Rainier in Paris, battling with her headstrong and willful daughters, and seeking the affection she craved from a succession of handsome young men. To her public, however, Grace always maintained the image of Her Serene Highness, the adored princes

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Lacey's biography charts Grace Kelly's secret and tempestuous life behind the scenes of her rise to Hollywood stardom and becoming Princess of Monaco. (Jan.)

Library Journal

After Hollywood stardom in the Fifties, Grace Kelly, daughter of a wealthy Philadelphia businessman, retired while still glamorous to become Her Serene Highness, Princess Grace of Monaco. Her death in a 1982 automobile accident has never been explained. The fairy tale that was-or seemed to be-Kelly's life has already served as the basis of several popular biographies; the only well-written, critical biography available is James Spada's Grace: The Secret Lives of a Princess (LJ 5/1/87). Historian and journalist Lacey (Ford: The Men and the Machine, LJ 9/1/86) owes much to Spada, but Lacey's own prestige as a writer has shaken loose many new interviewees around the world. The serious work that results is rich in anecdote yet captures the broad story of an outwardly controlled "ice princess" whose promiscuous habits were the natural result of the affection withheld by the men she loved. Public libraries should expect demand.-Joyce Smothers, Monmouth Cty. Lib., Manalapan, N.J.

BookList - Brad Hooper

A very respectable, responsible biography of Grace Kelly by an equally honorable British biographer, author of, most notably, "Majesty: Elizabeth II and the House of Windsor" (1977) and "Ford: The Men and the Machine" (1987). Kelly was a living legend, but Lacey makes her real without really diminishing her effect and effectiveness. The facts have been presented many times before, including those about her childhood in a very competitive family from suburban Philadelphia, her early entry into acting, her relatively fluid transition into television and movies, her immediate stardom, and of course, her headline-making marriage to Prince Rainier of Monaco. But Lacey does far more than recite known facts. He digs deeper, and his picture is one far more realistic than the impossibly wholesome depiction that Hollywood and the princely court of Monaco wanted us to accept. As an actress, Kelly "conducted her private life with extraordinary recklessness." Her marriage to the prince was far from idyllic (and her original reasons for marrying him were fairly complicated). She was a distinguished individual who contributed not only to the history of cinema, but also to the fortunes of tiny Monaco; however, she was no fairy-tale princess--thank goodness!

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