Customer Reviews

The Grace Kelly Years: Princess of Monaco

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4 star:		(1)
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I recently spent 12 days in the wonderful city of Monte Carlo. One of the highlights was being fortunate to visit the Princess Grace Exhibition at the Grimaldi Forum. It was so comprehensive that I had to visit the exhibit twice. This book is the "catalogue" of the exhibit, but it is far more than that. It is a wonderful exploration of Grace Kelly's life from childhood, to Hollywood to Monaco. This is highly recommended for anyone who is interested in how remarkable an American life can be. I forgot to purchase it at the exhibit and was thrilled that it was listed here. It was 50 Euro's there - so it is a bargain here on Amazon. Love it!!!

If you are a Grace Kelly fan you will love this book. It is packed full of photos and personal items of the late Princess. For example there is a close up of the dress Grace wore to her civil marriage, some pages from a scrap book she created as a teenager, many letters from notable personalities.
I would love to have seen the exhibit this book is based on, I am hoping it will travel to London.
The book itself is quite heavy and well made, so is well worth the price.

Due to the very good reviews on Amazon and because this book says to be a glimpse of the exhibition on Grace Kelly in Monaco (I was unfortunate not being able to visit), I bought this book. As already mentioned by others, it does have a very nice and high quality look and feel, but still, it did not meet my expectations. Being a Grace Kelly Fan, I am sort of disappointed to find many pictures one can already find in many other publications on her. The personal items are very interesting, but there could be more.
This book is officially accepted by her family, and it is quite understandable that the image of Grace Kelly had to be a positive one, just like she had wished, as one of her quotes in this book states. But another of her quotes also shows, that she did not seem consistently happy with her fairy tale image, to which she herself had some cause. Is this maybe a glimpse of one extreme in her personality? I think it would have been possible to show more of a "real" person, and maybe the exhibition this book is reflecting did so. If so, this book was not made with care.
I have read some unauthorized biographies on her and even if they sometimes seem a little too much, too dirty, too revealing, they still appear to describe the life of a human, the ups and downs, the possible reasons for the choices made in life. This book is the absolute contrary, and even seems to be desperately trying to disprove all other books written on her. One example: one nice, short thank you letter from Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis makes the impression of a harmonious friendship. Other biographies claim their relationship to being quite disturbed, Jacqueline not at all being fond of Princess Grace. Well, maybe the exhibition had more to tell on this issue, so I would have rather seen more letters Grace Kelly wrote than thank you notes from her co actors and other celebrities written with typing machines.
Maybe it would have been better just to display as many pictures as possible from the exhibition, with very little text and without any tendentious comments. This would have let the book be more open and would have let the spectator make up his own mind. But it seems that was not the intention.

I haven't read the large bios on her...but as far as the larger books mixing content AND photos...this is the best by far! This is truly a collectable style book with stunning reproductions and feel...first class all the way. I found it at Borders but if you are looking online trust me..you will NOT be dissapointed when it arrives it will exceed your expectations.

I read in other reviews here that this is the Official Guide of the Princess Grace Exhibit in Monte Carlo. It is deservedly so. It has SO MANY pictures of Princess Grace -- both in her movie career, and as Princess of Monaco. The book has heft and weight,,,a true "coffee table" book, if ever there was one! There are wonderful pictures from the Kelly Family Album, of Grace as a child, pictures of the print advertisements she did, whilst working as a model, (though from a wealthy family, Grace Kelly preferred to pay her own way, whilst studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. The AMDA, by the way, does NOT allow any student to act in a speaking role, of any kind, whilst a student at the Academy...so Grace took on modeling jobs.) Various telling quotations, and actual letters, (both type-written and hand-written), from those who knew her best, and from Grace Kelly herself, are featured, as are many full page portraits, some of her without makeup of any kind, (she still looks regally radiant!)

The "Hollywood" part of Grace Kelly's life takes up slightly less than half the book. The rest is devoted to her life as Princess Grace of Monaco. Her telling quote about Rainier give insight into their relationship: "When I married Prince Rainier, I married the man and not what he represented or what he was. I fell in love with him without giving thought to anything else." When Princess Grace's life is described as a "fairy tale come true", it has ALL the elements! This quite is given a full page, as is a double-portrait of Prince Rainier and Princess Grace. Interestingly, (and unlike any other royal portrait of it's kind I have ever seen), the two of them, are seen in PROFILE, one behind the other -- but the Ruler, (Rainier), is BEHIND his consort, (Grace), showing perhaps, how much he loved her, as well!

Informal family portraits, with Grace, Rainier, and their children, formal and informal portraits of the Princess, her clothes, her jewels, and photos of various formal and informal occasions, (wherein are also seen other leading characters of this era -- such as Jacqueline Kennedy, Charles de Gaulke, and Pope John Paul I, amongst others, are also seen.
(One small correction, if I may: on page 227, Princess Grace is shown to be pictured with "Queen Irene of Greece". Her Royal Highness Princess Irene of Greece is a gracious and accomplished personage -- but was always a Princess, and not -- to my knowledge anyway -- ever a Queen of Greece.) There are only two other (minor) criticisms I have of this book: 1) It is, perhaps of necessity, VERY heavy, (weighing at least four pounds), and 2) The captions of the photos -- though wonderfully revealing, are written in very small print. Perhaps this was done so that the photos, not the captions, should be the focus of a reader's attention....but still, as many of Grace's growing legion of admirers are, sadly, coming up in years, (and I'm one of them), the captions, I feel, should have been in even slightly bigger print....

These small criticisms, however, do not dampen my enthusiasm at all for this otherwise perfect book -- nor would they stop me from recommending it to any other admirer of Her Serene Highness! SO much wonder is inside this book! For instance.......

A detailed picture of the gold-and-pink suit which Grace Kelly wore for the civil marriage ceremony, (which preceeded the religious ceremony, and during which, she officially became a Princess), is shown -- along with a formal portrait of Grace wearing the elegant outfit. Covers of magazines, (from "Paris Match" to "Good Housekeeping"), featuring Princess Grace, (sometimes shown with a very happy Prince Rainier), are shown on one page.

Towards the back of the book, are descriptions of the various rooms in the Princess Grace Exhibit, (of, as I have said, this volume is the official guidebook). Described are, the "Philadelphia Room", "New York Room", "Hollywood Room", "Hitchcock Room", "First Meeting Room", "Weddingf Room", "Ballroom", "Room of Friends", "Princess Room",
"Nursery and Family Room", "Private Garden Room", "Secret Woman Room",
"Glamour Room", "Patron of the Arts Room". and "Royal Room". On the page facing these last two rooms is a intriguing portrait of Princess Grace, in profile, looking out at the New York City skyline at night. It was taken by another multi-faceted, multi-talented, and intelligent woman: Gina Lollobrigita.

Further towards the back of the book, is an excerpt from the book, "La Veritable Grace de Monaco", by Editions Pygmalion. giving excerpts from various chapters, and an overview of Princess Grace's life. A two page spread follows -- a thoughtful portrait of a mature Princess Grace -- on whom the passing years have left barely a mark -- staring out of a latticed window, with a grand piano on her other side. Princess Grace truly wished to return to acting, (and did, in fact, appear in several documentaries, as herself) -- but the pull of the fact that she was now a Princess, not only of Monaco, but of the Catholic Church itself, plus the desires of the people of Monaco that their princess be a princess only, and not an actress -- kept her from doing so. Yes, she did have a fairy-tale life...but in her life, as in those of most people, sacrifices had to be made to make it as it should be.

A filmography of Grace Kelly follows, and after that, notes on the personal letters shown in the book. Lastly, there is a bibliography, and an index.

It is a tribute indeed, to all those who produced this sumptuous book, that it is SO inclusive of every aspect of the life of Her Serene Highness, Princess Grace of Monaco. From a family photo of her at two, with her brother Jack and sister Margaret, through a photo of her on the cover of a booklet, "25 Typing Shortcuts", and some very "Marilyn Monroesque" photos of Grace in 1955, (taken, in fact, by Milton H. Greene, who took similiar photos of Ms. Monroe), through extreme close-up pictures of the various dresses Princess Grace wore through the years, through family pictures, and formal portraits, great events and small....all are here, described and pictured in the greatest of details.

This is the penultimate Princess Grace book -- as well it should be. It is a treat for those fortunate enough to read it. And it is a tribute to those who created it -- most especially, the woman who lived it, Her Serene Highness, Princess Grace of Monaco.

Just to let you know, this book is mostly photographs of Grace Kelly and very little in the way of biography. I would take a look at this AFTER or WHILE reading her bio. if that is what you're wanting.

The pictures are beautiful. Many feature her clothing and some others, her scrapbook from earlier years. Some are taken by rather famous people; some are posters of her movies promoted in other countries as well as the U.S. Most are of her while several are of her family. Some photos are lifesize copies of correspondence from famous people in her life.

There are none of her funeral! Odd.

The best book on Grace Kelly that I own.

This is a book that was prepared as a companion piece to an exhibit covering Grace Kelly's life. So much of her life was saved for posterity, and each piece displayed here was not just saved because it was her's, but because of a story associated with it, mainly about other famous people who called Grace "friend".

The photography is spectacular. This museum quality book contains the most photographs of Grace grouped together between two covers than I have ever seen before, along with some pictures that I had not seen before. The print production values are practically perfect. This is a sturdy piece, constructed to stand the test of time, something Grace Kelly is very likely to easily achieve. She helped modernize Hollywood's idea of what a smart, educated, beautiful, blond, classy lady was.

This is a book about a movie star famous for a smoking, sensual sexuality, who reinvented herself in a way not even attainable to a Madonna by marrying a prince, and becoming herself a princess. Together, Rainier and Grace brought a kingdom caught in the grip of decay, decadence, nearly bankrupt, and turned the whole thing around - all before she died at a very early age.

I have been searching high and low for the longest time, for books, posters etc on Grace, and have always come up with very little.
Until, the 25th anniversary of her death.
This really is a must for all Princess Grace fans, the presentation of the book is stunning and contains images of her I have never seen before, nearly a full picture of her to a page. Great storytelling also.
Really, THIS is THE book you must own!
Great price and quick international shipping too.
Thankyou Amazon!

This is the best book that you can get on Grace Kelly. As it was produced under the aegis of the royal family of Monaco, the quality is superb. The one drawback is that it is more pictures than text; however, it is photography of an incredible richness & mostly full page in size. For more information, get one of the standard biographies, such as the excellent "Grace" by Robert Lacey(He exposes her somewhat unmercifully, but that is fine, since she was such a private individual as to appear almost plastic & characterless to an outside world).

To those who choose not to look much beyond outward appearances, you couldn't do much better than Princess Grace. Perhaps she was a somewhat shallow individual...but you have to admit at least one thing: This lady certainly looked like a princess should - that's more than you can say about Camilla Parker-Bowles of England, UK. We can all be proud that Grace was an American, & showed the world what a real fairy-book princess could be like!

What a beautiful keepsake book about Grace Kelly. Includes many scrapbook items and is a wonderful tribute to a wonderful lady!