My Days with Princess Grace of Monaco

So many books on famous women "treat" us to nothing but tabloid sleaze, affairs, drinking, and the like. This book gives us an honest heartfelt in-depth look at Grace Kelly, the woman who became HSH the Princess of Monaco. The author does not gloss over Grace's flaws, but rather, endorses the amount of work she invested in improving herself as well as the lives around her.She speaks with such precise detail about the Princess' charitable works, her empathy, and her extreme dedication to her family and friends. Only an individual who knew her intimately could have given us such infinite minute about the princess, yet, at the same time, holding her confidences. Joan Dale chose to write this book, with the assistance of her daughter, many years after Grace's own untimely demise; indeed, her daughter gleaned much of the information from notes and pictures that her mother, who perhaps never intended to even write a book, years after her own mother's passing. These facts indicate to us that perhaps they were not attempting to make money, but rather, tell us an intimate portrait of a woman they both admired.In addition to details relative to the Princess' own family relationships and charities, we are treated to an interesting historical discourse on Monaco as a principality itself. The challenges with DeGaulle and Onassis, as well as the history of the Grimaldi family going back centuries.The only reason I did not give this book five stars is because, in my opinion, there were parts that were rather boring, particularly her letters to her mother - one did not need to hear all about the galas, balls, etc. that she wrote to her mother about. It's nice the author wrote to her mother, it's just that all in all, it tended to "break up" and disrupt some of the more interesting facts in the book and near the end, one started skipping over the "dear Mom" parts!While not the best memoir I have ever read, I do believe it is up there, and certainly worth picking up from Amazon; and most certainly gives the most truthful description of the life of this remarkable woman to date.

A great book with unpublished photos, tales of Grace, and a genuine personal story. These books are invaluable for gaining insight into people like Grace by those who knew them.

This is a great book, which, to coin a phrase, gives a fair and balanced look at an amazing life, through times both happy and sad; Grace Kelly was raised in such an extraordinary way that, in retrospect, it really wasn't much of a surprise that she became royalty. She was very different, even in her era, when it was much more commonplace for a young woman (whether from a wealthy family, like hers, or even from a family of any economic level) to have the opportunity to evolve into a young lady, a scarcity, sadly, in present-day society, even among the rich. Grace Kelly had a charm and charisma that allowed her to be both regal and still, at the same time, a young gal from Philadelphia, even within the trappings of the Palace in which she lived, as Princess. The cult of legend resulting from her untimely death has, unfortunately, given rise to exaggerations and falsities about the life she lead, and the things she felt. This has become particularly evident in the film Grace of Monaco, which, by focusing on a fairly isolated incident in the history of the Principality, has actually been touted as “a character study” of the Princess. If you really want to know what life was like for Princess Grace, do yourself the favor, skip the movie, and read this book, so that you can get a more complete and accurate portrait.

This is truly an insightful and beautiful memoir about a lovely Princess - Princess Grace of Monaco. Taken from the fond memories of a close friend, Joan Dale, a beautiful picture was painted of Princess Grace.The fairy tale wedding, and the wedding of the century, to Prince Rainier III was just the beginning. Prince Rainier and Princess Grace were a magnificent couple. Her presence filled a room, more beautiful than one could imagine, and the Prince was affable, with a magnetic personality, although somewhat shy.The book takes you through the crises with France, and the threat of Prince Rainier losing his throne. Prince Rainier had to deal with DeGaulle and his ultimatum stating that if Rainier kept his stance of remaining an independent and absolute ruler,he would depose the Prince. The issue was finally resolved in 1962 when Prince Rainier announced that a new constitution would soon be implemented.Princess Grace was portrayed as a very genuine person, being compassionate and caring, warm and loving, and most importantly, humble and down to earth. During her 26 years as Princess of Monaco, she had a charismatic presence and a beauty that shone brightly from deep within. There are no tawdry details revealed in this book - kudos to the author for that!My only negative comment - too much information, and I must admit I did some skimming over a lot of details. But that being said, for the most part, this was a good read. My rating - 3.5 stars.I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A great book! More details on the life of Grave Kelly by her dear friend who knew her well. Positive info. Grace was a gem & sacrificed her own desires to serve the people of Monaco & others. Grace & her family fought against the many Lies & Fabrications of the sensationalist Media of the day much like Princess Diana did. Her early death was a great tragedy & loss for all who loved her!

I really liked this book. I've read all the major ( and many of the obscure) Grace Kelly biographies and this one manages to cover new ground.The author was a friend of Grace's, and while she does view all things about Grace through rose tinted glasses, she was present for many years (and many parties!) in Monaco and gives an insider's view of life in the palace. I found the author's description of Grace and Rainier's last trip to Norway particularly interesting and bitter sweet. As well there are a number of never seen pictures which is always a bonus. If you are a Grace Kelly fan then this book is a must have.

Boring! Just a list of menus, drinks, parties, whom she met and how wonderful the author and her family are. The authoress even let people think that she herself was Princess Grace of Monaco; how conceited. For good measure, some positive comments about the Grimaldi family are included.

Lástima que no exista una versión en castellano, aún así, no se necesita un gran nivel de inglés para poder disfrutar de su lectura.Me ha gustado mucho porque generalmente los libros sobre Grace de Mónaco hablan siempre de los mismo (su vida como actriz, su boda, y los escándalos a su alrededor). Pero este libro se centra en su vida como Princesa de Mónaco, en sus actos sociales, ceremonias, protocolo, sus amigos, y en general, en cómo era la vida a finales de los años 50 y en los 60, principalmente. Es un mundo desconocido, por lo tanto, muy tendente a ser contado dando rienda suelta a la imaginación pero la autora, precisamente por ello, demuestra con su correspondencia personal que lo que cuenta es cierto.No obstante, he quitado una estrella a la valoración porque tiene un "pero" y es que la autora realmente cansa de tanto alabar a la princesa. Es repetitivo, y no es necesario. Sin ello, hubiera sido un libro totalmente excelente.

comprato su amazon inglese x regalo a mia cugina..........molto bello con tantissime figure inedite della principessa fatte dalla sua amica

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