By the time they approached the grand steps of the cathedral entrance, Grace had already arrived with her father, and the large silk canopy erected outside the church looked as if it were about to be swept away. A cordon of honor of soldiers and sailors from British, French, Italian. and American ships waited in their smart lines. Together, the bridesmaids lifted their skirts to carefully climb the red-carpeted steps leading up to the church. Grace would follow.
Inside it was cool and dark, with baskets of white snapdragons hanging from chandeliers. Every pew in the church was full, the altar ahead lit by tall white candles and decorated with white hydrangeas, lilacs, and lilies. The six bridesmaids began to process, walking slowly in time to the solemn music from the cathedral organ, passing row after row of waiting guests and taking their places in the row of seats to the right of the altar.
Looking across at the crowd, Carolyn could see the cathedral was filled with dignitaries and celebrities. The Aga Khan and King Farouk of Egypt were in the front row, with Aristotle Onassis close behind. Gloria Swanson, Ava Gardner, and David Niven had flown in from Hollywood. Malcolm was a seat away from Cary Grant and his wife.
But the main attraction was, of course, Grace. She entered on her father’s arm, each guest turning as she passed. At every corner of the cathedral stood the giant cameras sent by MGM, a constant reminder that this was the first wedding ceremony to be broadcast live to millions via television.
Grace looked solemn and tense under her veil, with the eyes of the world watching.
Prince Rainier, in accordance with royal custom, arrived last.
Then the sermon began. Mass was offered. The church’s organs and choir filled the cathedral with sound. There were prayers and a message from an emissary sent from Rome by the pope. Rings were exchanged, Rainier fumbling to put the band on Grace’s finger, and Grace helping him to slide it on.
Then, when the ceremony was over, Grace and Rainier walked arm in arm back down the aisle, the bridesmaids following, exiting onto the cathedral steps and into an explosion of sunlight and applause. Here were crowds of people cheering, everyone waving, craning their necks for a better view. Grace and Rainier walked down the steps and climbed into an open-topped Rolls-Royce. The bridesmaids were ushered into limousines, so they could follow Grace and Rainier in their motorcade. Church bells were ringing out across the city. Ahead, Grace and Rainier’s car proceeded slowly through narrow streets. In her car, Carolyn waved back to the smiling people on the route; they were hanging from every balcony and window.
Monaco tradition dictated that along the way, Grace would stop at the chapel of Sainte Dévote to lay her bridal bouquet at the martyr’s feet. Grace and Rainier arrived before noon at the small chapel nestled into the craggy cliffs overlooking Monaco’s harbor. Young girls wearing the traditional Monaco dress of white blouses and red-and-white-striped skirts waited in rows on the chapel’s steps.
Dévote was Monaco’s patron saint. She was a young Christian girl born in Corsica in the third century who had devoted herself to the service of God. When the Romans began persecuting Christians, Dévote refused to renounce her faith and she was stoned to death. Her body was placed on a funeral pyre, but her supporters saved her from the flames and put her remains on a boat bound for Africa, where they hoped she would receive a Christian burial. During the crossing, a dangerous storm threatened the boat and its sailors. Then a small gray dove flew from Dévote’s mouth and guided the boat to Monaco, where the ship finally ran aground. Local fishermen rescued Dévote’s remains, and a small chapel was built in the harbor in her honor. Over the centuries, Dévote was credited with many miracles. She had protected Monaco from invaders and the plague, she ended the Spanish occupation, and each year she made flowers bloom in winter in time for her saint’s day.
With Rainier at her side, Grace walked up the steps to the statue of the saint outside the chapel, laying her bouquet of lilies of the valley at Dévote’s feet. Grace crossed herself, then knelt for a prayer. Carolyn watched as the princess—Grace was royalty now—descended the steps, climbing back into her waiting car with her prince, pulling away toward the palace, her subjects, and her new life.
On the one hand, Carolyn was elated for her friend. On the other, she knew that Grace’s wedding was an ending as much as a beginning. In the past, Grace had always come and gone from Carolyn’s life. When they lived at the Barbizon, Grace would go away for weeks at a time, back home to Philadelphia or for summers on the New Jersey shore. After she started her career in movies, she was always flying off to film shoots in Hollywood or somewhere else in the world. But until now Grace had always come back. Grace adored Manhattan; so did Carolyn. It was part of their bond. But how could New York ever compete with the beauty and charm of Monaco? Or a palace and a prince? Carolyn knew as she waved good-bye to Grace that she was watching her friend start a new journey, unlike any in the past, one from which she couldn’t easily return.
CHAPTER 12
Nina
Midway through what would have been my fifth grade year, the school renewed its interest in my case. Why hadn’t I recovered from the fever yet? In February of 1971, the school principal, Mr. Bedford, called our home to speak to my mother, and I answered. My mother was out, and I was home by myself. Since the incident at the A&P supermarket—where the school nurse had seen us and the school filed the petition for neglect against my mother—I usually stayed at home whenever she had go to the market.
“How are you
