SHE WAS arguably the most beautiful woman on the planet, with the world at her beck and call. A Hollywood starlet, then a prince's wife, her life was a 20th-century fairy tale.
But there was another side to Grace Kelly: The promiscuous cheater; the unhappily married mother of three; the lonely woman thousands of miles from home, living in exile.
Now, 25 years after her mysterious death in a car crash, new revelations about the Philadelphia native's tumultuous life are revealed in "True Grace: The Life and Times of an American Princess," (St. Martin's Press, $29.95), a tell-all book by New York Times best-selling author Wendy Leigh. Based on conversations with 125 people, 98 of whom - including many love interests - knew Kelly intimately, it contains information never spoken to previous biographers.
We learn shocking details in this page-turner, including the fact that Kelly had simultaneous affairs with co-stars, that she turned a blind eye to husband Prince Rainier of Monaco's many infidelities and that she was passionately in love with actor David Niven until her death.
Leigh, who also wrote "Prince Charming, The J.F.K. Jr. Story" and "The Secret Letters of Marilyn Monroe and Jacqueline Kennedy," will be in Bryn Mawr Thursday to sign copies of her new book.
The Daily News caught up with Leigh before her arrival to find out what she learned about the fascinating, history-making screen siren.
Q. What was it about Grace Kelly that spurred you to do the book?
A. All of the other [books] paled in comparison to this. I had chosen to do this, yet it is a very hard act to follow. It was quite frightening. It was daunting. I thought, 'What if I don't find anything?' and suddenly, all the doors began to open.
Q. Tell me some of the new discoveries you made talking to these never-before interviewed subjects.
A. I don't know where to begin. I found 13 new romances in Grace's life. I was fortunate enough to interview some of her beaus who had never spoken before, who described a young Grace as she was [in Philadelphia] and Ocean City. The picture one gets is a young girl who really knew how to handle men, how to make them happy.
But of course one of the tragic stories is her bridesmaid Carolyn Reybold, who Grace was so close to . . . but Grace ultimately betrayed her.
When Grace's father was dying, she had an affair with Carolyn's husband Malcolm and then wrote [Carolyn] a confession.
Q. Why do you think she had the need to be so sexually bold? According to this biography she was with several men at once, on and off the movie sets.
A. Grace Kelly had opportunity. She was so beautiful, so glamorous, so sought after. Who would turn down those men, the most desirable men? Clark Gable, William Holden. She said she couldn't resist. She had so many opportunities. It's not as if she went after them. Everyone wanted her. It was almost like being in a candy store. Who could blame Grace?
Q. But the love of her life, even up to her death, appeared to be actor David Niven. What did she find in him that endured?
A. The thing about David was that he is a red thread throughout her life. From when she was a young actress in the '40s to the end. What comfort it was being in this drafty enclosed palace [in Monaco] having a husband who was not Mr. Fidelity and realizing she'd made a mistake, to have this witty, charming, courteous gentlemen who know her well, and who she trusted. He was a real friend who was right there for her. Basically, he was her life raft.
Q. Which revelation did you find most shocking?
A. Carolyn Reybold. I wouldn't say shocking, more disturbing. But again, I have such great respect and love for Grace that, basically, she was so vulnerable and Malcolm was such an operator and he was the father she never had on a variety of levels.
He was there for her and in a way, when she knew her father was dying, she was losing on two levels. She was losing the father she had but also the hope of having love from her father, which she never had.
Q. Did Philadelphia stay with her?
A. Tremendously. What is so poignant is that her very last public appearance on American soil was in Philadelphia. In March 1982 she came for a tribute to Grace Kelly at the Annenberg Center. She wanted everyone, even the doctor who delivered her, to be there. She definitely remained a little girl from Philadelphia until the end.
Q. Your book deals with her life, rather than her mysterious death, which has been hypothesized about for more than two decades. Why did you opt not to address the circumstances surrounding her death?
A. Yes, there are certainly dark and sinister rumors about her death and I certainly have theories I could pursue, but in the end, I don't think it would have answered the question every biographer needs to answer: What was she really like? If I had invested all my time into researching that, I wouldn't have done my duty to answer what was she really like. *
Wendy Leigh will read and sign books at Barnes & Noble, 720 Lancaster Ave., Bryn Mawr, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 215-854-5762.