The Princess and The Ham & Cheese Sandwich

Or: Croaked Madame

When my brother went off to the south of France for his year abroad, one of the first things he wanted to do was take a weekend jaunt to Monaco to visit Princess Grace.

He had no prior introduction to Her Serene Highness or any of her family, but I’m fairly certain he hoped the fact that, because they were both half Irish and had fathers from Philadelphia, he was practically a shoe-in for a dinner invitation. Or lunch at the very least.

But sadly, no invitation was ever extended and the houses of Grimaldi and Procopio never got to mingle.

On the 13th of September, 1982, Princess Grace suffered a stroke while driving her youngest daughter home from their family retreat at Roc Agel. The car veered off the road, down a mountainside, and into a florist's garden.

Princess Stephanie survived the crash, my brother's plan to meet her mother did not. When Princess Grace died on September 14, Doug cancelled his plans.

He never went to Monaco.