Welcome to Folio Fantasy  

Preface to “Fall From Grace”

The late Grace Kelly of Philadelphia became a Princess on April 19, 1956, when she married into the world’s longest ruling dyna
sty.   In a glorious ceremony, Princess Grace was attended at her wedding by seven bridesmaids, all of whom were close friends from her home in America.   One of her bridesmaids was Carolyn Scott Reybold.   Carolyn Reybold was my mother.

In 1950 my mother was beautiful, well adjusted, and highly successful.   She was a top Ford Agency model, a Seventeen magazine cover girl, and one of Grace Kelly’s closest friends.   For the subsequent fifteen years, she led a charmed life.   And then, one day, everything began to change — she stopped dealing with reality.   She became lost in strange behavior and entangled in secretive, cult-like activities.   In the process, she hurt and neglected her children.

Eventually, she ended up in a shelter for homeless women onPark Avenue in New York City.   Her days were spent wandering through the streets of Manhattan and praying in a small park near the Plaza Hotel.   She had been doing this daily for over ten years in the belief that prayers would someday elevate the park in status to a Shrine for Humanity.

For some four decades my mother had remained a woman of mystery.   Stories about her situation had appeared in newspapers throughout both Europe and America.   Countless times our family had been exploited by supposed friends who sold bits and pieces of our lives to the Press.   Hard Copy, Current Affair, and Inside Edition all developed exposés on my mother’s bizarre life story.   “From Fairy Tale to Flop House” splashed the Star.   “Princess Grace’s Old Society Pal Now Lives on Streets” wrote Cindy Adams in her exclusive on page three of The New York Post.   The unwanted headlines were unavoidable.   But, until now, the real story had never been told.