Monaco: meet Me in Monaco

I found Meet Me in Monaco: A Novel of Grace Kelly’s Royal Wedding in a Little Free Library and grabbed it, because Monaco is a country and I have a long list of countries to read about. This is a fun read that moves along at a nice pace, about people who are tangentially involved in the wedding of movie star Grace Kelly to Prince Rainier III. As I was reading it, was reminded about a small community outside of Chicago that also has a tiny population an economy heavily weighted toward tourism and gambling that is controlled by one family.

In 1956, Donald Stephens convinced his homeowners association, of which he was president, to separate from the city of Chicago and form its own town. The population has grown from 85 to 4,000, and Stephens’s son has succeeded him as mayor. It’s a community with hotels, restaurants, a shopping center, a convention center, and a nearby casino, primarily serving travelers coming in through O’Hare Airport. It’s kind of like a new version of Monaco, but without the waterfront.

Monaco, of course, sits on the French Riviera. It is smaller yet more populous than Rosemont. It has hotels, restaurants, shopping, a convention center, and a big casino. It was given to the Grimaldi family in 1297 and remains in their control.

So there you have it. Give people a royal title and locate it on a waterfront, and things seem instantly glamorous.