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Third-Class Weddings. Father Tuck rose to the occasion. ("The principality didn't get anything from the Marshall Plan but me," he says.) To replace the bickering priests, he imported four members of his own order, the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, sent them bustling about the community. When the bishop died, Father Tuck was influential in the choice of his successor, a French priest who knew and understood the Italo-French people of the Riviera. Father Tuck also abolished first, second-and third-class weddings in favor of an egalitarian, one-class ceremony, and he organized the youth of Monaco in a junior Newman Club. Gradually, the spiritual condition of the principality improved. "You have brought le bon Dieu back to us," said a grateful parishioner.
Then the busy priest turned his attention to "that boy," the prince. Father Tuck thought that Rainier should get married, and the romance with Gisèle did not seem likely to lead in that direction. One day the Prince took the priest to call on Gisèle. The three spent a pleasant afternoon together. "What do you think of her?" asked Rainier, on the way back to Monte Carlo.
"Why, I think she's just fine," replied Tucker. "She's a real number. In fact, I could go for her myself."
"What do you mean, you could go for her yourself?" asked Rainier. "You're a priest."
"Well, you're a prince," snapped the chaplain, "and you can't go for her either."
In 1953 duty and the gentle urging of Father Tucker prevailed. Rainier and the actress parted, and Gisèle leaped into the arms of Gary Cooper at the Cannes film festival. Rainier has found no steady girl friend since, though a brief encounter with Grace Kelly momentarily raised Monégasque hopes.
This week, after a look at the Bronx Zoo and a round of parties in Manhattan, Father Tuck and Prince Rainier were off on an eight-week tour that will include an appointment with President Eisenhower, Christmas in Delaware, and introductions to eligible girls from California to Texas (as a 2nd lieutenant in the French army in World War II, Rainier served as a liaison officer with the Texas 36th Infantry Division). Like the Monégasques, Father Tuck fervently hopes that he will be singing a royal nuptial Mass soon, and that Monaco will live happily ever after. He is homesick for Delaware and weary of the royal routine. "I'd like to leave Monaco," he sighed, as he sipped a martini. "This high living doesn't agree with an old goat like me."