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I’ve been reading about the ‘Dollar Princesses’. These were wealthy American women of the late 19th and early 20th centuries who married into titled European families, exchanging wealth for prestige. They were often the daughters of nouveau riche tycoons whose families wanted to gain social standing. According to a book called Titled Americans (1915), there were 454 marriages between Gilded Age and Progressive Era American women and European aristocrats, most of whom were Britons. Between 1870 and 1914, 102 British aristocrats, six of whom were dukes, married American women.
One example is Consuelo Vanderbilt, the only daughter of William Kissam Vanderbilt and Alva Erskine Smith. Determined to secure the highest-ranking mate possible for her only daughter, a union that would emphasize the preeminence of the Vanderbilt family, Alva engineered a meeting between Consuelo and the indebted, titled Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough, chatelain of Blenheim Palace.
Consuelo had no interest in the Duke, being secretly engaged to Winthrop Rutherfurd, an American socialite 15 years her senior. Her mother begged, and then ultimately ordered her daughter to marry the Duke. The Duke obtained a large dowry through the marriage and reportedly told her — on their honeymoon — that he had married her only “because he felt obliged to save Blenheim,” his ancestral home.
During the marriage, she became a popular and influential duchess. For much of their 25-year marriage, the Marlboroughs lived separately. After an official separation in 1906, the couple was divorced in 1921, followed by an annulment in 1926. Her first marriage produced two sons, John (the 10th Duke) and Ivor. She went on to marry the wealthy French aviator Jacques Balsan and continued her charitable endeavors.
During the period between her marriage to the Duke in 1895 and their divorce in 1921, Consuelo, her first husband and their two sons benefited from circa $20,000,000 in gifts and inheritances from William K. Vanderbilt.
Consuelo and Winston Churchill at Blenheim Palace (1902)
The Big Lizards….
Here’s Bolero… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcVl2k7R5RY
