Sure that her daughter would try to make a break for it with Winthrop the minute the opportunity arose, Alva controlled Consuelo in a chilling way. The days of her notoriety are behind her but she has apparently not lost her aristocratic tastes. This was the very definition of a mercenary marriage both Consuelo and the Duke were in love with other people. Even Consuelos arrival at her new home was an enormous disappointment. As a well-known journalist and author, Cooper has a net worth of about $50 million, according to CelebrityNetWorth.com. Not only did her son pass that fall, but in November of that year, her beloved husband Jacques Balsannow frail and 88 years oldalso passed. When Consuelo a docile teenager whose only notable characteristic at the time was abject obedience to her fearsome mother made plans to elope, she was locked in her room as Alva threatened to murder Rutherfurd. On November 6, 1895, Consuelos nightmare finally became a reality. One writer said he and his friends were enamoured by "her dimples, and her tiny teeth when she smiled." Consuelo was quite a catch, future dowry notwithstanding. She stopped at nothing to keep pushing them together. During the course of her debutante season, shed met and fallen in love with the handsome Winthrop Rutherfurd, a young man of similaror even greaterNew York social standing as the Vanderbilts. But this American princess and "million dollar duchess" didn't get a happy endingshe got an utter nightmare. With the slim, tight look that was all the rage in the Edwardian era, she was a small, elongated woman with dark eyes and a long, oval face with delicate features. Just months before the duke proposed, Consuelos mother Alva had filed for divorce from her father William Vanderbiltand the reasons were utterly scandalous. Consuelo Vanderbilt Earl, a great-great-granddaughter of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, died on Monday, February 21, 2011 at her home at the age of 107. In a twist on a historical theme, the duke was fortune-hunting herand her mother Alva couldnt be happier. Everyone expected an engagement at any moment. After learning of the proposal, Alva watches Consuelo like a hawk, intercepts her mail and refuses to allow Rutherfurd into the house.She sweeps Consuelo off to Europe and when Rutherfurd follows, Consuelo is forbidden to see him. Vanderbilt inherited a boatload of family money and took control of the Vanderbilt railroad empire. In Balsan the flame has reignited and Consuelo is smitten. Just after her birthday, Consuelo committed her biggest act of rebellion yet. Duchess Marlborough Consuelo Vanderbilt was born 2 March 1877 in New York City, New York, United States to William Kissam Vanderbilt (1849-1920) and Alva Erskine Smith (1853-1933) and died 6 December 1964 Southampton, Suffolk County, New York, United States of unspecified causes. Consuelo actually had affairs with no fewer than three of the Duke of Marlboroughs cousins over the course of her marriage, to the shock and horror of the respectable Spencer-Churchill family. Instead, Alva invited the Duke of Marlborough back to America to visit just a couple of months later. Consuelos relationship with the Duke of Marlborough didnt last, but her friendship with his cousin Winston Churchill surprisingly managed to pass the test of time. But she soon realized something had gone terribly wrong. . Consuelo couldnt bear the thought of causing fatal stress to her mother, not even if it allowed her to keep Winthrop Rutherfurd. The less heartwarming part? The hospital also includes a school of nursing and is one of the top ranked hospitals in France, especially for renal transplants. For much of their 25-year marriage, the Marlboroughs lived separately and the marriage was finally annulled. Years later, I was using her phone when I made an utterly chilling discovery. Something terrifying was looming. See more ideas about vanderbilt, marlborough, belle epoque. Perhaps most harsh, Alva orders creation of a steel brace to run from Consuelos forehead to her waist to ensure correct posture, and, indeed, Consuelo is often praised for her regal carriage. History, Literature, mathematics, Latin and science are taught in special At the time Consuelo Vanderbilt married the 9th Duke of Marlborough in 1895, she was worth an estimated $4 billion in today's money. Even worse, she had to stifle mournful sobs throughout the ceremony. But that friendship was about to endure a horrible shock. Her mother reportedly received at least five proposals for her hand. Cstoria ei cu Charles Spencer-Churchill, al 9-lea Duce de Marlborough a devenit o emblem internaional a cstoriilor . Though largely embarked upon as a way to facilitate the Anglican duke's desire to convert to Roman Catholicism, the annulment, to the surprise of many, also was fully supported by the former duchess's mother, who testified that the VanderbiltMarlborough marriage had been an act of unmistakable coercion. In certain echelons of New York societythe upper onesthe birth of Consuelo Vanderbilt in 1877 was akin to the coming of a messiah. Consuelo Vanderbilt was considered a great beauty, with a face compelling enough to cause the playwright Sir James Barrie, author of Peter Pan, to write, "I would stand all day in the street to see Consuelo Marlborough get into her carriage. SOUTHAMPTON, L. I., Dec, 6Mrs. As the most commanding mistress in the French court, she bettered the lives of many and became a beloved figure. 1. Historys most fascinating stories and darkest secrets, delivered to your inbox daily. But Consuelos fianc dealt her a cruel snub. The family lived in an elaborate, castle-like home on . In the intervening years, both would marry others, Balsan would be celebrated for his record-breaking feats of aviation, while Consuelo would submit to the life imposed on her as the spectacularly rich and aristocratically groomed daughter of Alva Vanderbilt, a woman with obsessive social ambitions. Reginald Fellowes[20] (the liaison did not last, to the relief of Fellowes's parents),[21] while the duke fell under the spell of Gladys Marie Deacon, an eccentric American of little money but, like Consuelo, dazzling to look at and of considerable intellect. Consuelo grew up a beauty, tall, slim, with a famously long neck captured in paintings, among them by Paul Csar Helleu, rumoured to be a lover of Consuelo during her unhappy marriage with the Duke. Pronunciation of consuelo with 2 audio pronunciations. As she walked down the aisle with her fatherwho Alva only allowed to come for the sake of appearances before he left immediately afterthe crowd turned to face her. When Consuelo reported her engagement to her younger brothers, she couldnt keep anguished tears out of her eyes. #Royals Consuelo Vanderbilt contrajo matrimonio con Charles Spencer-Churchill, Duque Marlborough el 6 de noviembre de 1895, su vestido, que era una creacin de la casa Worth es considerado un icono dentro de la historia de la alta costura #consuelovanderbilt #vanderbilts #royalwedding #highsociety #houseofworth # . Passing through Paris on the way home from India in the spring of 1894, Consuelo made her European debut at a ball thrown by the Duc and Duchesse de Gramont. July 5, 2017 11:41AM. She loves the time spent there with her warm-hearted but seldom available father, but even the normally unbending Alva loosens up a bit at Idle Hour. Want to tell us to write facts on a topic? A Confederate loyalist, Alva was infamous in her hometown of Mobile, Alabama for being a spoiled little girl who enjoyed mistreating the slaves she and her family owned. He has scandalized his family by abandoning his first wife on their honeymoon to travel with a French dancer. And after all that, Alva still had her cruelest card up her sleeveand she was about to play it. By the way I loved the Article. For another, she was one of the wealthiest young women in the United. Her great-great-great-grandfather was business magnate and family dynasty founder Cornelius Vanderbilt. Winthrop left town, her friends had long stopped callingand her mother twisted the knife in further. Embed from Getty Images When the duke arrived home from the conflict, she coolly informed him that she had been sleeping with his cousin, and that she never wanted to see him in her bedroom ever again. Daughter of Alva Vanderbilt. Also a textile manufacturing heir, Balsan was a younger brother of tienne Balsan, who was an early lover of Coco Chanel. It all started, perhaps, with a high society invitation. In fact, such transactions occur with such frequency in the Gilded Age that the New York Times periodically prints a list of the sums changing hands. A separation was one thing, but Consuelo and the duke wanted to go whole hog and file for divorce. Consuelo in course of time, spent many more millions to renovate the 'decrepit heap' that was Blenheim, at the time of her marriage. In marrying the Duke, Consuelo became the cousin of Winston Churchill, who would remain a dear friend and confidant to her throughout her life. She also cast aspersions on Winthrops intentions, claiming he just wanted Consuelo for her money. On July 4, 1921, before the ink on her divorce papers was dry, she married again. It is a busy and happy time, though its carefree nature ends with the advent of the Great War. On a trip to London in 1894, Alva arranged a meeting for Consuelo, 17, and the duke, 23 . Doctors werent able to operate on it, so Consuelo had to watch as her baby deteriorated and then passed that September at just 57 years old. Consuelo Vanderbilt (1877-1964) was married to one of the Dukes of Marlborough (that made her the Duchess of Marlborough) and was Winston Churchill's cousin by marriage. Browse 868 consuelo vanderbilt stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. Consuelo Vanderbilt was a member of the prominent American Vanderbilt family, a family of Dutch origin who gained prominence during the Gilded Age because of her great grandfather Cornelius Vanderbilt, who had great success with shipping and railroads and built an empire. A reasonable enough goalexcept Alva was something of a true brute. NEW YORK Sir Winston Churchill's mother was one of the liveliest and most controversial women of her time. She died on December 6, 1964 in Southampton, Long Island, New York, USA. Belmont. This work is offered in the 19th-Century European Art sale on 26 October at Christie's in New York Alva Vanderbilt got her wish, and Consuelo and the Duke became engaged in September of 1895. To make the break with her first marriage absolute, in 1927 Consuelo goes before an English tribunal of Catholic priests to ask for an annulment. And really, this was just a tiny sign of the deranged acts to come. And the worst was yet to come. Vanderbilt was born to Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt (1880-1925), a railroad heir, and his second wife, Gloria Laura Mercedes Morgan (1904-1965), who was 19 years old when she gave birth. Her mother leaked the news to the press right away. [14] The duke, for his part, gave up the woman he reportedly loved back in England and collected US$2.5million ($81.4million in 2021 dollars) in railroad stock as a marriage settlement. [16] They had two sons, John Albert William Spencer-Churchill, Marquess of Blandford (who became 10th Duke of Marlborough), and Lord Ivor Spencer-Churchill. She died in Southampton and buried in St Martin's Church . The only daughter of railroad millionaire William Vanderbilt and his formidable wife Alva, Consuelo was pre-destined to marry into the British aristocracy like her godmother Consuleo Yznaga who had married the heir to the 7 th Duke of Manchester. The beautiful heiress to the massive Vanderbilt wealth, her future had shone like a diamond from the moment she was born. Alva invites Marlborough to visit Marble House, expecting him to propose to Consuelo. Old film of Consuelo Vanderbilt visiting a working class housing area in Southwark, London, England in 1917. [22] The Marlboroughs separated in 1906, divorced in 1921, and the marriage was annulled, at the duke's request and with Consuelo's assent, on 19 August 1926.[23]. It was only much later that she found out the chilling truth. But before she could do anything about it, her mother went to horrific new lows. American socialite heiress, Duchess of Marlborough. Indeed, Consuelo was set to leave the very next day. From the day of Consuelos birth, Alva harbors the highest social goals for her only daughter, but as long as Consuelo remains a young girl, she is allowed some freedom to enjoy her very privileged surroundings. The couple: Consuelo Vanderbilt and Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough When: 1895 Where: New Yorkthe ceremony at St. Thomas Church, and the reception at Mrs. Vanderbilt's home . 0 0 1 0 0 0 0. Consuelo's stunning beauty. In truth, Alva had known about his mistress Nellie Neustretter for years. Consuelo Vanderbilt, born in New York in 1877, was the first child of William Kissam Vanderbilt (grandson of the Commodore, Cornelius Vanderbilt) and his first wife, Alva Erskine Smith. By this point, Consuelo had given up on ever fully escaping her marriage, so she had to fall back on merely hurting her husband any way she knew how. July 27, 2021. Our editors are instructed to fact check thoroughly, including finding at least three references for each fact. Its tracks stretched Vanderbilt's empire across the United States and gave him a monopoly for all rail service in and out of New York city. For Consuelo, one of the worst parts of being a wife was sharing her marriage bed with a man whom she didnt love, and who felt utterly indifferentif not outright scornfultoward her. They simply didnt believe Alva would have given up her hard-won position for Oliver Belmont or anyone else. Thats because before she had an heir with the Duke of Marlborough, none other than his cousin Winston Churchill was next in line to inherit Blenheim. Consuelo Vanderbilt was one of the most famous heiresses in U.S. history. Feb 11, 2018 - Explore Kathy B Gainey's board "Consuelo Vanderbilt" on Pinterest. May 8, 2019 - Explore Marie's board "Consuelo Vanderbilt", followed by 236 people on Pinterest. Consuelos rival Gladys Deacon was incredibly captivating, but she was also incredibly narcissistic. It is only a matter of time before Consuelo and the Duke have a marriage in name only. "[29], Consuelo Balsan died at Southampton, Long Island, New York, on December 6, 1964. And that was just what was going on in public. In 1898, Consuelo gave birth to another son, Lord Ivor Spencer-Churchill, fully completing her duty by providing her husband withas she often wryly quippedan heir and a spare. It is often said that the Dukes nickname, Sunny, was not given because it reflected his personality, but was simply taken from his first courtesy title, the Earl of Sunderland. She lends her support to causes relating to child welfare and womens higher education, and comes out strongly for womens suffrage. Consuelo Vanderbilt was born on March 2, 1877 in New York City, New York, USA. She was buried alongside her younger son, Lord Ivor Spencer-Churchill, in the churchyard at St Martin's Church, Bladon, Oxfordshire, England, near her former home, Blenheim Palace. Living out the next decade in Long Island, New York, she followed her husband and son into the grave on December 6, 1964, passing at the age of 87. Her first marriage to the 9th Duke of Marlborough has become a well-known example of one of the advantageous, but loveless, marriages common during the Gilded Age; as such, she was known as one of the earliest dollar princesses. At the time of his death in 1877, his fortune was valued at $100 million (equal to nearly $2.5 billion today, via the Official Data Foundation ), which was more money than was held in the U.S. Treasury at the time, according to Forbes. 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