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- However, the term “dollar princess” had nothing to do with a mere dollar, instead, it refers to arranged marriages with titled nobility. Consuelo has the unfortunate distinction of being one of the first dollar princesses of the Gilded Age.
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Jan 16, 2017 · Consuelo Vanderbilt, Duchess of Marlborough, was one of the American ‘Dollar Princess’ of the 19th century, whose family money was brought into the UK through her dowry. She married into the prestigious Marlborough family, who would produce Winston Churchill and Diana, Princess of Wales.
- The Practice of Selling Girls for Titles Came to be Viewed as Slavery. Frances Work, who married into nobility against her father’s wishes, became the great-grandmother of Princess Diana.
- They Helped Noblemen Rebuild Crumbling Palaces. British noblemen who were finding themselves short of funds for their lavish lifestyles needed more than money to continue traveling on private yachts.
- One Dollar Princess Became the Second Woman in Parliament. Ever since John Jacob Astor made his fortune in fur-trapping and trading in the eighteenth century and went on to buy up much of the property in Manhattan, the Astor family has been synonymous with the most elite circles of American society.
- The Dollar Princesses Revamped Britain’s Aristocracy and Economy. The rise of American agriculture and industry proved to be a bust for Britain, which had previously been an industrial powerhouse for the world.
As one of the wealthiest and most well-known "dollar princesses" of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the financial settlement at the center of the union of Consuelo Vanderbilt and the 9th Duke of Marlborough continues to attract commentary and reference more than a century after the wedding took place.
- Overview
- HISTORY Vault: America the Story of Us
During the Gilded Age, marrying British aristocrats was seen as a way for American heiresses to raise their social status.
When Jennie Jerome and Lord Randolph Churchill announced their engagement in 1874, his parents were horrified. The couple had only known one another for three days, and Jerome—the tattooed daughter of a philandering financier and a social climber—was an American socialite, not a British noblewoman. Appalled, the Churchills tried to block the match…until they did the math.
Jerome’s family might have humble origins, but they were outrageously wealthy. Lord Randolph’s parents were not, and Jerome’s father was willing to pay a dowry that equaled the equivalent of over $4.3 million dollars today. The marriage went forward with the grudging approval of Lord Randolph’s parents.
They could have no way of knowing that Jerome, who became Lady Randolph Churchill when she married in 1874, would be the mother of a future prime minister, Winston—or that by allowing their aristocratic son to barter his title for much-needed wealth, they had helped spark a trend.
Between the late 19th century and World War II, a flood of “dollar princesses” flocked to England looking for love. In return for a coveted title, they offered their much-needed wealth to an aristocracy desperate for cash. And along the way, they helped change British royalty forever—including the lives of the modern-day heirs to Britain’s throne.
Jerome was just one of hundreds of heiresses thought to have injected the equivalent of a billion pounds into the British economy. The exchange was worth it in their eyes; they knew that marriages to people with titles like Lord, Viscount and Duke would improve their family’s fortunes back in the United States and solidify their position on the American social circuit.
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Jan 31, 2024 · Consuelo Vanderbilt being called a “dollar princess” seems like a contradiction. The name Vanderbilt evokes visions of over-the-top Gilded Age marble mansions and vast wealth.
Sep 17, 2023 · While most dollar princesses adjusted to being duchesses and vicereines, many began to argue against the practice. Consuelo Vanderbilt, for example, was in love with another man when she wed the Duke of Marlborough.
Dec 18, 2023 · What did the lives of dollar princesses look like once they were married? The unions between American heiresses and British aristocrats resulted in material riches, but rarely promised happiness. The marriage of Consuelo Vanderbilt exemplifies this.
