With her went some of the last living memories of the Gilded Age of America. At the time, Winston, as she later described him, was the life and soul of the young and brilliant circle that gathered round him at BlenheimWhether it was his American blood or his boyish enthusiasm and spontaneity, qualities sadly lacking in my husband, I delighted in his companionship.. He has scandalized his family by abandoning his first wife on their honeymoon to travel with a French dancer. Consuelo and her friends were the inspiration for Edith Wharton's unfinished novel The Buccaneers. Difficult. Family (1) Trivia (6) Great-granddaughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt. It wasnt long before Gladys had completely supplanted Consuelo at Blenheim, and she and the duke struck up a torrid affair that lasted over a decade. This work is offered in the 19th-Century European Art sale on 26 October at Christies in New York. Embed from Getty Images Consuelo viewed her upcoming nuptials like a funeral marchbut the preparations themselves were just as nightmarish. Consuelos honeymoon had barely started before the Duke of Marlborough made a stunning confession to her. Her mother, however, had her sights fixed firmly on the Duke. It must have been heartbreaking. The Dukes motivation was primarily financial. One publication even printed a cartoon with the heading The Dukes Return from the Land of Dollars, with Marlborough sailing Consuelo back to Britain atop a heap of money. "[9] She came to embody the "slim, tight look" that was in vogue during the Edwardian era. According to canon law, being married against ones will is the only valid claim for annulment and it falls on Alva to offer testimony in her daughters support. When Consuelo Vanderbilt's grandfather died, he was the richest man in America. Aliases: Consuelo, Duchess of Marlborough; Winston Churchill's BFF. 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. While Balsan was being lionized as a hero, Consuelo was enduring a loveless marriage and lonely exile as the wife of a foppish English peer of the realm. Consuelo Vanderbilt Print Family Tree Born 2 March 1877 - New York, NY Deceased 6 December 1964 - Southampton, Suffolk Co., NY,aged 87 years old Buried - St. Martin's Churchyard, Bladon, Oxfordshire, England 1 file available Parents William Kissam Vanderbilt 1849-1920 Alva Erskine Smith 1853-1933 Spouses, children and grandchildren Slowed down footage to a natural rate and added. As plans for the massive, extravagant, and expensive wedding coalesced, Consuelo and her mother held a rehearsal to make sure everyone in the wedding party knew exactly what to do on the big day. Little did England know, Consuelo had more scandals up her sleeve. Consuelo Vanderbilt was born on March 2, 1877 in New York City, New York, USA. It is a busy and happy time, though its carefree nature ends with the advent of the Great War. The story explored an arranged marriage, Costin said, and looked at the societal pressures and family positioning that had plagued Vanderbilt women of the past, dating back to Consuelo Vanderbilt's marriage to the Duke of Marlborough at the end of the nineteenth century. Mere weeks after her divorce came through, Consuelo had a huge deja-vu. Consuelo had, in fact, been secretly engaged to someone else before accepting the Dukes proposal she was persuaded to break the engagement by her mother, who claimed it had caused her to suffer a near-fatal heart attack. Consuelos mother, Alva, had married William Kissam Vanderbilt, the richest of the very rich Vanderbilts, in 1875. Join thousands of others and start your morning with our Fact Of The Day newsletter. John Singer Sargents portrait of the 9th Duke and Duchess of Marlborough and their two sons, painted in 1905. The Duke of Marlborough, Savior of Blenheim Palace, Has Died at Age 88 By James Reginato October 18, 2014 Standing six feet and five inches tall, John George Vanderbilt Henry. She married Charles Richard John Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough (1871-1934) 6 November 1896 in St . . Many recognize the wedding for what it is: an especially prominent example of dollars for dukes, a craze among rich Americans for forging marital ties with titled but impecunious peers of the realm. She went on to marry the wealthy French aviator Jacques Balsan and continued her charitable endeavours. Michel c. 1900 Object number NPG.86.169 Restrictions & Rights CC0 Type Print Medium Drypoint on paper Dimensions Image: 50.3 x 33.6cm (19 13/16 x 13 1/4") Sheet: 63.1 x 41.4cm (24 13/16 x 16 5/16 . Those in the throng had come to witness the arrival of the bride and groom in the ultimate celebrity wedding: Consuelo Vanderbilt young, beautiful, and one of the two wealthiest young women in the United States at the time, reputedly worth around $4 billion in todays money and Charles Richard John Spencer-Churchill, the 9th Duke of Marlborough and the most eligible peer in Great Britain. So they carried on a courtship right under Alvas nose, with Rutherfurd even sending Consuelo a single red rose on her 18th birthday. My mom never told me how her best friend died. She was the only daughter of railroad millionaire William Kissam Vanderbilt and his wife, southern belle and suffragist Alva Erskine Smith. It had been a decade of utter misery for them both, but it still wasnt the done thing in the aristocracy. The duke decided he didnt need to attend the rehearsal, especially since he thought the American custom was vulgar. There is an 1 1/2 diagonal tear to the paper in the upper left edge. Historys most fascinating stories and darkest secrets, delivered to your inbox daily. Of the three family mansions, Cosuelos favorite is the one called Idle Hour in Oakdale on Long Island, designed by William Morris Hunt. Consuelo was young, but she wasnt dumb: She knew what her mother was up to, and she knew it spelled certain doom. Her Spanish name was in honor of her godmother, Consuelo Yznaga (18531909), a half-Cuban, half-American socialite who created a social stir a year earlier when she married the fortune-hunting George, Viscount Mandeville, a union of Old World aristocracy and New World money that caused the groom's father, the 7th Duke of Manchester, to openly wonder if his son and heir had married a "Red Indian". Consuelo Vanderbilt had no interest in the duke, being secretly engaged to an American, Winthrop Rutherfurd. One of the naughty Spencer-Churchill cousins was Charles, Viscount Castlereagh, and he was more of a piece of work than the Duke of Marlborough himself. The crowds outside the church were testament to the success of her strategy, although when Consuelo and her father arrived late for the ceremony, it was obvious that the bride had been crying. Consuelos family was already hiding shadowy secrets. A separation was one thing, but Consuelo and the duke wanted to go whole hog and file for divorce. Cornelius Vanderbilt, byname Commodore Vanderbilt, (born May 27, 1794, Port Richmond, Staten Island, New York, U.S.died January 4, 1877, New York, New York), American shipping and railroad magnate who acquired a personal fortune of more than $100 million. In Balsan the flame has reignited and Consuelo is smitten. In 1894, Alva and William Vanderbilt separate, with unpleasant consequences for Consuelo. There's something about the family structure that encourages secrets. Belmont. Although Catherine's successor Queen Anne Boleyn suffered an infamously dark fate, Aragon's own life was somehow even more tragic. Before marrying the duke, Consuelo knew she didnt and probably couldnt love him. 3 /5. And then there were Consuelos unpleasant duties. 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. It would be nearly another 26 years before the two would finally marry in 1921 and Consuelo would find happiness with Jacques in France, and later in Southampton. American socialite heiress, Duchess of Marlborough. Her youngest son, Lord Ivor Spencer-Churchill, developed a brain tumor, and his health quickly went downhill. The days of her notoriety are behind her but she has apparently not lost her aristocratic tastes. When the day arrives, 300 policemen line the street in front of St. Thomas Church where thousands of spectators have gathered. She died in Southampton and buried in St Martin's Church . The very next day, Consuelo rushed to the arms of her lover, hopeful that her whole future was before her. But Gladys had a reputation as something of a wild child, and things escalated fast. A reviewer in the same paper called it "an ideal epitaph of the age of elegance. When Consuelo Vanderbilt did her duty and produced the required "heir and a spare" for the 9th Duke of Marlborough, she rocked her boys in a regal cradle, which is still on view at Blenheim Palace. His portrait is particularly important among the many that exist of Consuelo, because it is the most personal of them all. When he wrote frantic letters, she intercepted and destroyed them. Consuelo and the Duke had a second son in 1898 and she is said to have coined the phrase an heir and a spare. except that we dont have the nasal bridge so tall. He has his clubs, his sports and his obsessive focus on the restoration of Blenheim to occupy him. [25], After the annulment of her marriage to the Duke of Marlborough, she still maintained ties with favorite Churchill relatives, particularly Winston Churchill. By the time John Singer Sargent painted his famous portrait of their family in 1905 (below), the cracks had already long begun to show. Factinate is a fact website that is dedicated to finding and sharing fun facts about science, history, animals, films, people, and much more. It is managed by the Fondation mdicale Franco-amricaine du Mont-Valrien, commonly called Foundation Foch. The only suitor she even allowed Consuelo to consider was Prince Francis Joseph of Battenberg, a man Consuelo deeply disliked. Consuelo Vanderbilt & the Duke of Marlborough It perhaps all started with Consuelo Vanderbilt, who married the Duke of Marlborough in 1895. The dream home of 26,000 square feet is called Casa Alva, in honour of her mother. Consuelo Vanderbilt Costin is a seventh generation descendent of shipping and railroad tycoon, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and great-great-great niece of Consuelo Vanderbilt, the Duchess of Marlborough. (Socialite) Consuelo Vanderbilt was an American socialite from the Vanderbilt family who became the Duchess of Marlborough following her marriage to Charles Richard John Spencer-Churchill, the 9th Duke of Marlborough. , though its carefree nature ends with the advent of the Gilded Age of America how tall was consuelo vanderbilt. Even allowed Consuelo to consider was Prince Francis Joseph of Battenberg, a man Consuelo disliked. Infamously dark fate, Aragon 's own life was somehow even more tragic busy and happy time, how tall was consuelo vanderbilt carefree... 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