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. [19] However, given the ill-fitting match between the duke and his wife, it was only a matter of time before their marriage was in name only. Thats because she was far from faithful herselfand one of her first lovers was scandalous. The marriage of the young, beautiful and fabulously wealthy American heiress Consuelo Vanderbilt to 'Sunny', 9th Duke of Marlborough, in 1895 was a classic of the era. The son of an impoverished farmer and boatman, Vanderbilt quit school at age 11 to work on the waterfront. Something terrifying was looming. In fact, she kept it with her for the remainder of her life, and it has remained with the family since her death. Consuelo Vanderbilt March 2, 1877 - December 6, 1964. 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. He did, however, make sure to show up to the settlement meeting the very next day, where he finalized Consuelos 3-million-dollar dowry. From the beginning, Alva expected her daughter to be nothing short of perfect, and from a young age forced Consuelo to wear a steel rod along the length of her spine to improve her posture. 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. Thanks for your help! Instead, some said that the real problem was Alvas own infidelity; she had started up an affair with her husbands best friend, Oliver Belmont, and was now openly courting him. Unfortunately for the poor girl, Consuelo was utterly beautiful as a young woman. Catherine of Aragon is now infamous as King Henry VIIIs rejected queenbut few people know her even darker history. It was all Winthrop needed. When Consuelo woke up the next morning, it was to gut-wrenching news. (9 votes) Very easy. 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. If Consuelo said one word out of line, the matriarch was liable to whip the girl with a riding crop. Instead, Alva invited the Duke of Marlborough back to America to visit just a couple of months later. The entire time that they were in Europe, Alva had one man on her mind: Charles Richard John Spencer-Churchill, the ninth Duke of Marlborough. 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. Her youngest son, Lord Ivor Spencer-Churchill, developed a brain tumor, and his health quickly went downhill. Except there was just one incredibly shocking thing. Charles Richard John Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough, KG, TD, PC (13 November 1871 - 30 June 1934), styled Earl of Sunderland until 1883 and Marquess of Blandford between 1883 and 1892, was a British soldier and Conservative politician, and a close friend of his first cousin Winston Churchill.He was often known as "Sunny" Marlborough after his courtesy title of Earl of Sunderland. Get the best stories from Christies.com in a weekly email, *We will never sell or rent your information. While Consuelo had been no saint throughout the course of her marriage, the Duke of Marlborough certainly hadnt treated her properly, either. Consuelo Vanderbilt Height, Weight & Measurements At 87 years old, Consuelo Vanderbilt height not available right now. As such, the birth of Consuelos first son helped free Winston to go into politicssomething he was apparently very grateful for, and the pair became fast friends. Perfect for readers of Jennifer Robson and lovers of Downton Abbey. Although that . I tried to get my ex-wife served with divorce papers. For one, William had long kept a mistress, Nellie Neustretter, and Alva was fed up. 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. Dancy Mason is the Editor-in-Chief at Factinate. Her great-great-great-grandfather was business magnate and family dynasty founder Cornelius Vanderbilt. The party is said to have cost her indulgent husband $3 million. Old film of Consuelo Vanderbilt visiting a working class housing area in Southwark, London, England in 1917. Nor had he written, or called, or done anything to hold onto the promise they had made each other that day. It was ghostwritten by Stuart Preston, an American writer who was an art critic for The New York Times. It was only when Alva Vanderbilt claimed that her health was being seriously and irretrievably undermined by Consuelo's stubbornness and appeared to be at death's door that the malleable girl acquiesced. A cartoon in the New York papers satirising the wedding showed Consuelo kneeling next to the Duke in her wedding gown with her hands handcuffed behind her back and attached to a chain being held by her mother. The sweet, stunning Consuelo was barely in her teen years when she began getting offers of marriage from almost every man who met her. Reginald Ailwyn Fellowes (18841953), banker cousin of, Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough, John Spencer-Churchill, 10th Duke of Marlborough, "How American Dollar Princesses Changed British Nobility", Marguerite Sverine Philippine Decazes de Glcksbierg, "Manalapan Estates, Florida: The Churchill Connection - The Churchill Centre", "Casa Alva: From home to club to home again", A Message to the Diocese on the Action of the Vatican Court upon the Marlborough Marriage, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Consuelo_Vanderbilt&oldid=1134148379, This page was last edited on 17 January 2023, at 06:21. Consuelo Vanderbilt-Balsan (formerly Consuelo Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough; born Consuelo Vanderbilt; March 2, 1877 - December 6, 1964) was a socialite and a member of the prominent American Vanderbilt family.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 . "[6], Like her godmother, Consuelo Vanderbilt attracted numerous title-bearing suitors anxious to trade social position for cash. When we do, we depend on our loyal, helpful readers to point out how we can do better. But the Duke of Marlborough was really a snake in the grass. Earl, a breeder. It was a total nightmare. 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. 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 . This leads to the uncomfortable truth: The true urgency for the divorce was a betrayal of the first order. Madame de Pompadour didn't just share King Louis XV's bed, she also shared his power. Consuelo viewed her upcoming nuptials like a funeral marchbut the preparations themselves were just as nightmarish. 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. The day that Winthrop Rutherfurd made Consuelo Vanderbilt his fiance, the young girl was on the edge of heading out on a long European sojourn with her mother, ostensibly to broaden her horizons but really to catch her a husband with a title. Helleu was cultured, sophisticated and witty, and was a friend to Consuelo during a lonely time in her life. In 1886 William Vanderbilt inherited $65 million on the death of his father. 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. Paul Csar Helleu (French, 1859-1927), Consuelo Vanderbilt, Duchess of Marlborough, circa 1900. This work is offered in the 19th-Century European Art sale on 26 October at Christies in New York. The family lived in an elaborate, castle-like home on . It is a scandal but the indomitable Alva survives socially while Consuelo makes the difficult adjustment to life at Blenheim, far from home in a house full of haughtyservants with a husband she does not love and who does not love her. She lends her support to causes relating to child welfare and womens higher education, and comes out strongly for womens suffrage. As the most commanding mistress in the French court, she bettered the lives of many and became a beloved figure. 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 . Consuelo Vanderbilt had no interest in the duke, being secretly engaged to an American, Winthrop Rutherfurd. She went on to marry the wealthy French aviator Jacques Balsan and continued her charitable endeavours. She was previously married to Jacques Balsan and Charles Spencer-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. Consuelo spent her remaining years living like a ghost of a bygone agewhich, in all honesty, she was. The original 100-room Queen Anne-style wooden structure, completed in 1882, will burn to the ground in 1899 to be replaced by a more formal brick mansion. And really, this was just a tiny sign of the deranged acts to come. Family (1) Trivia (6) Great-granddaughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt. Rate the pronunciation difficulty of consuelo. She also cast aspersions on Winthrops intentions, claiming he just wanted Consuelo for her money. Blenheimis the one thing the Duke appearsto really care about and he is determined to restore it to its original glory. During this Rapunzel period, Alva did let Consuelo out to attend the best society balls, naturally. Almost as soon as she heard about her daughters broken engagement, Alva miraculously recovered from her deathbed, though not enough to treat Consuelo with any warmth in the coming weeks. In 1810 he purchased his first . 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. 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. And then one day, they took it as far as they could. In a flurry, he told Consuelo he still loved her and wanted to elope. But for all her mid-life happiness, the next decades brought final tragedies to Consuelos story. Morgan Englund . [24] Jacques Balsan died in 1956 at the age of 88. Gladys and Consuelo may have been friends, but that didnt stop the socialite from stabbing Consuelo right in the back. Blenheim Palace, his monumental 300-year-old residence in Oxfordshire, is in terrible shape, ready to devour Consuelos dowry in restoration expenses. Discover (and save!) It is a busy and happy time, though its carefree nature ends with the advent of the Great War. Having once admired a Louis XVI room and its boiserie in a French chateau, she has the entire room transported to Gardenside, where it remains until her death in 1964 at the age of 88. their appropriation quickly dissipated when it turned out that by the time william k. vanderbilt inherited the family fortune (his share enlarged considerably thanks to alva's clever manipulation of her father-in-law), willie ended up with 50 per cent of his father's residuary estate ($65 million) instead of the meagre $10 million earmarked for Consuelo Vanderbilt was a willowy beauty of 17 when the 26-year-old Frenchman and future aviation pioneer, Jacques Balsan, first saw her and fell in love. At Factinate, were dedicated to getting things right. LADY SARAH SPENCER-CHURCHILL, who has died suddenly in Connecticut, aged 78, was a powerful personality, 6 ft tall, rich and well-known in international society for several decades. Now that Consuelo has been molded into the perfect wife for a noble husband, Alva takes her to Europe and introduces her to many titled young men. A decade older than Consuelo, Balsam had been nearing his 30s at the time he first ogled the teenager. See more ideas about vanderbilt, charles spencer, marlborough. The beautiful heiress to the massive Vanderbilt wealth, her future had shone like a diamond from the moment she was born. With her went some of the last living memories of the Gilded Age of America. On March 26, 1883, Alva hosts a masked ball for 1,000 guests to officially open her Fifth Avenue castle and confirm her triumph in entering the highest ranks of New York society. To Consuelo, Marble House seems like a prison, with its high surrounding wall and heavy drapes to keep out the sun and the sound of the surf. Just months before the duke proposed, Consuelos mother Alva had filed for divorce from her father William Vanderbiltand the reasons were utterly scandalous. It is only a matter of time before Consuelo and the Duke have a marriage in name only. Want to tell us to write facts on a topic? During her perfect wedding, in front of some of the most influential people in the world, it was patently obvious that Consuelo had been crying. Churchill frequently visited Consuelo in her chateau near Paris into the 1930s. While this was more than a little ironic given her childhood owning slaves and her motherhood controlling her daughter, it did seem to provoke twinges of feminist guilt in the matriarch, and she showed it by testifying in Consuelos divorce. 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. In a twist on a historical theme, the duke was fortune-hunting herand her mother Alva couldnt be happier. July 5, 2017 11:41AM. Our editors are instructed to fact check thoroughly, including finding at least three references for each fact. 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