1 00:00:00,680 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of I Heart Radio 2 00:00:04,519 --> 00:00:12,160 Speaker 1: and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankey Listener discretion advised. Hey, 3 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:14,920 Speaker 1: this is Dani Schwartz, host of Noble Blood. If you 4 00:00:14,960 --> 00:00:17,320 Speaker 1: want to support the show, you can sign up on 5 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:20,880 Speaker 1: our Patreon, Patreon dot com slash Noble Blood Tails. There's 6 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:24,439 Speaker 1: a link in the episode description where you get episode scripts, 7 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:30,360 Speaker 1: monthly bonus episodes, and exclusive merch like a seasonal sticker 8 00:00:30,520 --> 00:00:33,840 Speaker 1: that is designed by incredible artists. There's so much fun. 9 00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:36,720 Speaker 1: I have them now all over my kitchen. If you're 10 00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:38,960 Speaker 1: listening to this episode, the day comes out. My book 11 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:43,519 Speaker 1: comes out next week, and preorders are so important in 12 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:46,080 Speaker 1: the book world. I'm sure you're tired of people telling 13 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:48,360 Speaker 1: you about that, but it's true. So if you like 14 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:53,120 Speaker 1: slightly maccabre historical stories, I think you'll really like my book. 15 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:57,040 Speaker 1: It's a sequel to my first novel, Anatomy A Love Story. 16 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:00,360 Speaker 1: This one is called Immortality a Love Story, and it's 17 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:03,960 Speaker 1: a sort of fictional alternate universe where a young female 18 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:08,160 Speaker 1: surgeon becomes the personal physician to Princess Charlotte of Wales, 19 00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:11,319 Speaker 1: the granddaughter of King George the Third. So if you're 20 00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:13,759 Speaker 1: interested in this podcast. I really think you'll like it. 21 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:23,840 Speaker 1: Please preorder it and thank you for listening. Alice Thought 22 00:01:24,280 --> 00:01:28,119 Speaker 1: was the wealthy daughter of an even wealthier man, a 23 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:32,240 Speaker 1: Pittsburgh railroad magnet, who was convinced that his money should 24 00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:35,160 Speaker 1: be able to buy his family entry into the upper 25 00:01:35,240 --> 00:01:39,920 Speaker 1: echelons of society. This was three and as had been 26 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:42,880 Speaker 1: the practice for hundreds of years, the best way to 27 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:47,280 Speaker 1: elevate and cement your family social status was by marrying 28 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:50,920 Speaker 1: off your daughter. In this case, Alice Thought was going 29 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:54,280 Speaker 1: to be married to the Earl of Yarmouth, an English 30 00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:58,120 Speaker 1: visitor who would sweep young Alice back across the Atlantic 31 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:01,960 Speaker 1: and into a life of title and balls. It should 32 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:05,040 Speaker 1: have been the happiest day of her life. The setup 33 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:09,200 Speaker 1: sounds like a fairy tale, a rich, beautiful girl marrying 34 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:13,760 Speaker 1: an earl. But Alice waited at the church in Pittsburgh, 35 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:17,880 Speaker 1: no doubt listening behind a door or screen. As all 36 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:22,400 Speaker 1: of the esteemed society guests filed into the pews to 37 00:02:22,520 --> 00:02:29,440 Speaker 1: take their seats, and Alice waited and waited. There were 38 00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:35,240 Speaker 1: frantic whispers and grimaces barely disguised as smiles. The wedding 39 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:39,320 Speaker 1: was delayed, Was it a case of cold feet. Not 40 00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:43,639 Speaker 1: quite that morning, the groom had gone to the courthouse 41 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:46,440 Speaker 1: to get his marriage license, and on his way back 42 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:49,440 Speaker 1: to the Hotel schlen Ley where he was staying, he 43 00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:53,720 Speaker 1: was served a writ by a constable and local alderman's agent. 44 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:56,720 Speaker 1: You see, the groom was an earl, but he was 45 00:02:56,800 --> 00:03:00,720 Speaker 1: also a habitual gambler who had a talent for avoiding 46 00:03:00,919 --> 00:03:04,960 Speaker 1: paying his debts. His marriage to Miss Alice Thaw was 47 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:09,799 Speaker 1: in large part thanks to her generous dowry and inheritance, 48 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:14,200 Speaker 1: and her wealth was tremendous. Between the inheritance she received 49 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:16,680 Speaker 1: from her by then dead father and the money that 50 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:20,400 Speaker 1: she would inherit from her independently rich mother, Alice was 51 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:23,720 Speaker 1: a multimillionaire many times over, and this was more than 52 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:27,440 Speaker 1: a hundred years ago. Money the Thaw family had, but 53 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:32,760 Speaker 1: they wanted prestige, which George Seymour, Earl of Yarmouth, could provide. 54 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:36,640 Speaker 1: Upon marrying him, Alice thought would become a countess and 55 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:39,600 Speaker 1: her family would get the bragging rights of having an 56 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:43,320 Speaker 1: English noble in the family. The Earl was an amateur 57 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:46,360 Speaker 1: actor and the young couple had only known each other 58 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:50,240 Speaker 1: for three months before the wedding. Still, it seemed like 59 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:54,840 Speaker 1: a perfectly reasonable arrangement, at least until the day of 60 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:58,280 Speaker 1: the wedding, when Alice was pacing at the church and 61 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:01,640 Speaker 1: her younger brother had to race down to the courthouse 62 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:05,640 Speaker 1: for a last minute renegotiation of the dowry so that 63 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:09,920 Speaker 1: the groom would be released from custody. Once the earl's 64 00:04:09,960 --> 00:04:13,800 Speaker 1: debtors were satisfied, the groom headed to the church, where 65 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:16,880 Speaker 1: he took his place at the altar with his betrothed 66 00:04:17,080 --> 00:04:20,800 Speaker 1: a few hours late, but with the guests none the wiser. 67 00:04:20,839 --> 00:04:23,880 Speaker 1: At least none the wiser until The New York Times 68 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:27,520 Speaker 1: wrote an article about the whole snaffhoo a few weeks later. 69 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:32,680 Speaker 1: Alice's arrangement was fairly common. There was a name for 70 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:37,320 Speaker 1: girls like her, dollar princesses. They were the results of 71 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:42,080 Speaker 1: an old social system crashing violently against a new way 72 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:46,320 Speaker 1: of making an extreme amount of money. The marriage between 73 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:49,640 Speaker 1: Alice Thaw and the Earl of Yarmouth was, and try 74 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:52,360 Speaker 1: your best not to be too shocked by this, a 75 00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:56,920 Speaker 1: wildly unhappy one. Alice was miserable almost as soon as 76 00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:00,400 Speaker 1: the two boarded the St. Paul to begin sailing for England, 77 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:04,440 Speaker 1: and five years later, she sued for divorce. The annulment 78 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:08,480 Speaker 1: was granted on the ground of non consummation. Alice moved 79 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:12,880 Speaker 1: back to Massachusetts, taking her wealth with her. It had 80 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:17,240 Speaker 1: seemed like a perfect arrangement, a way of taking and 81 00:05:17,400 --> 00:05:21,080 Speaker 1: giving in ways meant to game the system during a 82 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:25,080 Speaker 1: sort of social and cultural no man's land when the 83 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:29,560 Speaker 1: Industrial Revolution had turned everything on its head. But the 84 00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:34,560 Speaker 1: system itself was designed on its exclusivity, meant to keep 85 00:05:34,760 --> 00:05:38,839 Speaker 1: certain people out, and some people, even when they married 86 00:05:39,040 --> 00:05:44,960 Speaker 1: dukes or earls or princes, preferred to break the system entirely. 87 00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:56,400 Speaker 1: I'm Dana Schwartz, and this is noble blood. The late 88 00:05:56,600 --> 00:06:00,919 Speaker 1: eighteen hundreds and early nineteen hundreds, a periods sometimes referred 89 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:04,160 Speaker 1: to as the Guilded Age, was a fascinating period in 90 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:09,240 Speaker 1: the social history of the American elite. Comparing ourselves to Europe, 91 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:12,839 Speaker 1: Americans sometimes like to boast about the fact that we 92 00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:17,880 Speaker 1: have no aristocracy. Well that's not exactly true. Well we 93 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:23,480 Speaker 1: don't have well titled landed gentry. There was very clearly 94 00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:28,440 Speaker 1: a defined upper class in the Gilded Age, so clearly defined, 95 00:06:28,480 --> 00:06:31,919 Speaker 1: in fact, that there was a group called the four 96 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:35,640 Speaker 1: Hundred who were considered part of the elite social circle, 97 00:06:35,839 --> 00:06:41,120 Speaker 1: as determined by Caroline Astor anecdotally, four hundred was the 98 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:45,240 Speaker 1: amount of people who could fit inside Mrs Astor's ballroom, 99 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:48,880 Speaker 1: though there have been questions even at the time whether 100 00:06:49,240 --> 00:06:52,880 Speaker 1: explicitly a list existed, and if it did, who was 101 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:56,239 Speaker 1: on it. What's very clear is that there was an 102 00:06:56,320 --> 00:07:01,280 Speaker 1: in crowd, and getting in wasn't always something that money 103 00:07:01,480 --> 00:07:06,359 Speaker 1: could buy. Though our social strata have become maybe slightly 104 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:10,240 Speaker 1: less rigid, I want to be clear, the hidden American 105 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:14,800 Speaker 1: aristocracy still very much exists, probably in a pile marked 106 00:07:14,920 --> 00:07:19,560 Speaker 1: legacy in the Yale Admissions office. But something strange was 107 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:23,680 Speaker 1: happening at the turn of the century. Certain common people 108 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:29,280 Speaker 1: were making money, a lot of money from steel and railroads, 109 00:07:29,600 --> 00:07:32,920 Speaker 1: money that would have been unthinkable a century or even 110 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:37,800 Speaker 1: half a century prior. The Industrial Revolution had changed things, 111 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:40,920 Speaker 1: and now there were people whose parents had been nobody's 112 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:44,280 Speaker 1: who were now able to buy homes facing Central Park. 113 00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:47,920 Speaker 1: They could afford the right clothes and the right wall 114 00:07:47,960 --> 00:07:51,080 Speaker 1: paper and the right chefs, and they wanted to go 115 00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:55,200 Speaker 1: to the right parties. But the social system of the 116 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:58,520 Speaker 1: Gilded Age still scoffed at new money, and when the 117 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:02,440 Speaker 1: likes of Mrs ass refused to allow them entry into 118 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:06,840 Speaker 1: her private kingdom. The so called new money decided that 119 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:10,800 Speaker 1: the best way to get ahead was to go overseas. 120 00:08:12,480 --> 00:08:16,800 Speaker 1: Originally a move borne out of creative desperation among the 121 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:20,640 Speaker 1: new vaux reach, marrying into a title soon became the 122 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:24,480 Speaker 1: most fashionable thing that a young American woman could do. 123 00:08:24,760 --> 00:08:27,680 Speaker 1: It's still pretty glamorous today if you think about it. 124 00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:30,800 Speaker 1: I mean, we're raised on Disney movies that promise that 125 00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:34,480 Speaker 1: the most beautiful and virtuous among us are destined to 126 00:08:34,520 --> 00:08:38,400 Speaker 1: be royalty. Even today, a lot of Americans are suckers 127 00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:42,000 Speaker 1: for a British accent titled or not. But this was 128 00:08:42,040 --> 00:08:46,480 Speaker 1: a mutually beneficial arrangement for the mail order grooms across 129 00:08:46,559 --> 00:08:50,480 Speaker 1: the pond as well. Their titles were centuries old, but 130 00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:54,320 Speaker 1: so often were the estates that came with them, and 131 00:08:54,360 --> 00:08:58,040 Speaker 1: the world had changed in that time, particularly the way 132 00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:02,280 Speaker 1: that people made money. Lar swatches of farming land simply 133 00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:05,640 Speaker 1: weren't going to make a man as rich as say, 134 00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:10,320 Speaker 1: being a railroad magnet machinery was the new superpower. Years 135 00:09:10,400 --> 00:09:16,679 Speaker 1: of gradually diminishing inheritances left dukes and earls with magnificent estates, 136 00:09:16,920 --> 00:09:20,400 Speaker 1: but no cash to heat them or fix their leaking roofs. 137 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:23,960 Speaker 1: They needed an influx of cash, and they could get 138 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:28,520 Speaker 1: it through marriage. I saw one figure estimating that twenty 139 00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:33,600 Speaker 1: five billion dollars made its way into England via American brides. 140 00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:37,439 Speaker 1: If you've seen Downton Abbey, you're familiar with the arrangement. 141 00:09:37,720 --> 00:09:41,520 Speaker 1: Running a massive estate with a massive staff takes money, 142 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:45,040 Speaker 1: and so in Downton Abbey, the fictional Earl of Grantham 143 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:49,440 Speaker 1: married an American heiress named Cora to help keep Downton running. 144 00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:52,560 Speaker 1: It was such a common practice at the time that 145 00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:56,679 Speaker 1: there was a quarterly publication called the Titled American that 146 00:09:56,720 --> 00:10:01,160 Speaker 1: would run ads from bachelor's looking for rich wives. One 147 00:10:01,320 --> 00:10:05,000 Speaker 1: ad read, the Marquess of Winchester is thirty two years 148 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:08,120 Speaker 1: old and a captain of the Coldstream Guards. You know 149 00:10:08,200 --> 00:10:11,360 Speaker 1: what you could do worse. It wasn't always the case 150 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:14,840 Speaker 1: that these men were holding their noses and being forced 151 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:20,400 Speaker 1: to marry gasp tacky Americans for purely mercenary reasons. There 152 00:10:20,559 --> 00:10:23,840 Speaker 1: was some charm to their new brides. As a rule, 153 00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:29,120 Speaker 1: American girls were well educated and fun and typically outspoken, 154 00:10:29,280 --> 00:10:33,800 Speaker 1: which was a novelty compared to their more demure English counterparts. 155 00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:39,680 Speaker 1: Even still, unlike Downton Abbey, these marriages almost invariably ended 156 00:10:39,760 --> 00:10:44,480 Speaker 1: in disaster. So let's take a look at some of 157 00:10:44,520 --> 00:10:48,600 Speaker 1: these marriages. The trend began with a young woman named 158 00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:52,599 Speaker 1: Jenny Jerome, the Brooklyn born daughter of a land speculator, 159 00:10:52,679 --> 00:10:57,440 Speaker 1: who married Lord Randolph Churchill in eighteen seventy four. Neither 160 00:10:57,640 --> 00:11:00,880 Speaker 1: set of parents were thrilled at the man the couple 161 00:11:00,920 --> 00:11:03,600 Speaker 1: had met, if you can believe it, at a sailing 162 00:11:03,640 --> 00:11:08,280 Speaker 1: regatta introduced by Queen Victoria's son, the then Prince of Wales, 163 00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:12,360 Speaker 1: who had been delighted and charmed by Jenny. American girls 164 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:15,679 Speaker 1: like Jenny Jerome were faring better in Europe than they 165 00:11:15,679 --> 00:11:19,000 Speaker 1: were among the New York City elite. Though the Jerome's 166 00:11:19,040 --> 00:11:21,640 Speaker 1: could buy a mansion at the corner of twenty six 167 00:11:21,880 --> 00:11:24,920 Speaker 1: Street and Madison Avenue, they couldn't buy their way out 168 00:11:24,920 --> 00:11:28,600 Speaker 1: of the perception that Jenny's father was a rake. I 169 00:11:28,640 --> 00:11:31,760 Speaker 1: found one source claim that he was quote a noted 170 00:11:31,880 --> 00:11:35,480 Speaker 1: chaser of comely opera singers, and that Jenny's mother had 171 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:42,080 Speaker 1: gasp rumored Iroquois ancestry. But in Europe, Jenny Shone. In 172 00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:45,360 Speaker 1: her diary, she wrote of why she thought English boys 173 00:11:45,400 --> 00:11:49,079 Speaker 1: were so delighted by American girls. Quote, they are better 174 00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:52,800 Speaker 1: read and have generally traveled before they make their appearance 175 00:11:52,880 --> 00:11:55,840 Speaker 1: in the world. Whereas a whole family of English girls 176 00:11:55,880 --> 00:11:59,640 Speaker 1: are educated by a more or less incompetent governess, the 177 00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:02,360 Speaker 1: air Can girl in the same condition of life will 178 00:12:02,400 --> 00:12:06,240 Speaker 1: begin from her earliest age with the best professors. By 179 00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:09,280 Speaker 1: the time she's eighteen, she's able to assert her views 180 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:13,240 Speaker 1: on most things and her independence in all. Three days 181 00:12:13,360 --> 00:12:17,200 Speaker 1: after meeting Lord Randolph, Jenny and he were engaged. His 182 00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:23,120 Speaker 1: parents were upset about the aforementioned blemishes on Jenny's parents reputations. 183 00:12:23,280 --> 00:12:26,400 Speaker 1: Lord Randolph's father wrote in a letter to his son 184 00:12:26,640 --> 00:12:31,240 Speaker 1: that Jenny's father quote drives about six and eight horses 185 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:34,319 Speaker 1: in New York. One may take this as an indication 186 00:12:34,480 --> 00:12:38,440 Speaker 1: of what the man is. To be quite honest, I'm 187 00:12:38,480 --> 00:12:41,559 Speaker 1: not sure if that's too many horses or too few, 188 00:12:41,679 --> 00:12:44,720 Speaker 1: but I'm sure Lord Randolph knew what that meant of 189 00:12:44,760 --> 00:12:48,480 Speaker 1: what kind of man he was. Meanwhile, Jenny's parents were 190 00:12:48,520 --> 00:12:52,920 Speaker 1: myth that Lord Randolph hadn't asked their permission before proposing, 191 00:12:53,080 --> 00:12:55,640 Speaker 1: and they were a little upset that because Lord Randolph 192 00:12:55,800 --> 00:12:59,480 Speaker 1: wasn't his father's eldest son, he wouldn't inherit the title 193 00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:02,800 Speaker 1: of Due of Marlborough. But now either family could argue 194 00:13:02,800 --> 00:13:05,680 Speaker 1: with the fact that it was a smart arrangement, on 195 00:13:05,760 --> 00:13:08,440 Speaker 1: top of the fact that the Prince of Wales had 196 00:13:08,480 --> 00:13:12,120 Speaker 1: ostensibly set them up. Because Randolph was a younger son, 197 00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:14,800 Speaker 1: he wouldn't have any money of his own outside of 198 00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:18,280 Speaker 1: a meager allowance. The Jerome's were getting into bed with 199 00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:22,040 Speaker 1: a powerful British noble family, and for that they paid 200 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:25,480 Speaker 1: fifty thousand pounds in a dowry and a one thousand 201 00:13:25,559 --> 00:13:29,080 Speaker 1: pound yearly allowance for Jenny. It had been a long 202 00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:33,320 Speaker 1: negotiation before the marriage could actually take place, despite the 203 00:13:33,360 --> 00:13:36,880 Speaker 1: speed at which the couple had originally become engaged, which 204 00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:40,400 Speaker 1: had probably something to do with the slight scandal when 205 00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:45,520 Speaker 1: their first child, a son, was born, only um seven 206 00:13:45,679 --> 00:13:50,680 Speaker 1: months after the wedding. By the standards of dollar princess marriages, 207 00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:55,080 Speaker 1: theirs was successful, at least successful enough that after her 208 00:13:55,160 --> 00:13:58,560 Speaker 1: husband died, Jenny would go on to marry two more Englishmen, 209 00:13:58,960 --> 00:14:02,760 Speaker 1: but more often than not, the marriages were disasters from 210 00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:09,040 Speaker 1: the start. Consider the case of another American, a young 211 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:13,560 Speaker 1: woman named Winnoretta Singer, the heiress to the Singer sewing 212 00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:18,520 Speaker 1: machine fortune. In eighteen eighty seven, when Winneretta was twenty two, 213 00:14:18,679 --> 00:14:22,280 Speaker 1: she was married to a French prince named my sincerest 214 00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:26,520 Speaker 1: apologies for this pronunciation, Louis de sa mont Bayard. The 215 00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:30,440 Speaker 1: marriage did not go well. On their wedding night, Winneretta 216 00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:33,880 Speaker 1: climbed on top of an armoir and shouted at the 217 00:14:33,880 --> 00:14:36,920 Speaker 1: groom that if he touched her, she would kill him. 218 00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:41,280 Speaker 1: It wasn't a distaste for frenchmen. Winneretta was a lesbian, 219 00:14:41,600 --> 00:14:44,480 Speaker 1: and five years later their marriage was annulled on the 220 00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:49,880 Speaker 1: grounds of non consummation. Winnoeretta would marry again another French aristocrat, 221 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:53,520 Speaker 1: a man named Prince Edmund de Polignac, whose grandmother, the 222 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:57,960 Speaker 1: Duchess Polignac, had coincidentally been one of Marie Antoinette's favorites. 223 00:14:58,480 --> 00:15:01,920 Speaker 1: This marriage between winner Etta and Prince Edmund was also 224 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:05,800 Speaker 1: never consummated, but it was a much happier arrangement. The 225 00:15:05,880 --> 00:15:09,240 Speaker 1: two were both gay, and so they remained married, happily 226 00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:13,240 Speaker 1: hosting salons and sponsoring causes of arts and culture, while 227 00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:16,520 Speaker 1: each took whichever lovers they wanted on the side. On 228 00:15:16,640 --> 00:15:20,800 Speaker 1: Winneretta's end, those lovers included a number of prominent female 229 00:15:20,840 --> 00:15:25,880 Speaker 1: socialites and artists, including allegedly Virginia Wolf. I want to 230 00:15:25,880 --> 00:15:29,080 Speaker 1: say here, I realized that this episode of the podcast 231 00:15:29,240 --> 00:15:31,560 Speaker 1: is a little bit different than others I've done that 232 00:15:31,640 --> 00:15:35,280 Speaker 1: focus on a single story. This episode is more the 233 00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:39,320 Speaker 1: story of a phenomenon, and so we're jumping between individual 234 00:15:39,400 --> 00:15:44,200 Speaker 1: cases to understand a larger pattern. But this is Noble Blood, 235 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:46,960 Speaker 1: and I want to tell you a story. So let 236 00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:50,080 Speaker 1: zoom back in on the wedding day of one of 237 00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:54,600 Speaker 1: the most iconic dollar princesses in American history, a young 238 00:15:54,640 --> 00:16:01,680 Speaker 1: woman named Consuelo Vanderbilt. By her wedding day in eighteen 239 00:16:02,600 --> 00:16:06,440 Speaker 1: Consuelo was one of the most well known socialites in 240 00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:09,680 Speaker 1: New York. Her father was the oldest son of the 241 00:16:09,720 --> 00:16:14,560 Speaker 1: oldest son of the railroad baron, Cornelius Vanderbilt. For a time, 242 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:19,040 Speaker 1: the Vanderbilts were considered the wealthiest family in America. Still, 243 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:22,920 Speaker 1: they had been snubbed by Old New York, and Consualo's 244 00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:25,920 Speaker 1: mother was determined to give her daughter a match that 245 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:30,160 Speaker 1: would exalt her. What better way of establishing importance on 246 00:16:30,240 --> 00:16:34,720 Speaker 1: an altogether arbitrary system of social standing than by giving 247 00:16:34,920 --> 00:16:41,040 Speaker 1: her daughter a title Duchess. Consualo's groom was Charles Spencer Churchill, 248 00:16:41,160 --> 00:16:44,560 Speaker 1: the Duke of Marlborough, who went by Sonny because of 249 00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:48,000 Speaker 1: another title he also held, Earl of Sunderland. He was 250 00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:51,160 Speaker 1: actually the nephew of the man that Jenny Jerome had 251 00:16:51,200 --> 00:16:54,920 Speaker 1: married two decades earlier. It was to be the event 252 00:16:55,160 --> 00:17:00,840 Speaker 1: of the season. On the morning of November six. Swarms 253 00:17:00,920 --> 00:17:04,159 Speaker 1: of people lined both sides of Fifth Avenue, waiting to 254 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:07,080 Speaker 1: catch just a glimpse of the bride as she arrived 255 00:17:07,080 --> 00:17:11,760 Speaker 1: to St. Thomas Episcopal Church, but their jubilant spirit hadn't 256 00:17:11,800 --> 00:17:16,159 Speaker 1: reached Consuelo. She would later write, quote, I spent the 257 00:17:16,280 --> 00:17:19,840 Speaker 1: morning of my wedding day in tears and alone. No 258 00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:23,040 Speaker 1: one came near me. A footman had been posted at 259 00:17:23,040 --> 00:17:26,000 Speaker 1: the door of my apartment, and not even my Governess 260 00:17:26,080 --> 00:17:30,119 Speaker 1: was admitted. Like an automaton. I donned the lovely lingerie 261 00:17:30,280 --> 00:17:33,800 Speaker 1: with its real lace and the white silk stockings and shoes. 262 00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:37,199 Speaker 1: I felt cold and numb as I went down to 263 00:17:37,240 --> 00:17:40,040 Speaker 1: meet my father and the bridesmaids, who were waiting for 264 00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:44,439 Speaker 1: me and quote. Allegedly, Consuelo had been in love with 265 00:17:44,480 --> 00:17:48,639 Speaker 1: another man, but regardless, the bride was already bought and 266 00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:52,720 Speaker 1: paid for. The dowry was two point five million dollars 267 00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:56,080 Speaker 1: worth of shares in Vanderbilt stock. The family would also 268 00:17:56,119 --> 00:18:00,600 Speaker 1: give one hundred thousand dollars annually to both Consuelo and Charles. 269 00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:05,280 Speaker 1: The wedding happened, and miserable as Consuelo had been that morning, 270 00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:09,440 Speaker 1: things for her were about to get much, much worse. 271 00:18:14,520 --> 00:18:17,600 Speaker 1: As soon as the wedding was over, Consuelo and Sonny 272 00:18:17,720 --> 00:18:21,840 Speaker 1: left for his dreary family home, Lennim Palace. When they 273 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:25,359 Speaker 1: got there, Sonny told his new bride that he actually 274 00:18:25,400 --> 00:18:28,760 Speaker 1: had a lover and intended to keep her on the side. 275 00:18:28,960 --> 00:18:33,359 Speaker 1: Consuelo's role then was wife, yes, but also bank. The 276 00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:37,879 Speaker 1: marriage to her finally allowed the Marlborough family enough money 277 00:18:37,960 --> 00:18:42,160 Speaker 1: to begin to restore their historic home. For Consulo, it 278 00:18:42,320 --> 00:18:45,879 Speaker 1: was a misery living there, she wrote, quote, we spent 279 00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:49,480 Speaker 1: the first three months in a cold and cheerless apartment 280 00:18:49,680 --> 00:18:53,679 Speaker 1: looking north. They were ugly, depressing rooms, devoid of the 281 00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:58,359 Speaker 1: beauty and comforts my own home had provided. Remember, of course, 282 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:03,359 Speaker 1: that Consualo's family had been extraordinarily rich in America. Their 283 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:07,639 Speaker 1: homes in New York had electricity and running water. Those 284 00:19:07,760 --> 00:19:12,280 Speaker 1: were not luxuries that stately but very very old houses 285 00:19:12,320 --> 00:19:16,600 Speaker 1: in England had. Blenheim was sixty five miles from London 286 00:19:16,840 --> 00:19:21,359 Speaker 1: and did not have indoor plumbing. The couple remained married 287 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:25,600 Speaker 1: for ten years, with multiple affairs from both parties, until 288 00:19:25,720 --> 00:19:29,040 Speaker 1: they finally divorced, although it couldn't have been all bad 289 00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:33,000 Speaker 1: for Consuelo because when she finally died, she did ask 290 00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:36,520 Speaker 1: that she be buried at Blenhim Palace, which her money 291 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:40,680 Speaker 1: had done so much to restore. The times would evolve, 292 00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:44,639 Speaker 1: and the heyday of the American dollar princess ended at 293 00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:48,240 Speaker 1: the beginning of the twentieth century. George the Five became 294 00:19:48,359 --> 00:19:52,240 Speaker 1: king in nineteen ten, and his ascension began to usher 295 00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:56,640 Speaker 1: in a season of English prudence and austerity that lasted 296 00:19:56,720 --> 00:20:01,240 Speaker 1: throughout the First World War. Excesses, a labortt parties, and 297 00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:05,199 Speaker 1: displays of wealth began to seem vulgar, and so the 298 00:20:05,280 --> 00:20:10,960 Speaker 1: need to import it via American brides began to diminish. Meanwhile, 299 00:20:11,160 --> 00:20:15,280 Speaker 1: things began gradually improving for the new money set in America. 300 00:20:15,560 --> 00:20:19,640 Speaker 1: Wealthy heiresses were granted more social capital. They didn't need 301 00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:22,439 Speaker 1: a title so badly that they were willing to spend 302 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:26,240 Speaker 1: their lives mill doing on a dreary property outside London 303 00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:29,960 Speaker 1: while a cheating husband tore through her fortune restoring his 304 00:20:30,160 --> 00:20:34,840 Speaker 1: family's home. They could get enough attention and parties. In America. 305 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:40,760 Speaker 1: The final heiress that will talk about today is a 306 00:20:40,840 --> 00:20:44,959 Speaker 1: young woman named Frances Ellen Work who married a baron 307 00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:50,119 Speaker 1: in eighteen eighty. She would eventually inherit fifteen million dollars, 308 00:20:50,320 --> 00:20:53,520 Speaker 1: which is a good thing because her husband spent an 309 00:20:53,680 --> 00:20:59,439 Speaker 1: estimated two point five million gambling. Francis works father, Frank, 310 00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:03,080 Speaker 1: was a self made New York millionaire, and by the 311 00:21:03,080 --> 00:21:07,040 Speaker 1: time he died in nineteen eleven, he came to despise 312 00:21:07,160 --> 00:21:11,600 Speaker 1: the idea of dollar princesses exchanging titles for money, even 313 00:21:11,600 --> 00:21:15,080 Speaker 1: though that's exactly what his own daughter had done. His 314 00:21:15,200 --> 00:21:19,320 Speaker 1: obituary in the New York Tribune included a quote, It's 315 00:21:19,440 --> 00:21:23,320 Speaker 1: time this international marrying came to a stop, for our 316 00:21:23,359 --> 00:21:27,080 Speaker 1: American girls are ruining our own country by it. As 317 00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:30,840 Speaker 1: fast as our honorable hard working men can earn this money, 318 00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:34,000 Speaker 1: their daughters take it and toss it across the ocean, 319 00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:37,560 Speaker 1: and for what For the purpose of a title and 320 00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:41,320 Speaker 1: the privilege of paying the debts of so called nobleman. 321 00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:44,040 Speaker 1: If I had anything to say about it, I'd make 322 00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:50,359 Speaker 1: an international marriage a hanging offense. Ultimately, Francis work Baroness 323 00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:54,199 Speaker 1: would become the great grandmother of a woman who married 324 00:21:54,240 --> 00:21:57,960 Speaker 1: into a title even grander than her own, the title 325 00:21:58,200 --> 00:22:04,240 Speaker 1: Princess of Wales. Her great granddaughter was Princess Diana, But 326 00:22:04,480 --> 00:22:09,600 Speaker 1: like her ancestor, the title and the marriage was ultimately 327 00:22:09,640 --> 00:22:18,840 Speaker 1: not worth the price. That's the story or stories of 328 00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:23,040 Speaker 1: a few notable dollar princesses. But stick around after a 329 00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:26,080 Speaker 1: brief sponsor break to hear a little fun fact. I 330 00:22:26,119 --> 00:22:40,000 Speaker 1: think you'll enjoy. The englishmen and women I know take 331 00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:44,760 Speaker 1: a certain pride in looking down on Americans, not overtly, 332 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:48,840 Speaker 1: but little jokes bragging, you know, But an American is 333 00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:53,840 Speaker 1: actually responsible for one of Great Britain's biggest points of pride. 334 00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:57,240 Speaker 1: Do you remember Jenny Jerome, the girl who all but 335 00:22:57,400 --> 00:23:00,720 Speaker 1: started the trend of marrying for titles when she wed 336 00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:05,520 Speaker 1: Lord Randolph in eight seventy four. Well, Jenny Jerome did 337 00:23:05,560 --> 00:23:08,959 Speaker 1: her duty of providing her husband and air a baby 338 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:13,560 Speaker 1: born scandalous Lee seven months after their marriage, a son 339 00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:17,760 Speaker 1: who would go on to become a statesman, scholar, and 340 00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:35,879 Speaker 1: Prime minister. Jenny Jerome's son was Winston Churchill. Noble Blood 341 00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:38,560 Speaker 1: is a production of I Heart Radio and Grimm and 342 00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:42,080 Speaker 1: Mild from Aaron Mankey. Noble Blood is hosted by me 343 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:46,639 Speaker 1: Danish Sports. Additional writing and researching done by Hannah Johnston, 344 00:23:46,920 --> 00:23:51,480 Speaker 1: hannah's Wick, Mirra Hayward, Courtney Sunder and Laurie Goodman. The 345 00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:55,720 Speaker 1: show is produced by rema Il Kali, with supervising producer 346 00:23:55,920 --> 00:24:00,359 Speaker 1: Josh Thane and executive producers Aaron Mankey, Alex will Lilliams, 347 00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:03,800 Speaker 1: and Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, 348 00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:07,760 Speaker 1: visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 349 00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:09,159 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.