Consuelo Vanderbilt, Duchess of Marlborough, was a famous beauty from a family of millionaires, one of the richest in the United States. She married the Duke of Marlborough. Consuelo Vanderbilt, whose story is told below, was the wealthiest bride of the Queen Victoria era. Her marriage was an international symbol of marriage, which was beneficial for both families, since on the one hand there was great wealth, and on the other, nobility.
The beginning of the biography
Consuelo Vanderbilt was born in the USA, in New York. She was the only child in the family of a millionaire. It was the famous railroad tycoon William Kissam Vanderbilt. Her mother is William's first wife, a beauty from Alabama, Alva Erskine Smith. She later became a suffragist, fighting for women's rights.
The girl received the exotic Spanish name Consuelo in honor of her godmother, Maria Consuelo del Valle, in which Cuban blood also flowed. At one time, she married the Viscount Mandeville, George Montague, chasing a large dowry. Then this union of the Old and New Worlds caused amazement in society. The groom’s father, the Duke of Manchester, stated in public that his son had married the “red-skinned”.
Young years
From childhood, Consuelo Vanderbilt was heavily influenced by her mother. As the girl grew older, this influence did not weaken. According to Alva, her daughter was supposed to get married as well as her godmother. Meanwhile, the husband of the latter has already taken the ducal title by inheritance.
Mother prepared the girl for life in high society. In this biography, Consuelo told about this period of her life that, in order to correct her posture, she was forced to wear a metal corset. From a young age, she studied the languages taught by governesses and visiting teachers.
Vanderbilt Real Estate
Their homes were the largest among the estates of other American rich. In New York alone, they had ten mansions on Fifth Avenue. In one of them there were 137 rooms. However, outside the city, this family had even more luxurious buildings. The most grandiose and richest was the Vanderbilt Palace, located in North Carolina, near the foothills of the Appalachian Range.
Its construction took twice as much time as the construction of the Eiffel Tower. Four workers were required, and three times as much money. And this is despite the fact that later only two people lived in it - the owner with his mother. This palace is called Baltimore. Today it is the largest private home ever built in North America.
Based on the foregoing, one can understand the conditions under which the future duchess grew up.
Matrimonial plans
Like her godmother, Consuelo enjoyed success with many titled men. They wanted to combine their noble origin with its huge fortune and take advantage of such a tandem. There is information about at least five sentences of the hand and heart from influential persons.
Of these candidates, Prince Franz Joseph Battenberg was approved by the mother. However, this representative of the aristocratic family was extremely unpleasant to the girl, and she refused to marry him. But apart from the prince, none of the applicants suited Alva.
Attractive appearance
Fortunately, those wishing to combine their lives with a rich bride did not decrease, especially since her external data were at their best. She was unusually slim, sweet, attractive. Many admired her beauty. One of her fans was James Barry, a famous English writer. It was from his pen that Peter Pan, a fabulous ageless boy, came out. D. Barry wrote that in order to see Consuelo get into the carriage, he was ready to wait all night in the rain.
In the descriptions of the appearance of this attractive person there are such words as: “huge dark eyes and curved eyelashes”, “beautiful long neck”, “piquant oval face”. In the Edwardian era, which dates back to the reign of Edward VII (1901-1910, plus several years after his death), such a fashionable female image was formed as a “slim, tight look” that can be translated as a “slender, tight-fitting look”. It should be noted that the appearance of Consuelo Vanderbilt completely corresponded to him, which made her even more attractive in the eyes of men.
Duke of Marlborough
Among the friends of the Vanderbildt family was a certain Lady Page. She was a kind of marriage agent, organizing alliances of British aristocrats and wealthy American heirs. With the help of this lady, Alva managed to arrange an acquaintance of her daughter with the ninth Duke of Marlborough, whose name was Charles Spencer Churchill, nicknamed Sunny. The future British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, he was a cousin.
However, initially Sunny was unable to attract the attention of Consuelo Vanderbilt. As it turned out later, by that time she was secretly engaged to Winthrop Rutherford, an American citizen. Upon learning of this, the girl's mother was very angry. She unleashed her anger at her daughter, ordering her to marry the Duke of Marlborough. But Consuelo answered her with a sharp refusal. Then Alva put the girl under lock and promised to kill Winthrop, if she continues to persist. But this did not help either.
Forced consent to marriage
Then the persistent and inventive mother applied the forbidden technique, influencing Consuelo's affectionate feelings. She pretended that the girl’s disobedience led her to such a terrible state that she could die any moment. Only after such a shock did the eighteen-year-old girl flinch and agreed to marry Charles.
In the dowry of Consuelo Vanderbilt was given the amount of 2.5 million US dollars. If you recalculate this money, taking into account today's economic realities, you get an impressive figure, approaching 75 million. The funds received were put into action by the spouse. They gave him the opportunity to restore the Blenheim Palace.
Wedding and birth of children
The magnificent wedding, which was attended by many guests and spectators and which received detailed press coverage, was held in November 1895 in New York, at St. Thomas Church. In this marriage, two boys were born, John and Ivor. The eldest of them became the tenth duke of Marlborough.
The fact of their birth deprived the title of Winston Churchill, who, in the event of Charles's death, would have inherited the duchy if his cousin died childless. After the wedding, mother-in-law Consuelo announced that the first duty of Vanderbilt, the Duchess of Marlborough, is the birth of a child, who must certainly be a son. The Duchess Fanny explained this idea by the fact that it was unbearable to think that the title of the Duke could go to Winston, whom she considered an upstart. Consuelo jokingly called her sons "The Heir and the Reserve."
Married life
A visit to the lands that belonged to her husband made a strong impression on Consuelo: the woman was struck by the poverty of their inhabitants. This prompted the newly made duchess to help disadvantaged people. After that, she took part in several philanthropic projects.
As for secular society in Great Britain, there it was a resounding success. Together with her husband in 1902, she visited Russia. She was received by Maria Fedorovna, the Dowager Empress. Apparently, it was then that the Faberge jeweler was ordered to make the so-called Marlborough egg. Now it is exhibited in St. Petersburg, in the Faberge Museum.
However, over time, relations between spouses, who were never particularly passionate, began to decline. Since 1907, they began to lead a separate life. The duke began to communicate closely with a poor but charismatic American, Gladys Mary Deacon, who later became his wife. The name Consuelo Vanderbilt, the Duchess of Marlborough, began to be associated with different men. Among them are the cousin of her husband Reginald Fellows, as well as Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich Romanov.
Divorce from the Duke
Consuelo and Charles divorced after 26 years of family life, in 1921. After that, the duke decided to convert to the Catholic faith. This transition facilitated the cancellation in 1926 of the wedding by the Vatican, which was made at the request of the duke.
Surprisingly it was for many friends and relatives, Consuelo's mother supported this separation. She openly stated that marriage was an act of coercion on her part, while he was mistaken. In an interview, Alva admitted that in former times she had absolute power over her daughter.
It should be noted that she herself was already divorced from her husband, which shocked the high American society. After that, she remarried, married with the son of one of the Jewish bankers. Then she began to actively engage in suffragist activities. Subsequently, a warm, close relationship developed between the mother and her matured daughter.
New marriage
Shortly after the divorce, in July 1921, Consuelo remarried. Her second husband was Lieutenant Colonel Jean Balzan, a pioneer of French aeronautics, aviation and hydroaviation. He was the heir to a textile manufacturer. Etienne, his brother, was in an intimate relationship with Coco Chanel.
Jean and Consuelo have known each other for a long time. They met back in New York when the girl was 17 years old. All this time, Balzan retained a sense of affection for her. The second marriage of the duchess was extremely successful.
After the divorce, Consuelo continued to communicate with the Churchill clan. She was especially friendly with Sir Winston. He was a frequent guest in her chateau, located near Paris. It was in this place that before the war he had painted the last paintings. Balzan and Consuelo lived in his mansion in Paris.
During World War II, Jean Balzan fought in the ranks of the French Resistance. After that, the spouses managed to escape to the USA from Nazi Europe through Spain and Portugal. There they lived until the very end of the war. Consuelo Vanderbilt for the opening of a children's hospital in Paris and for philanthropic activities was awarded the Legion of Honor.
In 1953, she published an autobiography, describing in her era and her contemporaries, but almost did not touch on the details of her personal life. Consuelo Vanderbilt, Duchess of Marlborough, passed away in 1964 in New York when she was 87 years old. She survived her beloved husband for eight years.