Consuelo Vanderbilt, (March 2, 1877 – December 6, 1964), was a member of the prominent American Vanderbilt Family, as well as an English aristocrat. She was seen as the ultimate marital prize of the Victorian age. Her marriage to the ninth Duke of Marlborough was an international emblem for socially advantageous marriages. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1651 × 2200 pixel, file size: 546 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) old photograph no rights, due of age File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old... George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was the first British monarch belonging to the House of Windsor, which he created from the British branch of the German House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. ... is the 61st day of the year (62nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1877 (MDCCCLXXVII) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... This article is about the state. ... is the 340th day of the year (341st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also Nintendo emulator: 1964 (emulator). ... William Kissam Vanderbilt (December 12, 1849 – July 22, 1920) was a member of the prominent United States Vanderbilt family. ... Alva Erskine Belmont ( January 17, 1853 - January 26, 1933) was a multi-millionaire American socialite and a major funder of the womens suffrage movement. ... is the 61st day of the year (62nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1877 (MDCCCLXXVII) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... is the 340th day of the year (341st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also Nintendo emulator: 1964 (emulator). ... The Vanderbilts are a prominent family in the history of the United States. ... Aristocracy is a form of government in which rulership is in the hands of an upper class known as aristocrats. ...

Life

Early life

Born in New York City, she was the only daughter of William Kissam Vanderbilt, a New York railroad millionaire, and his first wife, a pugnacious Mobile, Alabama belle and budding suffragette, Alva Erskine Smith (1853-1933, later Mrs. O. H. P. Belmont). Her exotic Spanish name was in honor of her godmother, María Consuelo Yznaga del Valle (1858-1909), a half-Cuban, half-American socialite who created a social stir a year earlier when she married the fortune-hunting George Victor Drogo Montagu, Viscount Mandeville, a union of Old World and New World 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, Duchess of Manchester was also the basis of the character Conchita Closson in Edith Wharton's unfinished novel The Buccaneers.) New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... William Kissam Vanderbilt (December 12, 1849 – July 22, 1920) was a member of the prominent United States Vanderbilt family. ... It has been suggested that List of people from Mobile, Alabama be merged into this article or section. ... Alva Erskine Belmont ( January 17, 1853 - January 26, 1933) was a multi-millionaire American socialite and a major funder of the womens suffrage movement. ... Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont (November 12, 1858 - June 10, 1908) was a wealthy American socialite and Congressman. ... George Victor Drogo Montagu, 8th Duke of Manchester (17 June 1853-18 August 1892), known as Lord Kimbolton from 1853 to 1855 and as Viscount Mandeville from 1855 to 1890, was a British peer and Member of Parliament. ... William Drogo Montagu, 7th Duke of Manchester KP (October 15, 1823 – 22 March 1890) was the son of George Montagu, 6th Duke of Manchester. ... Edith Wharton (January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937) was an American novelist, short story writer, and designer. ...

Consuelo Vanderbilt was largely dominated by her mother, Alva, who was determined that Consuelo would make a great marriage like her famous namesake. In her biography, Consuelo Vanderbilt later described how she was required to wear a steel rod, which ran down her spine and fastened around her waist and over her shoulders, to improve her posture.^[1] She was educated entirely at home by governesses and tutors and learned foreign languages at an early age.^[2] Her mother was a strict disciplinarian and whipped her with a riding crop for minor infractions.^[3] When, as a teenager, Consuelo objected to the clothing her mother had selected for her, Alva Vanderbilt told her that "I do the thinking, you do as you are told."^[4]

Like her godmother, Consuelo Vanderbilt also attracted numerous title-bearing suitors anxious to trade social position for cash. Her mother reportedly received at least five proposals for her hand. Consuelo was allowed to consider the proposal of just one of the men, Prince Francis Joseph of Battenberg, but Consuelo developed an instant aversion to him.^[5] None of the others, however, was good enough for Alva Vanderbilt. Luckily, as opposed to more than a few contemporary heiresses in search of her particular prince charming, Consuelo Vanderbilt was 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."^[6] Oxford undergraduate Guy Fortescue later described how he and his friends were captivated by her "piquante oval face perched upon a long slender neck, her enormous dark eyes fringed with curling lashes, her dimples, and her tiny teeth when she smiled.^[7] She came to embody the "slim, tight look" that was in vogue during the Edwardian era.^[8] Prince Francis Joseph of Battenberg, also known as Prince Franz Joseph of Battenberg, (September 24, 1861- July 31, 1924), was the youngest son of Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine and Countess Julia von Hauke. ... For the British Army surgeon, see James Barry (surgeon). ... This article is about the play by J.M. Barrie. ...

First marriage

Consuelo, Duchess of Marlborough circa 1903, by Helleu. Sir James Matthew Barrie had said "I would wait all night in the rain, to see Consuelo Marlborough get into her carriage" ^[9]

Determined to secure the highest-ranking mate possible for her only daughter, a union that would emphasize the preeminence of the Vanderbilt family in New York society, Alva Vanderbilt engineered a meeting between Consuelo and the land-rich, money-poor Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough, chatelain of Blenheim Palace. The matchmaker was a minor American heiress turned major English hostess, Mary (Minnie) Stevens, also known as Lady Paget, a hotel scion who became the wife of a newly minted British knight and then reputedly set up shop as a sort of international marital agent.^[10] Pre 1923 image, not subject to copyright. ... Pre 1923 image, not subject to copyright. ... The Ninth Duke of Marlborough, painted by John Singer Sargent Charles Richard John Spencer-Churchill (November 13, 1871–June 30, 1934) became the 9th Duke of Marlborough upon the death of his father in 1892. ... Châtelain (Med. ... Blenheim Palace is a large and monumental country house situated in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England. ...

Unfortunately Consuelo Vanderbilt had no interest in the duke, being secretly engaged to an American, Winthrop Rutherfurd.^[11] Her mother cajoled, wheedled, begged, and then, ultimately, ordered her daughter to marry Marlborough. 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.^[12] Still, she refused. It was only when Alva Vanderbilt claimed that her health was being seriously and irretrievably undermined by Consuelo's stubbornness and appeared to be on death's door did the gullible girl acquiesce.^[13] Alva made an astonishing recovery from her entirely phantom illness, and when the wedding took place, Consuelo stood at the altar reportedly weeping behind her veil.^[14] The duke, for his part, gave up the woman he reportedly loved back in England and collected $2.5 million (approximately $75 million today) in railroad stock as a marriage settlement.^[15] For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ...

Consuelo Vanderbilt was married at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, New York City, New York, on November 6, 1895, to Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough (1871-1934)^[16]. They had two sons, the future 10th Duke of Marlborough and his brother Ivor Spencer-Churchill.^[17] Reredos by Lee Lawrie St. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... Charles Richard John Spencer-Churchill (November 13, 1871 - June 30, 1934) became the 9th Duke of Marlborough upon the death of his father in 1892. ... John Albert William Spencer-Churchill, 10th Duke of Marlborough (18 September 1897 – 11 March 1972) was the elder son of Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough and his first wife, the former Consuelo Vanderbilt, the American railroad heiress. ... The Lord Ivor Charles Spencer-Churchill (14 October 1898–17 September 1956) was the younger son of the 9th Duke of Marlborough and his first wife Consuelo, his elder brother John was the 10th Duke of Marlborough. ...

Consuelo Vanderbilt was adored by the poor and less fortunate tenants on the duke's estate, whom she visited and provided assistance to. She later became involved with other philanthropic projects and was particularly interested in those that affected mothers and children.^[18] She was also a social success with royalty and the aristocracy of Britain.^[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. The duchess eventually was smitten by her husband's handsome cousin, the Hon. Reginald Fellowes (the liaison did not last, to the relief of Fellowes's parents)^[20], while the duke fell under the spell of Gladys Marie Deacon, an eccentric American of little money but, like Consuelo, dazzling to look at and of considerable intellect.^[21] The Marlboroughs divorced in 1921, and the marriage was annulled, at the duke's request and Consuelo's assent, on August 19, 1926.^[22]

Though largely embarked upon as a way to facilitate the Anglican duke's desire to convert to Roman Catholicism, the annulment, to the surprise of many, also was fully supported by the former duchess's mother, who testified that the Vanderbilt–Marlborough marriage had been an act of unmistakable coercion. "I forced my daughter to marry the Duke," Alva Belmont told an investigator, adding: "I have always had absolute power over my daughter."^[23]

Second marriage and later life

Consuelo's second marriage, on July 4, 1921, was to Lt. Col. Jacques Balsan, a record-breaking pioneer French balloon, airplane, and hydroplane pilot who once worked with the Wright Brothers. Also a textile manufacturing heir, Balsan was a younger brother of Etienne Balsan, who was an important early lover of Coco Chanel.^[24] Jacques Balsan died in 1956 at the age of 88.^[25] The Wright brothers, Orville (August 19, 1871–January 30, 1948) and Wilbur (April 16, 1867–May 30, 1912), were two Americans generally credited with building the worlds first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and heavier-than-air human flight on December 17, 1903. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Coco Chanel. ... Gabrielle Bonheur Coco Chanel (August 19, 1883 – January 10, 1971)[1] was a pioneering French fashion designer whose modernist philosophy, menswear-inspired fashions, and pursuit of expensive simplicity made her arguably the most important figure in the history of 20th-century fashion. ...

After the annulment, she still maintained ties with favorite Churchill relatives, particularly Winston Churchill. He was a frequent visitor to her chateau, the St. George Motel, near Dreux about 50 miles from Paris, in the 1920s and 1930s, where he completed his last painting before the war.[1] Churchill redirects here. ...

The Glitter and the Gold, Consuelo Balsan's insightful but not entirely candid autobiography, was published in 1953; it was ghostwritten by Stuart Preston. A reviewer in the New York Times called it "an ideal epitaph of the age of elegance."^[26] The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ...

She died at Southampton, Long Island, New York on December 6, 1964, and was buried alongside her younger son, Lord Ivor Spencer-Churchill, in the churchyard at St Martin's Church, Bladon, Oxfordshire, England near her former home, Blenheim Palace.^[27] Southampton, New York is the name of three entities on Long Island in Suffolk County, New York in the United States. ... The parish church of St Martin in Bladon St Martins Church in Bladon near Woodstock, Oxfordshire is the Anglican parish church of Bladon-with-Woodstock. ... Oxfordshire (abbreviated Oxon, from the Latinised form Oxonia) is a county in the South East of England, bordering on Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and Warwickshire. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ...

It may be noted that her brother, William Kissam Vanderbilt II (1878-1944), had a daughter born in 1903 who was named Consuelo Vanderbilt in her honor. It is this younger Consuelo who appears with her sister Muriel in a portrait by Giovanni Boldini. William Kissam Vanderbilt II was born on October 26, 1878. ... Giovanni Boldini (1910) Giovanni Boldini (December 31, 1842 – July 11, 1931) was an Italian genre and portrait painter, belonging to the Parisian school. ...

Titles

Titles

• 1877-1895: Miss Consuelo Vanderbilt of Marble House
• 1895-1921: Her Grace the Duchess of Marlborough
• 1921: Consuelo, Duchess of Marlborough
• 1921-1956: Mdm. Jacques Balsan
• 1956-1964: Mdn. Consuelo Balsan

Marble House, Newport, Rhode Island. ...

Notes

1. ^ Stuart, Amanda Mackenzie, Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt: The Story of a Daughter and Mother in the Gilded Age, Harper Perennial, 2005, ISBN 978-0-06-093825-3, p. 69
2. ^ Stuart, p. 70
3. ^ Stuart, pp. 69-70
4. ^ Stuart, p. 84
5. ^ Stuart, p. 101
6. ^ Stuart, p. 493
7. ^ Stuart, p. 209
8. ^ Stuart, p. 209
9. ^ "The Glitter and the Gold" by Madame Consuelo Balsan
10. ^ Stuart, pp. 102-103, 116-117
11. ^ Stuart, pp. 112-115
12. ^ Stuart, p. 120
13. ^ Stuart, p. 121
14. ^ Stuart, p. 145-146
15. ^ Stuart, p. 135
16. ^ Stuart, pp. 146-147
17. ^ Stuart, p. 222, 224
18. ^ Stuart, p. 203
19. ^ Stuart, pp. 212-213
20. ^ Stuart, p. 359
21. ^ Stuart, pp. 252-254
22. ^ Stuart, pp. 412-425
23. ^ Stuart, pp. 412-425
24. ^ Stuart, pp. 391-392, 464
25. ^ Stuart, p. 496
26. ^ Stuart, 486-494
27. ^ Stuart, p. 501

External links

• A Message to the Diocese on the Action of the Vatican Court upon the Marlborough Marriage, by William Thomas Manning, 1926