Consuelo's Wedding | The Gilded Age

Alva Vanderbilt had an ace up her sleeve – a way to not simply regain her standing, but to improve it. The scheme depended largely on her daughter, Consuelo, who had just reached marrying age.

While traveling in Europe, Alva had arranged for Consuelo to meet the Duke of Marlborough, one of the most eligible bachelors among the British aristocracy.

[designsonyouinparis]

Consuelo was the great beauty of her time- I believe she was nearly 6' tall, elegant and graceful. This was not a happy marriage but, her second husband became the love of her life and she was able to live a very happy long life.

[catsindabag]

I'd love to see a movie or even mini series where Kathy Bates plays alva

[QUARTERMASTEREMI]

Poor Consuelo said, "I spent the morning of my wedding day in tears and alone - no one came near me.” 😢

[pamelamays]

Alva's ex-friends when they hear about the Duke: Girl, where you been?

[dyatlovingk]

I love the one historian's enthusiasm and how she tells the anecdotes, it really brings life to the story and it feels like she has a lot of joy for what she does.

[brokenlibrary]

The women snubbed her because they were kowtowing to their husband's wishes.
No one wants to be a long suffering wife with no voice of your own, rich or poor.

[emacias]

When my mother divorced my father they did the same thing to her. Everyone shut there doors on her and us. The women were pissed she had the balls to leave my father.

[wholeNwon]

Consuelo wrote an insightful book titled, "The Glitter and the Gold". Interesting reading.

[msrose]

Her mom was the Kris Jenner of that generation 😂

[itzkirml]

Apparently Consuelo was secretly engaged to someone else, and her mother locked her in her room to stop her from eloping. Consuelo didn't want to marry the Duke, Alva threatened to have her secret fiance killed before resorting to lying about her health, saying she was about to die. It wasn't until her wedding day that Consuelo learned that Alva was lying. According to a few eyewitnesses Consuelo was sobbing into her veil. Alva sucks.

[carollambies]

The other ladies should have supported her when she divorced her philanderer.

[williamevans]

I love the so-called 'cottages' of Newport!

[DerWhimsy]

This was a diabolically wrong match, Consuelo loved someone else, her father wanted her to marry for love & in America, also the Duke was nobody's idea of a prince at the best of times & he despised the nouveau riche, detested overly educated females & was as indifferent to Conseulo's beauty as he was to her wifely affection. Lest anyone think that Consuelo's obedience to her parental authority was in vain, the Marlborough dukes have improved greatly since they have had her as an ancestor!

[mks]

I love hearing these little stories!!
It’s so crazy how it is barely 100 years ago.

[lubnarahman]

There's a great mini series I saw on YouTube some years back, called the Buccaneers. It's a brilliant show about a group of wealthy American heiresses looking for titled aristocrats in England, very much like the Consuela story.
Would highly recommend it.

[sweetrose]

So glad things have changed! That wasn't fair! That lady stood for her rights, and got treated with contempt! Her husband was a cheat! Dear God how I hate the double standard where men can cheat and women are supposed to put up with it! Bravo that she would not! No matter how Society treated her she did the right thing there!

[njhawk]

This sad story of Alva, her daughter Consuelo, and the impoverished Duke, is told in the book "Fortune's Children: The Fall of the House of Vanderbilt."

[sokyoul]

I visited Newport and all the mansions there. Its so beautiful! And you also learn about the history of the people and their story was very interesting

[centigradzcentigradz]

Sad that other women dismissed her when she simply divorced a cheating husband who was flaunting his affairs to humiliate her.

[donbrynelsen]

There is a famous cartoon by Charles Dana Gibson based on this. It depicts a young bride kneeling next to an aging nobleman before a blindfolded clergyman. The bride's hands are bound behind her by a rope held by her mother signifying she had no say in the matter, indeed I've read that Alva kept her daughter under guard to prevent her from trying to escape prior to the wedding.