The ‘Real’ Buccaneers: Gilded Age Million Dollar Princesses

This episode takes a look at how and why a large number of young American women of the Gilded Age sought marriages among the European nobility. Many of these marriages were much more business deals than love affairs although some did in fact produce happy unions. 

Join The Gilded Gentleman as we delve into the world of the “million dollar princesses” willing to trade cash for coronets. 

In the latter part of 19th century America, over 200 young women married into British and European noble families. Some Gilded Age families wanted their daughters to gain titles to insure secure their social standing, and many willing aristocrats needed the significant marriage settlements to repair crumbling estates and fill up their bank accounts. From the marriage in 1874 of Jenny Jerome to Lord Randolph Churchill, many mothers and daughters went in search of eligible nobles to marry. 

This episode looks into the marriage of Jenny Jerome, mother of Winston Churchill as well as perhaps the most famous aristocratic match – Consuelo Vanderbilt’s marriage to the Charles Spencer-Churcill, 9th Duke of Marlborough in 1895 to see just what motivated these matches and just what they were like in reality.