Dollar Princesses: In For A Penny, In For A Pound
They say when you marry for money, you earn every penny—but even though these American heiresses were the ones holding the purse strings when they entered into their idealized unions with European nobility, they still managed to find tragedy. One by one, they proved that these “fairy tale” marriages were just Faustian bargains.
1. The Meaning Of A Dollar Princess
The term “Dollar Princess” came about in the Gilded Age, when wealthy American families—usually the nouveau riche robber barons who made their fortune off railroads—married a series of their daughters off to prestigious, if penniless, European noble houses.
It seemed like a fair exchange: An injection of American money for the renown of an old name. But it ended up being fair to no one, least of all the brides themselves.
2. Elizabeth Patterson: The First Of Her Kind
One of the very first dollar princesses preceded the Gilded Age, but her dramatic life and tragic marriage set the pattern for the women who followed. Born in February of 1785, Elizabeth Patterson was the eldest daughter of merchant William Patterson, the second wealthiest man in Maryland. From a young age, people considered Elizabeth one of the most beautiful women in Baltimore—and she put those good looks to good use.
3. She Had French Tastes
In 1803, the teenaged Elizabeth met Napoleon Bonaparte’s wayward brother Jerome, who was stalling around the United States, afraid to go back to France because he knew the Emperor was annoyed at his conduct during a recent military incident.
But Elizabeth didn’t care about this yellow flag, and the pair quickly developed a romance, only for more problems to come their way.
4. Her Family Got An Anonymous Warning
Despite Jerome’s high standing in European society, most everyone around Elizabeth was worried about their relationship. Her father even received an anonymous letter claiming that any wedding vows Jerome made would only be for the sake of wasting more time in America. It was another yellow flag, but Elizabeth pushed through again.
5. She Made A Hasty Decision
Elizabeth wasn’t used to hearing no, and every warning she got about Jerome only made her more determined to marry him. She even threatened to simply elope if her father didn’t give an official union his blessing.
So on Christmas Eve 1803, months after first meeting Jerome, she became Napoleon Bonaparte’s sister-in-law. It was an unmitigated disaster.
6. Napoleon Despised Her
However irritated Elizabeth’s family was about Jerome, Napoleon himself was ten times more unhappy about his brother’s new wife. The minute he heard about their union, the ruler ordered his brother back home—without his bride—so he could annul the mistake.
Though Jerome didn’t listen and brought the now-pregnant Elizabeth with him across the ocean, they were in for a rude awakening.
7. She Received A Brutal Insult
Once more, Elizabeth Bonaparte nee Patterson was very used to getting what she wanted, so it was quite the shock when they landed and Napoleon’s men, on his orders, wouldn’t even let the American woman set foot in continental Europe.
Jerome, incensed, swore he would “do everything that must be done” before heading off to Italy to convince his brother to relent. It simply got more tragic.
8. He Abandoned Her
Elizabeth waited for months for Jerome to succeed in his mission, giving birth to a son in London in the summer of 1805 in the meantime. Yet even though she kept receiving letters from her husband saying he would never abandon her and he was working on his brother, a sinking feeling must have been growing in her stomach—and she was right.
Jerome eventually caved to Napoleon’s demands, accepting a post as an admiral in and eventually the position of King of Westphalia for his troubles. Elizabeth never saw her husband again…except in one excruciating moment.
9. She Was Left In The Dust
Napoleon made good on his word and annulled the union (with Elizabeth getting an official divorce in 1815). Then, just two years after the birth of their son—whom Jerome refused to support—Elizabeth’s ex married another woman, the German princess Catharina of Wurttemberg. But for all that, they weren’t quite done with each other.
10. She Had An Awkward Reunion
In 1822, Elizabeth and Jerome accidentally crossed paths in Florence at the Pitti Palace. Reportedly, they made brief eye contact in a mortifying moment where neither of them spoke to each other, and Jerome informed his current spouse, who was with him, that this was his “American wife”. This was the last time the two would ever meet, though they both lived decades longer, with Elizabeth passing in 1879 at the ripe old age of 94.
Yet for all that, at least Elizabeth Patterson chose and fought for her doomed marriage. Her successors weren’t always so lucky.
11. Jennie Jerome: The First Lady
One of the first true Gilded Age dollar princesses also turned into the most infamous. Born in 1854, Jeanette “Jennie” Jerome was the daughter of an American financier and speculator, and she had an aura of mystery to go along with her father’s money. Paying a compliment to her beauty, one commenter noted she had "more of the panther than of the woman in her look”.
Her parents seemed to know what they had on their hands, too, and they weren’t going to let it go without a profit.
12. Her Family Was In It For The Money
In 1873, Jennie met Lord Randolph Churchill, the third son of the Duke of Marlborough, while at a regatta with none other than the future King Edward VII. With Jennie’s beauty and money, she was irresistible to the young Lord, and he proposed within three days. Nonetheless, it took well into the next year for the marriage to take place, as their respective parents argued over payments and inheritances for the well-to-do lovebirds.
More than that, some say the wedding came none too soon.
13. She Had A Famous Son
The same year she was married, Jennie gave birth to her biggest claim to fame: Her son Winston Churchill, the future Prime Minister of Britain. But Winston was born two months premature, after Jennie reportedly fell, leading many to wonder if she hadn’t been pregnant before her wedding. When asked about his odd birth, Winston characteristically quipped, "Although present on the occasion, I have no clear recollection of the events leading up to it".
Still, whatever passion the new “Lady Randolph Churchill” had for her husband, it didn’t last long.
14. She Had A Series Of Affairs
Jennie was something of an absent mother to Winston and his younger brother John, which wasn’t uncommon at the time. More unusual was where she spent her time instead: With a series of extramarital lovers she pulled from the highest echelons of society, including King Edward VII himself. But this had surprising consequences.
15. Her Romances Helped Her Husband’s Career
Although Jennie’s affairs didn’t draw her and her husband closer together, they did help his career. The men she took to her bed were so powerful, her romps doubled as diplomatic sessions, and Lord Churchill rose steadily in esteem in response. Somehow, Jennie even managed to become fast friends with Queen Alexandra, her lover King Edward’s wife, who was well aware of their trysts.
Yet in a twist, Jennie didn’t stay married for all that long.
16. She Married A Much Younger Man
In 1895, Randolph Churchill perished, leaving Jennie a widow—though she hardly changed her habits. Now in her 40s and still in possession of her great beauty, she married George Cornwallis-West, a man just 19 days older than her son Winston, who nicknamed her “pussycat”. But even now there was no happily ever after for Jennie.
17. He Loved And Left Her
By 1909, Cornwallis-West had fallen out of love with his much older wife, and instead began an affair with Jennie’s close associate, the famed actress Mrs Patrick Campbell. To add to the dysfunctional family dynamics, after Jennie and Cornwallis-West officially divorced in 1914, he turned around and married Campbell. Jennie did not rebound in a healthy way.
18. She Married An Even Younger Man
In the summer of 1918, Jennie was well into her 60s when she married Montagu Phippen Porch, a member of the British Civil Service…who also happened to be three days younger than her son Winston. It was certainly scandalous at the time, but it’s impossible to say whether the marriage would have gone the distance or not. Jennie simply didn’t have enough time.
19. She Met A Gruesome End
The beautiful Jennie Jerome’s final days were as ugly as they come. In May of 1921, while her husband was away, she slipped on a staircase wearing high-heels and broke her ankle. In no time at all, gangrene had set in, forcing an amputation in June to try to save her life. It was fruitless: Later that month, Jennie passed at the age of 67 from a post-amputation hemorrhage.
Where Jennie Jerome skilfully navigated the waters of European society, this next dollar princess nearly sunk.
20. Anna Gould: The Railroad Heiress
Railroad magnate Jay Gould was one of the most forceful and cutthroat businessmen in the Gilded Age, so when his daughter Anna was born in 1875, people likely figured she was in for a wild, if privileged, ride. They were regrettably right…and most of her troubles stemmed from March 14, 1895.
This was the day the 20-year-old heiress married Paul Ernest Boniface de Castellane, or “Boni,” the son and heir of the Marquis of Castellane. That’s because while there are plenty of bad husbands in history, no one was quite like Boni.
21. They Were Badly Matched
To begin with, Anna and Boni made a mismatched pair, and not just because of her massive wealth and his relatively impoverished name. While Anna was plain-looking and certainly no great beauty, Boni was infamously vain and a notorious dandy. He stunned Americans with his flashy continental style—but he soon stunned Anna for another reason entirely.
22. Her Husband Took Her Fortune
Boni was something of an unstoppable force in society, and he quickly became an unstoppable force in Anna’s bank account. Truly using his heiress’s dowry for all it was worth, Boni blew through an incredible $10 million of the Goulds’ money in just a handful of years…spending much of it on excessive gifts for his string of mistresses. That was only the start of the drama.
23. She Moved On, But Couldn’t Find Happiness
In 1906, Anna Gould, unsurprisingly, divorced her husband—and, perhaps surprisingly, married his cousin, Helie de Talleyrand, instead. But though they were together until Talleyrand’s passing in 1937, this was hardly a fairy tale either: In 1929, Anna’s eldest son with Talleyrand took his own life after the couple refused him permission to marry.
Still, if the best living is a good revenge, Anna Gould did end up winning on that front.
24. She Gave Him A Hard Time
Soon after their civil divorce, Anna Gould’s ex Boni decided he wanted to marry again within the Catholic church, which meant he had to receive an annulment of his first marriage from the Vatican. This proved nightmarish: After several trials and decisions, it took until 1924 for their union to finally be annulled. As Time magazine put it, “Probably not since Henry VIII tried in vain to get an annulment of his marriage with Catherine of Aragon has a matrimonial case been so long in the courts”.
Yet while Anna’s attack on her husband was slow, one dollar princess took an explicitly violent route.
25. Winnaretta Singer: The Sewing Heiress
Born in 1865 in Yonkers, New York, Winnaretta Singer was one of the heiresses to the massive Singer sewing fortune. In fact, the family fortune was so massive that even though Winnaretta was the 20th of an incredible 24 children for her father Isaac Singer, she still had a million-dollar inheritance.
This was too enticing for any self-respecting old noble family to ignore, but any amorous husband who came in contact with Singer learned to regret it.
26. She Had An Unlucky Childhood
Singer’s young life was tragic and tumultuous, with a childhood spent pinging between European countries before her father’s passing when she was 10 years old. Unfortunately, when her mother remarried, it was to a brute of a man who abused Singer, spurring the young girl to seize control of her inheritance the moment she was of age and go live on her own.
It wasn’t long before she was in a new kind of trouble.
27. She Became A Countess
Despite her relative freedom and objective wealth, at 22 years old Winnaretta found herself married to the French nobleman Count Louis de Scey-Montbeliard, a man who surely enjoyed the prospect of her family money. However, Count Louis likely never enjoyed the prospect of Winnaretta Singer herself: On their wedding night, he found out her secret.
28. She Threatened Her Husband
Although people within Singer’s inner circle knew that she was a lesbian, Count Louis himself seemed to have missed this piece of gossip, and he learned about it the hard way. On the night of their marriage, when the two were alone together, Singer reportedly climbed onto an armoire and threatened to kill the Count if he so much as touched her.
Somehow though, Singer managed to make marriage work for her. Just not this one.
29. She Found The One
After five years of this, the Count and Singer had the marriage annulled by the Catholic Church—having a much easier time of it than Boni and Anna Gould, not the least because there was little evidence of intimate relations. In 1893, the 28-year-old Winnaretta then married another noble, the 59-year-old Prince Edmond de Polignac, in a lavender marriage that suited the lesbian Singer and the gay Polignac just fine.
Of course, this only made it easier for Singer to stir up drama.
30. She Was A Heartbreaker
The leading women of Singer’s day seemed to find her irresistible, and over the years she carried on affairs with the likes of the beautiful painter Romaine Brooks as well as King Edward VII’s rumored illegitimate daughter Olga de Meyer. These women’s husband sometimes also found her infuriating: One scorned lover reportedly turned up outside Singer’s Venetian palazzo and ordered her, "If you are half the man I think you are, you will come out here and fight me”.
But for every romping story like Winnaretta Singer’s, the dollar princesses have ten more tragedies—even when they have loving marriages.
31. Mary Curzon: The Perfect Bride
Mary Curzon is one of the most famous dollar princess “success” stories, but her fate post-marriage was as tragic as they come. Born in 1870 in Chicago as Mary Leiter, her father was an incredibly successful merchant, and Mary herself earned a reputation for being as well-bred and educated as she was beautiful.
When she caught a husband, then, he was a very big fish indeed.
32. She Fell In Love With A Future Baron
Soon after being introduced to London society, the 20-year-old Mary met the 35-year-old George Curzon, a member of parliament and the heir to the Barony of Scarsdale. Unlike so many other dollar princesses, Mary was drawn more to George for his political aspirations than for his title, and their marriage in 1895 was a love match. It would also rocket them both to international power.
33. She Charmed Everyone
Like Jennie Jerome, Mary was one of the most charming, diplomatic wives around, and when her new husband won re-election to Parliament soon after their wedding, many credited his bride’s sweet smiles for the feat. This upward trajectory continued, and a handful of years later George became Viceroy of India, with Mary becoming Vicereine, the highest official title in the Indian Empire for a woman.
Mary seemed to have it all, which is when fate came and snatched it away.
34. She Couldn’t Give Him A Son
In truth, something had been missing from the Curzon marriage for a while: A son and heir that George desperately wanted. Instead, Mary gave birth to a succession of three girls, the last of whom was born during her time as Vicereine in 1904. And though she tried to get pregnant again right after, she suffered a bitter miscarriage.
Weighed down by her “failure” as well as her endless political duties, Mary’s health grew frail. Until the day it snapped.
35. She Would Not Give Up
Mary was so ill that doctors told her husband to prepare to say goodbye—but then, she made a miraculous recovery. That's when he made a chilling choice. Once more putting his work above everything else, even the woman he loved, he took his post back up in India and left Mary to convalesce alone. And even as sick as she was, she took her own wifely duties seriously.
When she was barely able to move around, and only with help, she wrote to George and told him she would join him in India shortly. And surprisingly, she did—but that didn't mean the nightmare was over.
36. She Perished Young
In the summer of 1906, Mary Curzon’s body gave out. An illness and awful cough that “shook [her] bones to pieces” took over, and she wrote to her brother, “I sometimes fear and feel I shall never be well again”. That July, she suffered a fatal heart attack at just 36 years old, proving that even when a dollar princess’s marriage goes well, it can still go so wrong.
While Mary helped shape British politics for years to come, the next dollar princess helped shape an American dynasty.
37. Consuelo Yznaga: The Best Friend
Consuelo Yznaga isn’t well known today, but as her story and scandal go on, you’ll see just how embedded she is in American history…at least, in its backdoor bedroom dealings. Born in New York City in 1853, Yznaga hailed from Cuban nobility and a long line of plantation owners. As such, she grew up with the future elite of New York society, what novelist Edith Wharton would go on to describe as the “Buccaneers.”
In fact, her childhood best friend Alva Smith married William Vanderbilt, scion of the American Vanderbilt family. But Yznaga’s own marital accomplishments were nothing to sneeze at.
38. She Was A Future Countess
While Yznaga’s friend Alva kept her money stateside, she went the dollar princess route, marrying George Montagu, the Viscount Mandeville, in 1875. Since George was the future Duke of Manchester, it was only fitting that Yznaga brought with her an eye-popping dowry worth multiple millions when converted into today’s money.
But all the money in the world couldn’t save her now.
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39. She Married Into A Nightmare
Consuelo Yznaga had been sold a fairy tale, but almost as soon as she settled into her new European estates, she realized something had gone horribly wrong. Her husband might have been a future duke, but he was also an utter brute, and in less than a decade he had squandered all the money she’d brought in on gambling and mistresses.
The Duke was so far gone, Yznaga’s father in-law banished the couple to Ireland for years to get him under control. But when Yznaga emerged back into society, it didn’t get much better.
40. She Betrayed Her Best Friend
Yznaga’s terrible husband passed in 1892, leaving her free to do what she wanted…which wasn’t a good thing. In 1895, it’s said she started an affair with William Vanderbilt, the husband of her childhood best friend Alva. Whatever the truth, Alva and William did go through a scandalous divorce right around this time.
Perhaps the most poignant part? Alva had actually named her own daughter Consuelo after her traitorous friend, who she’d also made the girl’s godmother. But this goddaughter had possibly the worst time as a dollar princess.
41. Consuelo Vanderbilt: The Pitiful Princess
From the moment of Consuelo Vanderbilt’s birth in 1877, Alva was determined that her daughter make an aristocratic European match just like her namesake. Accordingly, Alva forced the girl to wear a steel rod from a young age to perfect her posture, and would whip her with a riding crop at any sign of misbehavior.
The Vanderbilt matriarch was open and unapologetic about her control; when Consuelo once protested, her mother retorted, “ do the thinking, you do as you are told”. It would be her doom.
42. She Was Stunning
Like her predecessor Jennie Jerome, Consuelo won both the family and genetic lottery, being both unimaginably wealthy and unimaginably beautiful. Peter Pan playwright James Barrie wrote, "I would stand all day in the street to see Consuelo Marlborough get into her carriage,” and men went wild for her "piquante oval face” and “long slender neck”.
By the time Consuelo reached maturity, she was the embodiment of the “slim, tight look” that characterized women during the Edwardian era. And her mother knew this all too well.
43. Her Mother Had One Dream For Her
By the time Consuelo became of marriageable age, Alva was sure she could win her daughter one of the biggest catches in Europe, namely Charles Spencer-Churchill, the 9th Duke of Marlborough, who came from an illustrious family and was also the cousin of Winston Churchill. There was just one thing Alva hadn’t counted on.
44. She Was In Love With Someone Else
Consuelo was singularly uninterested in the Duke, title or not—because she was utterly in love with the socialite Winthrop Rutherfurd, a man 15 years her senior who possessed less than half the possibilities of a Duke of Marlborough. And when it came to keeping Rutherfurd, the normally compliant Consuelo got downright rebellious.
45. She Put Her Foot Down
Instead of caving to Alva’s demands, Consuelo planned to elope with Rutherfurd, thereby ending the marriage negotiations with the Duke once and for all. Sadly, her domineering mother was more than ready for her. When Alva got wind of Consuelo’s plans, she locked her daughter in her room, all while threatening to harm Rutherfurd and force Consuelo down the aisle.
When that didn’t work, Alva upped her machinations.
46. Her Mother Played Dirty
As Consuelo staunchly refused to marry anyone but Winthrop Rutherfurd, Alva began getting extremely “ill,” a “sickness” apparently brought on by her daughter’s stubborn refusal to listen. The more Consuelo stood her ground, the closer Alva got to death’s door…until the girl, fearful she really was killing her mother, agreed to the wedding at last.
At that point, Alva suddenly made a full recovery. Enough to witness one of the worst days of her daughter’s life.
47. She Bawled At The Altar
Consuelo Vanderbilt’s wedding to the Duke of Marlborough was the talk of society, but so too was her strange behavior on her “special day”. Reportedly, Consuelo spent her time at the altar uncontrollably weeping behind her veil. Meanwhile, the Duke collected $2.5 million, nearly $100 million in today’s money, as a marriage settlement that would inject new life into his dilapidated estates.
It was the beginning of something truly awful.
48. Her Husband Made A Terrible Confession
It only took until the honeymoon for Consuelo to realize the full impact of her mistake. Not only was the Duke a relatively shallow man, he was also utterly dismissive of her. Then he made a series of chilling confessions. First, he admitted he’d only married her to “save Blenheim,” his ancestral home, and then informed her that he, too, was completely in love with someone else, and didn’t intend to romance her beyond producing an heir.
49. She Couldn’t Let Her Old Flame Go
Miserable with the Duke even after giving him a son, Consuelo rekindled her relationship with Winthrop Rutherfurd just a few years later. Eventually, she confessed to her husband that she still wanted to elope with Rutherfurd, and there were even scandalous whispers that her second son belonged to him, not the Duke.
But even when the Duke reluctantly agreed to a possible split and elopement, no happy ending was in sight.
50. Her Love Rejected Her
In 1900, Consuelo went to London to sit down and discuss elopement with Rutherfurd—only to receive the shocking news that he didn’t want to marry her. In the desperate aftermath, and while her husband was away, Consuelo began an affair with the Duke’s cousin, Reginald Fellowes, and may have done the same with the artist Paul Cesar Helleu.
Clearly, Consuelo now wanted out no matter what it took, and soon both spouses couldn’t deny it.
51. Her Mother Admitted She Was Wrong
Before long, the Duke and his dollar princess were barely on speaking terms, much less intimate ones, and they separated in 1906, officially divorcing in 1921. In a too-little-too-late moment of vindication, even Consuelo’s own mother Alva admitted during the court proceedings that the marriage was a mistake, confessing, “I forced my daughter to marry the Duke”.
But the end of Consuelo’s marriage wasn’t quite the end of her tragedy.
52. She Got Something Of A Happy Ending
Consuelo Vanderbilt, for all her looks and wealth, was nearly endlessly unlucky in love. At one point near the end of her marriage, she planned to elope again, this time with the already married Marquess of Londonderry, only for it to also go up in smoke.
Eventually, Consuelo did find happiness when she married Jacques Balsan, an early lover of Coco Chanel; she remained married to him until his passing in 1956. When Consuelo herself passed in 1964, many saw it as the true end of a not-so-gilded era.
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