SUBALBUM:  Consuelo Vanderbilt, the reluctant Duchess of Marlborough

Consuelo Vanderbilt was the ultimate catch for a destitute British aristocrat, in this case Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough. Not only was she from one of the World's richest families, but 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." She had no interest in the Duke, but her ambitious mother Alva forced the marriage. The Duke and Duchess married in 1895, separated in 1906, and the marriage was annulled in 1926. Her Wikipedia article, including Fotescue's quote, is here.


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