This American Princess Lived A Nightmare

Consuelo Vanderbilt's marriage to the Duke of Marlboro was horrific and it all began with a deranged confession he made on their honeymoon on the glittering surface Consuelo Vanderbilt looked like she had it all the beautiful ays to the massive Vanderbilt wealth her future had Shone like a diamond from the moment she was born but this American princess and million-dollar Duchess didn't get a happy ending she got an utter nightmare in certain echelons of New York Society the upper ones the birth of Consuelo Vanderbilt in 1877 was akin to the coming of a messiah the eldest child and only daughter of the main Vanderbilt Heir William and his wife Elva Consuelo was all the hopes of the Gilded Age of America rolled into one she was even named after her mother's childhood best friend but All That Glitters is very much not gold Consuelo's mother Elva was one of the great battle axes in history and she was determined to for old money New York families like the Asters to accept the Vanderbilt name into their ranks despite its brutish associations a Confederate loyalist Ela was Infamous in her hometown of mobel Alabama for being a spoiled little girl who enjoyed mistreating the slaves she and her family owned and soon the power tripping Elva turned her Gaze on her daughter growing up a Vanderbilt was a hugely privileged position for Consuelo but her privilege came with nightmares punishments from the beginning Elva expected her daughter to be nothing short of perfect and from a young age Forest Consuelo to wear a steel rod along the length of her spine to improve her posture not content to limit herself to her daughter's looks Elva also rigorously corrected Consuelo's personality and behavior if Consuelo said one word out of line The Matriarch was liable to whip the girl with a riding crop picking her own wardrobe was also seen as the height of her Rebellion when Consuelo once complained about the clothes her mother had chosen for her Elva snapped back I do the thinking you do as you're told and as Consuelo grew up an enormous problem began developing unfortunately for the poor girl Consuelo was utterly beautiful as a young woman so why was this beauty unfortunate because soon Ela was using this as another weapon against her the sweet stunning Consuelo was barely in her teen years when she began getting offers of marriage from almost every man who met her her mother's reaction was chilling the only Suitor she even allowed Consuelo to consider was Prince Francis Joseph of Battenburg a man Canelo deeply disliked to the ambitious Elva only a prince or a Duke was good enough to marry her daughter and lift up the Vanderbilt Dynasty whether Consuelo liked him or not and while Consuelo managed to escape Prince francis's proposal she wouldn't be so lucky with the next one still there was something her mother didn't know while Elva planned out her daughter's titles Consuelo had a much different idea for a groom during the course of her debutant season she'd met and fallen in love with the handsome Winthrop Rutherford still Rutherford was no Prince and no Duke and canuela was terrified of her mother finding out about their love so they carried on a courtship right under Elva's nose with Rutherford even sending Consuelo a single red rose on her 18th birthday and then one day they took it as far as they could just after her birthday Consuelo committed her biggest Act of rebellion yet she met Winthrop Rutherford for a bicycle ride along with her mother and some other friends in Riverside Park in Manhattan but when they drew back from the rest of the crowd Winthrop quickly and clandestinely proposed to Consuelo and she accepted if it sounds like the lovers were in a hurry it's because they were something terrifying was looming the day that winthrip Rutherford made Consuelo Vanderbilt his fiance the young girl was on the edge of heading out on a long European soier with her mother Consuela was set to leave the very next day undeterred winra promised to Trail her to Europe and elope with her once they got back stateside if only this is what happened Consuelo spent months soaking up European Hospitality going to tea party after tea party and meeting Prince after Duke but she soon realized something had gone terribly wrong after 5 months her fiance went still hadn't shown up nor had he written or called or done anything to hold on to the promise they had made each other that day it was only much later that she found out the chilling truth Consuelo's love winthrip Rutherford had followed her to Europe and even called on where she was staying in Paris but Consuelo hadn't managed to fool her mother Elva who cottoned on to what was going on and refused to admit winth that day or any other when he wrote frantic letters she intercepted and destroyed them and after all that Elva still had her cruelest card up her sleeve and she was about to play it the entire time that they were in Europe Elva had one man on her mind Charles Richard John Spencer Churchill the Duke had a storied history and Elva who had secured Consuelo an introduction to the Noble at a dinner party on their trip was foaming at the bit for Consuelo to be a part of that history but the Duke was really a snake in the grass when he inherited his title 2 years before they met he found out he was practically bankrupt in a Twist on a historical theme the Duke was Fortune Hunter her and her mother Elva couldn't be happier she stopped at nothing to keep pushing them together after Consuelo's Europe trip wrapped up she might have thought she would finally be free to Exhale she wasn't instead Elva invited the Duke back to America to visit just a couple of months later consua was young but she wasn't dumb she knew what her mother was up to and she knew it spelled certain Doom but before she could do anything about it her mother went to horrific new Lowe's sure that her daughter would try to make a break for it with wiri the minute the opportunity arose Elva confronted Consuelo in a chilling way she actually locked her up in her room like a princess in a tower and told any friends who visited that Consuelo wasn't at home isolated and utterly beat down Consuelo couldn't even get in touch with Windthrop to tell him what was going on during this period elvid did let Canelo to attend the best Society balls naturally it was at one of these events that Canelo happened to run into Winthrop at long last and they shared a single dance together it was all Windthrop needed in a flurry he told huelo he still loved her and wanted to a lope but before Consuelo could get a word out disaster struck while Consuelo danced with winrop her eagle-eyed mother watched from the sidelines she quickly swooped in to separate the pair as soon as possible foiling any plans that they might have made the Fallout was inimaginable when they got home from the ball that night Elva demanded Consuelo see her in her private Chambers ready to give her daughter a piece of her mind but for once Elva Vanderbilt got far more than she bargained for certain of what her mother was going to say the mild manner Consuelo finally put her foot down and stated her intention to marry winthrip Rutherford in a story with a happy ending this would be where the ays got her hearts desire and married the man of her dreams despite her mother's objections but this is no fairy tale instead of succumbing to her daughter's will Elva exploded with a rage insulting Consuelo and winth Alik for their stupidity her Defiance of her mother had caused Ela to have a heart attack and The Matriarch was currently clinging to life in her bedroom Consuelo begged to see her but her mother's Emissary instead insisted referring to last night's fight I warn you there will be catastrophe if to persist guilt stricken Consuelo made a fateful decision Consuelo couldn't bear the thought of causing fatal stress to her mother not even if it allowed her to keep winr ruford so instead of holding her ground the still teenaged girl asked the Emissary to inform Windthrop that she couldn't marry him and that she'd canceled their engagement it must have been heartbreaking it was also about to get so much worse in the wake of her canceled engagement Consuelo was almost completely alone winr left Town her friends had stopped calling and her mother Twisted the knife in further almost as soon as she heard about her daughter's broken engagement Elva miraculously recovered from her deathbed though not enough to treat Consuela with any warmth in the coming weeks Elva had gradually stripped Consuelo of her independence now she went in for the kill starting in late August of 1895 Ela Vanderbilt accepted the Duke as her guest and began drumming up publicity for the marriage between her daughter and a British Pier soon canuela was going everywhere with the Duke with Elva giving lavish balls to show her daughter off to both him and Society everyone expected an engagement at any moment when it finally came it was a high society tragedy in the end not even the day of Consuelo's engagement to a Duke was worthy of a fairy tale the Duke proposed to her in her family Cottage but he was more like a dutiful Cadet than a passionate lover and the worst was yet to come when canuela reported her engagement to her younger brothers she couldn't keep anguish tears out of her eyes still she was about to find out just how awful things could get Consuelo viewed her upcoming nuptials like a funeral March but the preparations themselves were just as nightmarish as soon as the engagement hit the papers the Press crudely characterized Consuelo as yet another million dooll Duchess americ Aman ayses who traded their wealth for a European title as if that humiliation weren't enough the Duke's true feelings soon became obvious as plans for their massive extravagant and expensive wedding coalesced Consuelo and her mother held a rehearsal to make sure everyone in the wedding party knew exactly what to do on the big day but Kell's fiance delt her a cruel snub the Duke decided he didn't need to attend the rehearsal especially since he thought the American custom was vulgar he did however make sure to show up to the settlement meeting the very next day where he finalized canelo's $3 million dowy the year of Consuelo's engagement was also the year the Vanderbilt family publicly imploded just months before the Duke proposed Consuelo's mother Elva had filed for divorce from her father William vanderbelt and the reasons were utterly scandalous for one William had long kept a mistress and Ela was fed up but that was just a polite interpretation while Consuelo's Tycoon Father William was no saint in the boardroom or the bedroom there was a much naughtier Secret at play in truth Elva had known about his mistress for years instead some said that the real problem was Elva's own infidelity she had started up an affair with her husband's best friend and was now openly courting him on November 6th 1895 canelo's nightmare finally became a reality laced into a wedding gown her mother had chosen before her engagement and walking beside bridesmaids her mother had handpicked Canelo entered the church to marry the man her mother had insisted on as she walked down the aisle with her father who Elva only allowed to come for the sake of appearances before he left immediately after the crowd turned to face her when they saw her some of them must have started whispering during her perfect wedding in front of some of the most influential people in the world it was patently obvious that Consuelo had been crying even worse she had to stifle mournful sobs throughout the ceremony to the world outside of that church though the marriage still looked like a Triumph it only took the honeymoon for it to all fall apart before marrying the Duke Consuelo knew she didn't and probably couldn't love him that tore her up enough but on their honeymoon a sinking feeling overwhelmed her as they traveled out for their vacation to Europe canuela watched her new husband PR at all the congratulatory letters he was getting from other members of the nobility including from Queen Victoria herself Consuelo's honeymoon had barely started before the Duke made a stunning confession to her first he outright admitted with characteristic bloodless that he only married her to save blenham his ancestral home besides basically telling her that she amounted only to a big bank account Consuelo's new husband revealed his real feeling he claimed that not only had he married her for her money but he was also fully in love with another woman and had no intention of developing any kind of romance between the two of them except that is to produce an air by the time Consuelo's honeymoon wrapped and she arrived at blenham Palace she was a thoroughly broken woman she not only realized her husband was a shallow man but that she was now a duchess and subject to all the snobbery of the aristocracy that would put old money New York work to shame terrified his American wife was going to come off ignorant and coarse Consuelo's husband had spent most of their honeymoon drilling her on his Spencer Churchill family tree as well as on other people of importance and rank in society as it turned out Consuelo nailed it she arrived in England as the toast of the town and commoners and Aristocrats alike fell in love with her but it wasn't all good news even Consuelo's arrival at her new home was an enormous disappointment the Duke of Marl Boro hadn't been kidding when he said blenham needed saving over the years the bankrupted Dynasty had had to sell off masses of furnishings and possessions so that now the stately home was only a husk soon enough she gave birth to a son John Spencer Churchill her Duty done Canelo might have settled into a quiet unassuming life instead the exact opposite happened it all started perhaps with a high society invitation glattus deacon the newest Young American ays on the market secured herself an invite to blenham one day gladus and Consuelo may have been friends but that didn't stop the socialite from stabbing Consuelo right in the back it wasn't long before gladus had completely supplanted Consuelo blenham and she and the Duke struck up a Tor Affair that lasted over a decade as for Consuelo's feelings on the matter well they weren't what you think as it happened canuela wasn't exactly bothered by her husband taking up with another woman even if that woman was her friend that's because she was far from faithful herself and one of her first lovers was scandalous after their agonizing will they won't they back and forth she eventually did hook up with Winthrop Rutherford shortly after her marriage and oh boy did this have consequences in 1898 Canelo gave birth to another son Lord ior Spencer Churchill fully completing her Duty by providing her husband with as she often Riley qu R an air and a spare except there was just one incredibly shocking thing many believed Ivor was actually winth Rutherford's son given that the boy had very little resemblance to either the duke or his older brother yet like so many of Consuelo's romances her diance with her old lover was going to go up in Flames for a brief time it looked like Consuelo was going to get her happy ever after at least with Rutherford around the time of ivor's conception Rutherford experienced a fit of passion and proposed that they lope together Canelo knew just what to do she rushed to her husband and confessed everything hoping now she could finely be free instead all she got was more hurt and disappointment at first Cano's announcement to Marlboro seemed to be successful and the Duke indifferent to The Bitter End even allowed her to visit Rutherford again to decide what she really wanted to do the very next day Consuelo rushed to the arms of her lover hopeful that her whole future was before her instead Rutherford dealt her a heartless betrayal when Consuelo got to Rutherford's that day he spoke some of the harshest words in the history of love in the interim between proposing and Consuelo visiting he had apparently gotten a major case of buyer remorse and presented her with one of the worst excuses for not marrying her apparently he felt too attached to her to a lope and Consuelo had to go back to Marlboro with her tail between her legs still when it comes to Consuelo's bedroom life that's just the beginning Canelo may not have had much attraction to her husband but she certainly seemed to like his family line once Canelo took up with his cousin Freddy guest who was in fact staying at blenham as a guest and when the Duke finally got home from Battle Canelo had another nasty surprise in store by this point Canelo had given up on ever fully escaping her marriage so she had to fall back on merely hurting her husband any way she knew how when the Duke arrived home from the conflict she cooly informed him that she had been sleeping with his cousin and that she never wanted to see him in her bedroom ever again somehow though it got more Twisted Canelo actually had affairs with no fewer than three of the Duke of marlboro's cousins over the course of her marriage when Canelo married into the Spencer Churchill family she inadvertently changed the course of history that's because before she had an air with the Duke none other than his cousin Winston Church was next in line to inherit blenham the birth of Consuelo's first son helped free Winston to go into politics in 1906 Canelo Vanderbilt stunned the world that year she and her husband could finally take no more and publicly separated it had been a decade of utter misery for both of them little did England know Canelo had more scandals up her sleeve since Consuelo's separation from the Duke her domineering mother Elva had made a strange late in life pivot she had transformed into of all things a vement suffragette while this was more than a little ironic given her childhood owning slaves and her motherhood controlling her daughter it did seem to provide Twi Engles of feminist guilt in The Matriarch and she showed it by testifying in Consuelo's divorce on the stand Elva confessed that I've always had absolute power over my daughter and she admitted she forced Consuelo into the Union begging the judge to Grant the divorce for marriage that had so obviously happened under duress it worked in 1921 Consuelo became a free woman and she wasted no time enjoying that freedom on July 4th 1921 before the ink on her divorce papers was dry she married again her second husband was The Dashing French pilot and man about town jacqu balson who was her lover in the days leading up to her official divorce in fact she and balson went way back heartwarmingly enough Balsam had been in love with Consuelo since her debut taunt days he'd fallen in love with her when he first saw her just before her 18th birthday the less heartwarming part a decade older than Canelo balam had been nearing his 30s at the time he first ogled the teenager even so it's hard to argue with the results The Next Period of Consuelo's life was everything she deserved and more that is going to bring us to the end of the video on Consuelo Vanderbilt if you enjoyed the video leave a like rating subscribe for more and fact Tate will'll be back with a brand new video video very soon

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Length: 20min 4sec (1204 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 14 2024