'Dollar Princesses': American Women Married British Aristocrats, 1870- 1920, The Gilded Age

Last edited Sat Feb 5, 2022, 12:37 AM - Edit history (1)

- Weird History. In the 1870s, rich Americans came up with a new scheme: they sold their daughters abroad, marrying them off to British aristocrats in exchange for a title. In a country without an aristocracy, suddenly every rich American wanted a duchess in the family. The young women, who often didn't have a choice, became known as the Dollar Princesses. Buying noble titles was an old practice, of course, but Americans took it to a new level with Gilded-Age marriages. American brides carried huge fortunes across the sea, including some of the most lavish dowries in history.
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Between 1880 -1920, an estimated 350 marriages took place between women from new wealthy American families and British aristocrats in The Gilded Age. These include Jennie Jerome of NY, the mother of Sir Winston Churchill who m. Lord Randolph Churchill; Consuelo Vanderbilt who m. the Duke of Marlboro; and Francis Work, the daughter of industrialist Franklin Work who m. the Duke of Fermoy. Francis is the great grandmother of Charles and Diana Spencer and American actor Oliver Platt. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Ellen_Work
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Randolph_Churchill
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consuelo_Vanderbilt
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- Library of Congress (LOC). Dollar Princesses: Topics in Chronicling America: Beginning in the late 1800s, American heiresses married more than a third of the House of Lords. This guide provides access to materials related to the “Dollar Princesses” in the Chronicling America digital collection of historic newspapers. Chronicling America is a searchable digital collection of historic newspaper pages from 1777-1963 sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress.

Included in the website is the Directory of US Newspapers in American Libraries, a searchable index to newspapers published in the United States since 1690, which helps researchers identify what titles exist for a specific place and time, and how to access them.



- Cartoon illustration of Dollar Princesses' influence on European men of wealth. September 28, 1913. El Paso Herald (El Paso, TX), Image 33. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers.

Europe is broke and America seeks social status. The solution? European nobility marries rich, beautiful American socialites looking for aristocracy. These Gilded Age heiresses married more than a third of the titles represented in the House of Lords, and announcements of these transatlantic marriages were pervasive in the newspapers of the day. American influence was carried overseas, with many brides literally changing the face of Europe, by renovating the stately estates of Edwardian England. Read more...https://guides.loc.gov/chronicling-america-dollar-princesses