Consuelo Vanderbilt

Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan (2 March 1877 – 6 December 1964) was an American socialite. She was a member of the Vanderbilt family and only daughter of William Kissam Vanderbilt and Alva Erskine Smith. Her first marriage to Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough has become a well-known example of the advantageous but loveless marriages common during the Gilded Age. The Duke obtained a large dowry through the marriage and reportedly told her – on their honeymoon — that he had married her only "because he felt obliged to save Blenheim," his ancestral home. During the marriage, she became a popular and influential duchess. For much of their 25-year marriage, the Marlboroughs lived separately. After an official separation in 1906, the couple was divorced in 1921, followed by an annulment in 1926. Her first marriage produced two sons, John (the 10th Duke) and Ivor. She went on to marry the wealthy French aviator Jacques Balsan and continued her charitable endeavours. Consuelo and Balsan lived in France prior to World War II, then moved to the United States. As stipulated in her will, she was buried at St Martin's Church, the parish church for Blenheim Palace.