A $2.5 Million Contract. A Footman at the Door. A Bride in TEARS The Dollar Princesses

The Gilded Age Debutantes Whose Weddings Were SIGNED Before the Vows The newspapers called it romance. Between 1870 and 1914, American girls from new money crossed the Atlantic and came back as countesses and duchesses. But the families on both sides wrote the real terms down in contracts, and the lawyers signed before anyone said I do. Jennie Jerome's wedding could only take place the day after her settlement money arrived. An earl in Pittsburgh stopped his own wedding to ask for more. Consuelo Vanderbilt spent her wedding morning in tears, with a footman posted at her door, while a settlement worth two and a half million dollars in railroad stock had already been signed. Thirty years later, her mother finally said out loud why. Chapters: 00:00 — The Contract 02:24 — Act I — The Rise 05:28 — Act II — The Facade 10:08 — Act III — The Crack 14:19 — Act IV — The Reckoning 18:48 — Act V — The Aftermath Source Material Visual material used in this production is obtained from publicly accessible archives, including Wikimedia Commons. Copyright & Fair Use Notice This channel incorporates copyrighted material under the principles of Fair Use as recognized by U.S. law. Under Section 107 of the United States Copyright Act, certain uses of copyrighted works such as for analysis, commentary, educational purposes, research, and reporting are permitted without prior authorization from the copyright holder. Sources Consuelo Vanderbilt, Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consuel... How American Rich Kids Bought Their Way Into the British Elite, Smithsonian Magazine — https://www.smithsonianmag.com/histor... Lady Randolph Churchill, Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Ra... Vanderbilt Costume Ball, New-York Historical Society — https://wams.nyhistory.org/industry-a... Alice Cornelia Thaw, Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_C... #documentary #history #oldmoney #scandal