Consuelo Vanderbilt: The Duchess Who Divorced a Duke and Married an Aviator

Consuelo Vanderbilt’s fortune helped save Blenheim Palace, but she had little choice in the marriage that made her a duchess. Twenty-seven years after a Frenchman first noticed her at a Paris ball, she married him on her own terms. Forced into marriage with the Duke of Marlborough at eighteen, Consuelo found that palaces and a famous title could leave her painfully alone. Separation gave her room to live, but the need to remain close to her sons kept her tied to Britain. This is the story of how she gained the freedom to choose Jacques Balsan, build a home with him, and put her fortune to work for others. Gilded Ruin tells the true lives of history's most scandalous, extraordinary women — the legends they built, what the gilding hid, and what it cost them. 0:00 The Duchess Who Chose Again 2:23 The Girl at the Paris Ball 7:40 The Bride Who Could Not Say No 13:03 A Duchess Behind Glass 18:35 Freedom with a Border 23:38 Jacques Takes to the Sky 29:53 A Divorce by Refusal 35:00 Madame Jacques Balsan 39:35 The Marriage on Trial 45:02 Homes of Their Own 50:45 What She Did with Freedom 56:23 Flight from France 1:02:33 The Glitter and the Gold #WomenInHistory #GildedAge #ConsueloVanderbilt