Frock Flicks Guide to the Dollar Princesses

The American “Dollar Princesses” were late-19th/early-20th-century wealthy American women who married into European elite and aristocracy, bringing huge dowries with them, usually as a result of fantastically wealthy fathers. For European aristocracy, their traditional forms of land-based income were faltering, and they often needed large infusions of cash to maintain their homes and lifestyles. For the Americans, many were considered “new money” and so couldn’t gain access to elite circles in the United States; marrying into a titled family meant instant social prestige.

The most famous real-life example you may know is Consuelo Vanderbilt, who married the British Duke of Marlborough in 1895. Her story was partially fictionalized in Edith Wharton’s book, The Buccaneers, which was the subject of one wonderful adaptation (1995) and one terrible (2023) — but we’ll get to that.

But there were more historical examples of the dollar princesses, and many films and TV series have captured and/or fictionalized their stories! Let’s take a look at American dollar princess on screen, real and fictional:

 

The Age of Innocence (1934)

Edith Wharton’s novel The Age of Innocence is set in 1870s New York. It tells the story of Newland Archer, a lawyer and member of an upper-crust New York family. He’s set to marry a fellow New Yorker, but then her cousin, Countess Ellen Olenska, comes back to town. Ellen was born and raised in New York, but married a Polish count who was cruel and stole her fortune. She’s an example of a dollar princess who’s returned to the world she left, and the story is fascinating for a look at the late-19th-century New York society from which most of the “princesses” came.

In this feature film adaptation, Irene Dunne plays Ellen, while the costumes were designed by the famed Walter Plunkett.

 

Young Winston (1972)

Anne Bancroft portrays Winston Churchill‘s mother, Jennie Jerome, Lady Randolph Churchill (1854-1921) in this biopic about the future British prime minister’s early life. The real Jennie was born and raised in Brooklyn as well as Paris and New York. Her father, Leonard Jerome, was a rich financier.

Jennie married Lord Randolph Churchill, the third son of John Winston Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough, in 1874. I haven’t read that the marriage was miserable, although Jennie did have numerous affairs, including with the Prince of Wales. The couple had two sons, and Lady Randolph was respected among social and political elites in Britain.

The film shows Churchill’s youth, from boarding school through his time in the military in India and as a war correspondent during the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) through his marriage. Costume designer Anthony Mendleson (Oh! What a Lovely War, 1970’s Jane Eyre, The Great Train Robbery) was nominated for an Oscar for the film.

 

The Golden Bowl (1972)

The Golden Bowl is a 1904 novel by Henry James that the BBC adapted for TV in 1972. In the story, fictional character Maggie Verver is the daughter of a rich American and engaged to an improverished Italian nobleman. The couple and her father meet up with another female American, who is a friend of Maggie’s and secretly former mistress to the nobleman, and the plot thickens.

Maggie may be based on the real-life Minnie Stevens Paget (1853–1919), daughter of a Massachusetts hotelier. She married Sir Arthur Paget, grandson of the Marquess of Anglesey and British army general. The couple had four children, and she became a prominent London society hostess.

In the series, Jill Townsend (Poldark) plays Maggie; the costumes were designed by Ian Adley (Mansfield Park).

 

Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill (1974)

This seven-episode British TV series is a full life story of Jennie Jerome/Lady Randolph Churchill, starring Lee Remick (The Europeans, Around the World in 80 Days) as Jennie and also featuring Siân Phillips and Zoë Wanamaker.

After her husband’s death, the real Jennie married a much younger man. Without much money left, she started writing plays that were produced in London. The marriage didn’t last, and after divorcing the second husband, she married an even younger man (go Jennie!). She passed away in 1921 — which, I am horrified to learn, was caused by breaking her ankle, getting GANGRENE, having her leg AMPUTATED, and then dying of a hemorrhage. YEESH!

The series costume design was done by Jane Robinson (Brideshead Revisited, Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna, Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story, A Handful of Dust, From Time to Time) and Jill Silverside.

 

Nancy Astor (1982)

Nancy Astor (1879-1974) was born Nancy Langhorne; her father became a wealthy railroad businessman. She grew up in Virginia and attended finishing school in New York. She married an American socialite in 1897, and although they had one son, they were unhappy. She divorced him in 1903, then married Waldorf Astor, who was born in the U.S. to the famous Astor family but raised in England. She became a prominent socialite, then was elected the first female MP in the British Parliament, serving from 1919-45. Per Wikipedia, “Astor was the first woman to be elected through what has been termed the ‘halo effect’ of women taking over their husbands’ parliamentary seats, a process which accounted for the election of 10 woman MPs (nearly a third of the women elected to parliament) between the two world wars.”

This BBC TV production is another bioseries, telling her life story from her youth through death. Lisa Harrow played Nancy, with Pierce Brosnan playing her first husband. Joyce Mortlock designed the costumes, which were nominated for an Emmy.

 

The Age of Innocence (1993)

Another big-screen adaptation of Edith Wharton’s novel, with Michelle Pfeiffer as Ellen Olenska and also starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Winona Ryder. The film’s costumes were designed by Gabriella Pescucci, and she deservedly won the Oscar for her work.

 

The Buccaneers (1995)

Author Edith Wharton grew up in late-19th-century New York society, and she wrote this novel — left unfinished at her death — about the dollar princesses. Five wealthy American girls can’t break into New York society, so they go to England for a season, where they marry British lords. Wharton was inspired by several real-life “princesses” for her characters:

Consuelo Yznaga (1853-1909) was the inspiration for Wharton’s character Conchita. The real Consuelo was born in New York, the daughter of a Cuban diplomat and sugar mill owner and a woman from Louisiana. She married George Montagu, Viscount Mandeville, and the couple had three children. Mandeville blew through her fortune, but Consuelo did end up Duchess of Manchester and friend of the Prince of Wales. In the novel and adaptation, fictional Conchita goes through a similar storyline.

Meanwhile, main character Nan (younger and more intellectual than the other girls) was inspired by the real-life Consuelo Vanderbilt (1877-1964). She was the only child of New York railroad tycoon William Vanderbilt, and in 1876, her social climbing mother Alva forced her to marry Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough. The marriage was miserable, and the two eventually separated (1906) and then divorced (1921). As Duchess of Marlborough, Consuelo was politically liberal and very active in support of social welfare and women’s suffrage. She later happily remarried to a French pilot.

This BBC/PBS TV miniseries is wonderful. Nan is played by Carla Gugino, Conchita by Mira Sorvino, and Alison Elliott, Cherie Lunghi, James Frain, Greg Wise, Rosemary Leach, Michael Kitchen, and Jenny Agutter also star. The costumes are stunners, and they were designed by Rosalind Ebbutt.

 

The Golden Bowl (2000)

This feature-film adaptation of the Henry James novel was done by Merchant/Ivory. The plot is tweaked from the novel, and sadly, while the costumes designed by John Bright are stunners, the film itself is pretty boring. Kate Beckinsale plays Maggie, while Angelica Huston, Jeremy Northam, and Uma Thurman also star.

 

Downton Abbey (2010-15)

We all know and love the sprawling series, along with its movie and sequel (with a “final” one coming soon!), set amongst an upper-class English family from the 1910s into the 1920s. The character of Cora, Countess of Grantham, was based on Mary Curzon, born Leiter (1870-1906). Born in Chicago, Mary’s father was a partner in the Marshall Field retail empire. After living in DC, Mary was debuted in London, where she married George Curzon, heir to the Barony of Scarsdale. He went on to become Viceroy of India, and the couple lived there for several years, during which they oversaw the British colony. They had three children, all daughters. Mary died relatively young, only 36, of various complications related to miscarriages and fertility surgeries.

In the series and movies, Cora is played by Elizabeth McGovern, while so many other actors take on roles, including Matthew Goode, Maggie Smith, Lily James, Allen Leech, Laura Carmichael, Jessica Brown Findlay, Hugh Bonneville, Anna Chancellor, Penelope Wilton, Hugh Dancy, Susan Lynch, Theo James, Imelda Staunton, Samantha Bond, Michelle Dockery, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Rose Leslie, Iain Glen, Jim Carter, and Shirley MacLaine. The series has had a number of costume designers, including Caroline McCall, Anna Robbins, Susannah Buxton, Rosalind Ebbutt, and Maja Meschede.

 

The Buccaneers (2023-)

In 2023, Apple TV re-adapted Edith Wharton’s novel to terrible effect. Watch it only if you want to see bad costumes and atrocious manners. Conchita is played by Alisha Boe, Nan by Kristine Froseth, and the costumes were designed by Kate Carin, Sheena Napier, and Giovanni Lipari.

 

Are there any other films or TV series featuring American heiresses marrying abroad? Let us know in the comments!