How to Marry an English Lord
Join Royal Oak we hear the true stories behind the American women who inspired Downton Abbey and The Gilded Age!
New York Times best-selling co-author of To Marry an English Lord, Carol Wallace will tell the decadent tales regarding the Gilded Age social phenomenon when more than 100 American heiresses married into British aristocracy, swapping their dollars for titles. Giving up their homes and families on one side of the Atlantic, only to be spurned on the other side. Most brides were eager to marry into nobility, but others like Consuelo Vanderbilt were forced into a miserable and unhappy unions where the roof of the stately home may have been fixed, but the marriage was always broken!
Along with gossip and scandal, what often is left from these dollar princesses displays an unheard-of level of extravagance. Chicago heiress Mary Leiter became Baroness Curzon of Kedleston, and her House of Worth wedding dress featuring peacock feathers and gold thread is on display by the NT.
Carol will describe the vivid personalities, dashing earls, and grand houses involved in these marriages. She will detail all of the snobbery, social triumphs, and gaffes in etiquette while highlighting the parties, affairs, and 100+-year-old gossip that continues to enthrall and entertain us today.
