The Dark Story of the American Brides Who Saved England’s Palaces

In 1895, the richest bride in America wept all morning behind a guarded door — then married a duke who needed her money to save his palace. She was one of hundreds of American heiresses who crossed the Atlantic to trade fortunes for titles. Some found misery, some found power, and one became an ancestor of Princess Diana. This is the true story of the dollar princesses: Consuelo Vanderbilt, Jennie Jerome, Mary Curzon, Nancy Astor, and the women who rescued England’s great houses and paid the price.