This lecture will take place in the Belmont Chapel at Island Cemetery. “Dollar Princesses” (sometimes known as "dollar duchesses") were wealthy American women of the late 19th and early 20th centuries who married into titled European families, exchanging wealth for prestige. They were often the daughters of nouveau riche tycoons whose families wanted to gain social standing.
According to a book called Titled Americans (1915), there were 454 marriages between Gilded Age and Progressive Era American women and European aristocrats, most of whom were Britons. The Library of Congress noted in a reference guide that "American heiresses married more than a third of the House of Lords". Between 1870 and 1914, 102 British aristocrats, six of whom were dukes, married American women..
This lecture will take place in the Belmont Chapel at Island Cemetery. “Dollar Princesses” (sometimes known as "dollar duchesses") were wealthy American women of the late 19th and early 20th centuries who married into titled European families, exchanging wealth for prestige. They were often the daughters of nouveau riche tycoons whose families wanted to gain social standing.
According to a book called Titled Americans (1915), there were 454 marriages between Gilded Age and Progressive Era American women and European aristocrats, most of whom were Britons. The Library of Congress noted in a reference guide that "American heiresses married more than a third of the House of Lords". Between 1870 and 1914, 102 British aristocrats, six of whom were dukes, married American women..
