Today marks the Anniversary of the Birth of Consuelo Vanderbilt, Duchess of Marlborough, who was born on this day in 1877! Among the spectacular Wedding Gifts to the Vanderbilt Heiress when she married the Duke of Marlborough was this historic Pearl Necklace, which reportedly belonged to Catherine the Great or Empress Eugenie!
Marlborough Tiara | Duchess of Marlborough’s Pearl Necklace
But first, lets learn about Consuelo Vanderbilt, Duchess of Marlborough! The daughter of William Kissam Vanderbilt, a New York railroad millionaire, and Alva Erskine Smith, a Southern belle and suffragist, Consuelo Vanderbilt grew up in an abusive and harsh childhood at 660 Fifth Avenue and Marble House in Newport. While secretly engaged to an American, Winthrop Rutherfurd, she was forced to marry the 9th Duke of Marlborough, gaining a title and place among the British Aristocracy while the Duke used her large dowry to save Blenheim Palace, the family seat.
The couple had two children, the 10th Duke and Lord Ivor, and although she became a popular and influential Duchess the couple mainly lived separately until their divorce in 1926, becoming a prominent example of the marriage of a ‘Dollar Princess’.
The former Duchess married Lt. Col. Jacques Balsan, a French Pilot and textile manufacturing heir, continued her charitable endeavours and residing between France, Florida, and New York, where she passed away in 1954.
When the ‘Dollar Princess’ Consuelo Vanderbilt married the Duke of Marlborough in 1895, she received this historic Pearl Necklace, which reportedly belonged to Catherine the Great or Empress Eugenie, as a gift from her mother, Alva Vanderbilt. She wrote:
My mother had given me all the pearls she had received from my father. There were two fine rows which had once belonged to Catherine of Russia and to the Empress Eugénie, and also a sautoir which I could clasp round my waist. A diamond tiara capped with pear-shaped stones was my father’s gift to me, and from Marlborough came a diamond belt.”
The new Duchess of Marlborough wore her Pearls when she was presented at Court to Queen Victoria, soon after arriving in England.
For my presentation, my wedding dress had been cut low and with the court train looked bridal and festive. Around my waist was the diamond belt my husband had given me and on my head a diamond tiara; there were also pearls in profusion.
The Duchess of Marlborough wore her Pearls for numerous portraits and occasions, as well as in costumes for the Devonshire House Ball in 1897.
In 1902, the Duchess of Marlborough wore her Diamond Tiara for the Coronation of King Edward VII, paired with the:
Vanderbilt pearls in roped festoons and superb diamonds, which sparkled all over her corsage and far below her waist.”
The Duchess of Marlborough was one of the four peeresses who held the canopy over Queen Alexandra’s head during the anointing ceremony, as immortalised by Laurits Tuxen.
The Duke and Duchess of Marlborough had separated in 1906, but she wore the ‘entire Vanderbilt regalia’ when she attended the Coronation of King George V and Queen Mary in 1911. While she sold her Tiara at auction in 1919, the Pearls remained in the Duchess’ possession even after her divorce in 1921.
When the Duchess’ elder son, the Marquess of Blandford, married the Hon. Alexandra Mary Cadogan, a granddaughter of the 5th Earl Cadogan, in 1920, she gave one strand of the Vanderbilt Pearls as a Wedding Gift, along with the Boucheron Pearl and Diamond Tiara. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the Marchioness of Blandford was often pictured wearing the Pearl necklace with the Boucheron Tiara at society events and at the State Opening of Parliament.
The Pearl Necklace and the Boucheron Tiara were also worn by the Duchess to Coronation of King George VI in 1937 and the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, where her daughter, Lady Rosemary, served as a maid of honour, usually paired with many massive emerald brooches.
While there have been several Duchesses of Marlborough since the Duchess’ passing in 1961, the historic Pearl Necklace does not seem to have been publicly worn by any of them, unlike the Boucheron Pearl and Diamond Tiara, but lets hope it makes a reappearance soon!
Marlborough Tiara | Duchess of Marlborough’s Pearl Necklace