Heiress Gallery

Consuelo, Duchess of Marlborough with her two sons

Portrait of Consuelo Vanderbilt (1877 - 1964), American heiress and first wife of Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough. She married the duke in 1895 after being coerced into the marriage by her mother. After her divorce in 1920, she devoted much of her time to social welfare and was married again, to Colonel Jacques Balsan. Pictured here with her two sons, the Marquis of Blandford and Lord Ivor Charles Spencer-Churchill, The little boy in the right of the picture became the 10th Duke of Marlborough. Date: 1903

© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans

Portrait of Lady Elizabeth Seymour, Duchess of Somerset, formerly Elizabeth Percy, heiress and friend to Queen Anne, 1667-1722

6340212 Portrait of Lady Elizabeth Seymour, Duchess of Somerset, formerly Elizabeth Percy, heiress and friend to Queen Anne, 1667-1722 by Thomson, J. (19th century); (add.info.: Portrait of Lady Elizabeth Seymour, Duchess of Somerset, formerly Elizabeth Percy, heiress and friend to Queen Anne, 1667-1722. Steel engraving by J. Thomson after a portrait by Sir Peter Lely from Mrs Anna Jameson's Memoirs of the Beauties of the Court of King Charles the Second, Henry Coburn, London, 1838); © Florilegius

© © Florilegius / Bridgeman Images

Duchess of Marlborough

Portrait of Consuelo Vanderbilt (1877 - 1964), American heiress and first wife of Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough. She married the duke in 1895 after being coerced into the marriage by her mother. After her divorce in 1920, she devoted much of her time to social welfare and was married again, to Colonel Jacques Balsan. Pictured in The Tatler in 1919 which mention her charitable work including the Children's Jewel Fund and her role as a representative for Southwark on the London County Council. Date: 1919

© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans