Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan

About the Author

Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan, born into the opulent world of America's Gilded Age elite as the daughter of William Kissam Vanderbilt and Alva Erskine Smith, navigated a life of extraordinary privilege and poignant constraint. Forced into a strategic marriage at eighteen to the Duke of Marlborough in 1895, she became the Duchess of Marlborough, residing in grand estates like Blenheim Palace while championing women's suffrage and social reform. After her divorce in 1921, she married French aviator Jacques Balsan and devoted herself to humanitarian causes, including aid during World War II. Her memoir, 'The Glitter and the Gold,' offers an intimate glimpse into the splendor and sacrifices of high society, revealing the woman behind the title with candid insight and resilient grace.