What Is a Dollar Princess? How It Connects to Gladys Russell on ‘The Gilded Age’

Dollar Princesses, also known as Buccaneers, American Duchesses, and Banknote Brides, were wealthy American heiresses from nouveau riche families who married into European aristocracy, often in exchange for titles and social status.

The phenomenon emerged during the Gilded Age, particularly in America, when fortunes built in booming new industries created a fresh American ruling class eager to secure a grand future for their daughters — a royal life, if possible.

But who are they, where did they come from, and how does this tie in to HBO’s The Gilded Age? Let’s take a look.

What are Dollar Princesses?

Typically, these young ladies were the daughters of self-made millionaires such as industrialists, oil barons, steel kings, and other captains of industry who used their vast fortunes to secure titles through marriage, effectively trading new money for old blood. For many of these brides, it was an auspicious arrangement.

Karolina Wojtasik/HBO

Since these women usually had little say in whom they married anyway, gaining a title and social clout was at least a decent consolation prize. As for the men they married, they received a healthy infusion of cash and a young wife they might eventually grow fond of, or not.

Who are a few famous examples?

A textbook example of a Dollar Princess whose daddy’s money bought more than just a title is Jennie Jerome, also known as Lady Randolph Churchill and the mother of Winston Churchill. The daughter of Wall Street tycoon Leonard Jerome, Jennie landed Lord Randolph Churchill, the cash-strapped son of the 7th Duke of Marlborough in 1874. With her sharp tongue, striking looks, and talent for political maneuvering, she paved the way for future transatlantic brides looking to trade dollars for nobility and made sure history remembered her for more than just her fortune.

In fiction, Elizabeth McGovern‘s Cora Crawley from Downton Abbey is another example of a successful Dollar Princess who found happiness across the pond. Though her marriage was initially transactional, at least by her husband Robert Crawley’s (Hugh Bonneville) own admission, it helped solve the financial troubles plaguing Downton Abbey at the time. Over time, Robert grew to love Cora deeply, and their marriage proved to be a successful one.

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On the other hand, we have the story of Consuelo Vanderbilt, the Duchess of Marlborough. But more on her later.

Did Dollar Princesses always get a happily ever after?

While possible fame and fortune lay on the other side of the Pond for many of these girls, so did isolation, culture shock, public scrutiny, and worst of all, the possibility of being stuck in a loveless marriage to a man she hardly knows.

How does this tie into The Gilded Age?

In The Gilded Age, the Russells are loosely based on the Vanderbilt family, with Bertha and George (Carrie Coon and Morgan Spector) inspired by railroad tycoon William Kissam Vanderbilt and his socialite wife Alva. On the show, George is portrayed as ruthless in business but has a soft spot for his family, particularly for his daughter Gladys (Taissa Farmiga), while his wife appears just as shrewd in her social climbing as her historical counterpart.

In the show, Bertha sets up her daughter Gladys with the Duke of Buckingham (Ben Lamb), clearly against Gladys’s wishes. By the end of Season 2, it is implied that Bertha made a deal with the Duke, trading his presence at the opening of the Metropolitan Opera, which gave her social clout over Caroline Astor (Donna Murphy), for her daughter’s future.

In real life, Alva pushed her daughter Consuelo to marry the Duke of Marlborough in 1895. In exchange for a title and bragging rights, the Duke got a dowry of over $2 million.

Consuelo never warmed to the Duke. Even at the wedding, it was reported that the bride appeared to have been weeping. And while some couples eventually find comfort in the lifestyle and routine, Consuelo’s marriage remained a loveless one. Although the couple had two children, the couple were reported to be unfaithful throughout their relationship and lived separate lives, until the marriage was finally dissolved in 1921.

Is this the fate of Gladys Russell? TV Insider asked writer and executive producer Sonja Warfield about Gladys’ future, and she responded, “We have to see what Gladys’ life will be. Will it be what she chooses?”

The Gilded Age, Sunday, 9/8c, HBO, Streaming on HBO Max