They're commonly called "the nouveau riche." Snubbed by New York's old-money families, these ambitious new millionaires, along with their daughters, set their sights on England, and quickly gain entry into the highest levels of the British aristocracy. Join "Downton Abbey" star Elizabeth McGovern as she explores the first transatlantic marriages of the late 1800s. Some will be inspired by love. Some are destined to be simply crude dollar-for-title deals. All of them, collectively, will change the course of history.
Marriages between the daughters of new-money Americans and a cash-strapped British aristocracy hit its stride by 1895. But these unions come at a price, financially and emotionally. While some women find true love overseas, others, like Consuelo Vanderbilt, find themselves mired in misery, loneliness and scandal. Host Elizabeth McGovern reveals how their stories inspired the hit series "Downton Abbey." Then, she explores how the daughters of America's wealthy industrialists survived, and even thrived, in their new aristocratic surroundings.
By the 1930s, the legacy of America's millionaire princesses paves the way for a new generation of American women to enter, and transform, the British ruling class. Some will leave their marriages to explore independent destinies, one will trade charisma instead of wealth to marry into royalty, and one will unwittingly bring about the greatest royal crisis of the 20th century. Witness stories of character and courage as these women escape loveless marriages, break barriers, create their own happy endings and make history.
They were three American actresses about to take on the biggest roles of their careers, thousands of miles from Los Angeles. Join "Downton Abbey" star Elizabeth McGovern as she details how Grace Kelly, Gloria Swanson, and Rita Hayworth transformed from Hollywood royalty to part of European nobility. Unlike previous Million Dollar American Princesses, these starlets also brought unparalleled glamour and fame to the aristocracy, as well as dramatic twists and turns that would rival any one of their movies.
They had passions for paintings, music, entertaining, and obliterating the constraints of societal norms. Meet the "Queens of Culture," three modern, empowered Million Dollar American Princesses who blazed a trail through the arts world in Europe and eventually the world. "Downton Abbey" star Elizabeth McGovern shows how Winnaretta Singer, Sara Murphy, and Peggy Guggenheim inspired and supported some of the most innovative creative talents of the 20th century, from Stravinsky and Picasso to F. Scott Fitzgerald and Jackson Pollock.
Host Elizabeth McGovern continues her exploration of the Million Dollar American Princesses who inspired the series "Downton Abbey" with the stories of three women who looked for love, but found disaster instead. Witness the tragic tales of Barbara Hutton, Clara Ward, and Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy, women of beauty, wealth, and power, who married into European nobility but ended up shunned by society, family, and the happy endings they hoped to achieve.
They were three leading ladies, American heiresses who came to England and had a major impact on the fashion world, interior design, and even Parliament. Elizabeth McGovern's exploration of the women who inspired the acclaimed series "Downton Abbey" brings us the stories of Nancy Astor, Nancy Lancaster and Pauline de Rothschild. They crossed the Atlantic for very different reasons and embarked on very different paths to fame, but each woman shared one attribute: the desire to stand up and be heard, and they were.
How did Prince Harry and Meghan Markle meet? How is the actress changing the face of the Royal family? How will they change her? As another American princess enters the British aristocracy, compare Meghan's story to other actresses and heiresses who crossed the Atlantic to marry into European nobility, such as Grace Kelly and Rita Hayworth. It's a modern royal fairytale that is as much about love as it is about the monarchy's new attitudes on class, race, acceptability, and tolerance.
