![]() ![]() ![]() Her sense of humour allowed her to weather every storm, not least the ire of a feisty dowager who publicly rebuked her for daring to sport white gloves to the Longchamp races during the mourning period for Queen Victoria. Fortunately, her charm and intelligence won her many friends, and her candid accounts of sumptuous balls and country-house weekends make for enchanting reading. A new edition of Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsans memoirthe story of the real Lady Grantham of Downton Abbey Consuelo Vanderbilt was young, beautiful. She was not aided in her endeavour by a husband whose nickname of Sunny belied his grimly fastidious nature. Installed as the mistress of Blenheim Palace at the age of only 18, she struggled to find a place for herself within the glittering, self-confident world of the English aristocracy. Born into a family of staggering wealth and influence, Consuelo was effectively forced down the aisle by her ambitious and domineering mother, Alva. In this wonderfully evocative memoir, first published in 1953 and now reissued in an elegant new edition, the reluctant duchess recounted the circumstances behind her celebrated-and ultimately disastrous-marriage to a virtual stranger. The Glitter and the Gold Kindle Edition by Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan (Author) Format: Kindle Edition 563 ratings See all formats and editions Kindle Edition £3. Country Life's Top 100 architects, builders, designers and gardeners. ![]()
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