Classic narcissistic mother!  they’d rather harm you than let you have your own life

Imagine hating someone just cuz they actually earned their wealth instead of just inheriting it

Alice Roosevelt Longworth remembered seeing Consuelo’s wedding and wrote she was the saddest bride she had ever seen.

Love that you addressed Alva's lack of looks bc it makes her cunning behavior more interesting

Mrs Caroline Astor was also a member of the  "unfortunate looking" club

If anyone is interested, there's a television series on HBO called "The Gilded Age" and it shows how nasty and cutthroat many of these prominent families and their society could be. Carolyn Astor is a character on the show, as are a few others. The drama series just gives you an idea of what that society was like, and it's very interesting to watch.

the funniest part: in most of the portraits she looks exactly like Steve Bannon!

The main reason New York society wanted to attend Alva's ball is because the guest of honor was a high-ranking European royal. Americans were desperate to mingle with an English Duke or German prince.

Money drives the world and it's so sad that these people accepted someone on how much money they had!!

What a tragic mess!

Alva was so jealous of her daughter and what a monster too. Truly she had the looks and the body also. Sorry to say but true 😡
That is truly disgusting, that she hurt children 😢😢😢😢

Just to clarify-the Duke of Marlborough was not royalty, but the top of the aristocracy, Princess Diana was considered a commoner even though she was the daughter of a future Duke of Marlborough and Fergie was lower in the pecking order as her father was an equerry to the royal family and therefore an employee

Vanderbilts made their money in blood.

"She wasn't no beauty." That's an understatement.

Alva was cruel to her daughter, specially by denying he to marry the man she loved.

What a bunch of superficial standards

So many mother's directing their daughter's lives.
Too bad they had a miserable life, they want to ruin their daughter's too!
Or live through their daughter's lives?

So much focus and energy on things that are not important and no importance placed on the important things in life : relationships, kindness, generosity, and development of intellect.

Wow, the show "The Gilded Age" follows this story in some ways.

Consuela had the longest neck! Made her look regal while her mother looked dumpy.