Due to her father's career she spent much of her childhood abroad living in China, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and other places.

[4] Brooke described her tumultuous first marriage as the "worst years of [her] life", which was punctuated by her husband's alleged physical abuse, alcoholism and adultery.

[2] According to Frances Kiernan's 2007 biography of Astor, when Brooke was six months pregnant with the couple's only child, her husband broke her jaw during a marital fight.

Buddy's financial fortunes turned in the mid-1940s when Brooke went to work as a features editor at House & Garden magazine for eight years.

Vincent was the son of RMS Titanic victim John Jacob "Jack" Astor IV and socialite Ava Lowle Willing.

"[2] Not wanting to die alone, Astor agreed to divorce his second wife Mary Benedict "Minnie" Cushing only after she had found him a replacement spouse.

Minnie had first suggested Janet Newbold Rhinelander-Stewart who turned down Astor's proposal with startling candor stating "I don't even like you."

Before Vincent's death, Brooke once privately admitted to her daughter-in-law Elizabeth Cynthia "Liz" Cryan: "I don't think I can stand being married to him anymore.

"[17][18] Among numerous other organizations, she was involved with Lighthouse for the Blind, the Maternity Center Association, the Astor Home for emotionally disturbed children, the International Rescue Committee, the Fresh Air Fund, and the Women's Auxiliary Board of the Society of New York Hospital.

The story detailed how her grandson, a historic preservationist and professor at Roger Williams University, had filed a lawsuit seeking the removal of his father as the socialite's guardian and the appointment of Annette de la Renta, the wife of designer Oscar de la Renta, instead.

According to accounts published in The New York Times and the Daily News, Astor was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and suffered from anemia, among other ailments.

The lawsuit alleged that Marshall had not provided for his elderly mother and instead had allowed her to live in squalor and reduced necessary medication and doctor's visits while enriching himself with income from her estate.

Philip Marshall further charged that his father sold his grandmother's favorite Childe Hassam painting in 2002 without her knowledge and with no record as to the whereabouts of the funds received from the sale.

In addition to Annette de la Renta, Henry Kissinger and David Rockefeller provided affidavits supporting Philip Marshall's requests for a change in guardianship.

The day the story appeared, New York Supreme Court Justice John Stackhouse sealed the documents pertaining to the lawsuit and granted an order appointing Annette de la Renta guardian and JPMorgan Chase to be in charge of Brooke's finances.

Several news organizations including the Associated Press and The New York Times sued to have the records of the Astor case unsealed in the public interest; their request was granted September 1, 2006.

[19] Astor was moved to Lenox Hill Hospital where an unidentified nurse called her appearance "deplorable" according to the Daily News.

Meryl Gordon's book Mrs. Astor Regrets: The Hidden Betrayals of a Family Beyond Reproach (2008) makes use of diaries kept by the nurses who cared for Brooke during the last years of her life.

[20] Philip C. Marshall was a tenured professor and director of historic preservation at Roger Williams University until 2017 when he left to dedicate his efforts full-time to elder justice as the founder of Beyond Brooke.

The charges stemmed from the district attorney's office and subsequent grand jury investigation into the mishandling of Astor's money and a questionable signature on the third amendment to her 2002 will which was made in March 2004.

[23] In October 2009, after deliberations that stretched over 12 days and were reportedly marked by bitter disagreements that left one female juror claiming to feel personally threatened by another juror, the jury convicted Anthony Marshall (then age 85) of 14 of the 16 counts against him, including one of two charges of grand larceny, the most serious charge, for giving himself a retroactive $1 million payment for assisting with his mother's finances.

[25] On November 30, 2011, Sotheby's announced plans for an April 19, 2012, auction of jewelry[28] as well as fine and decorative arts from her Park Avenue apartment and Holly Hill, her Westchester estate.

Among the guests were Henry Kissinger, Oscar de la Renta, Whoopi Goldberg, Jessye Norman and Michael Bloomberg.

[citation needed] Brooke Astor is portrayed as the heroine Jane Merle in the romantic comedy Night and Silence: Who is Here?