[1] The Duke obtained a large dowry through the marriage and reportedly told her just after the wedding that he married her in order to "save Blenheim Palace", his ancestral home.

In her autobiography, Consuelo described how she was required to wear a steel rod, which ran down her spine and fastened around her waist and over her shoulders, to improve her posture.

Consuelo was allowed to consider the proposal of just one of the men, Prince Francis Joseph of Battenberg, but she developed an instant aversion to him.

"[9] Oxford undergraduate Guy Fortescue later described how he and his friends were captivated by her "piquante oval face perched upon a long slender neck, her enormous dark eyes fringed with curling lashes, her dimples, and her tiny teeth when she smiled.

[10] Determined to secure the highest-ranking mate possible for her only daughter, a union that would emphasize the preeminence of the Vanderbilt family, Alva engineered a meeting between Consuelo and the indebted, titled Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough, chatelain of Blenheim Palace.

Lady Paget, always short of money, became a sort of international marital agent, introducing eligible American heiresses to British noblemen.

When Consuelo — a docile teenager known only for her obedience to her fearsome mother — made plans to elope, she was locked in her room as Alva threatened to murder Rutherfurd.

[14] Alva made an astonishing recovery from her supposed illness, and when the wedding took place, Consuelo stood at the altar reportedly weeping behind her veil.

[15] The Duke, for his part, allegedly gave up the woman he loved back in England and collected $2,500,000 ($91,600,000 in 2023 dollars) in railroad stock as a marriage settlement.

[21] Unlike her husband, Consuelo was considered to be politically liberal and quite progressive for a Duchess, with Consuelo advocating for social reforms and endorsing the Liberal Party's welfare agenda, such as free school meals, free medical inspection for children, national insurance for workers, and old-age pensions.

[22] She was also an advocate for Women's Suffrage, seeing it as a means to remedy social welfare problems — though she condemned militant tactics in stark contrast with her more radical mother.

[30] After Consuelo's affair and planned elopement with the married Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 7th Marquess of Londonderry,[31] the Marlboroughs separated in 1906 and divorced in 1921.

[22] Though largely embarked upon as a way to facilitate the Anglican Duke's desire to convert to Roman Catholicism, the annulment, to the surprise of many, was also fully supported by Consuelo's mother, who testified that the Vanderbilt-Marlborough marriage had been an act of unmistakable coercion.

If she predeceased the 9th Duke, the income was to be paid to him for his life, and following both of their deaths, the trust would vest in the couple's children, unless Consuelo made an alternative appointment in her will.

Once it had become apparent that this could not be achieved, William K. Vanderbilt paid $380,000 for a parcel of land on Curzon Street where a large townhouse, Sunderland House (earl of Sunderland, a subsidiary title of the duke of Marlborough, was used as a courtesy by the 9th Duke prior to his grandfather's death and resulted in his nickname "Sunny"), was to be built for his daughter and son-in-law.

[34] In 1926, copies of documents relating to negotiations between Consuelo's father and the 9th Duke of Marlborough prior to their marriage were located in the New York Surrogate's Court.

[38] Consuelo also received a reversionary interest in her father's French properties at 10 & 11 Rue Leroux, Paris and a château in Normandy, in which her stepmother had a life-interest.

[42] Consuelo's second wedding, on 4 July 1921, was to Lt. Col. Jacques Balsan, a record-breaking pioneer French balloon, aircraft, and hydroplane pilot who once worked with the Wright Brothers.

The 26,000 square feet mansion was designed by Maurice Fatio and named "Casa Alva" in honor of her mother; the property was sold in 1957.

Many believe that, in 1946, Churchill polished his famous Iron Curtain speech here, as he visited Consuelo on his way to Missouri to deliver the address at Westminster College.

She was buried near her younger son, Lord Ivor, in the churchyard at St Martin's Church, Bladon, Oxfordshire, not far from her former home, Blenheim Palace.

The primary beneficiary of her personal estate, including her residence in Southampton and her jewels, was her eldest granddaughter, Lady Sarah.

Although she had no desire to enter politics, she felt a strong sense of obligation after the Women's Municipal Party asked her to take up the vacant seat.

[53] During the interwar period, she and Winaretta Singer-Polignac (the Princess de Polignac and Singer Sewing Machine heiress) worked together in the construction of a 360-bed hospital destined to provide medical care to middle class workers.