Gladys Marie Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough (née Deacon; 7 February 1881 – 13 October 1977) was a French American aristocrat and socialite.

[3] In 1901, the Crown Prince of Prussia visited the palace and took a strong liking to her, giving her a ring that the Kaiser demanded be returned.

[2] At the age of 22, Deacon underwent a plastic surgery attempt in which she had her nose injected with paraffin wax; it slipped to her chin, causing big lumps.

[4][5] Artistic and a keen gardener, the new Duchess of Marlborough had enlarged images of her startling blue-green eyes painted on the ceiling of the main portico of Blenheim Palace, where they remain today.

By 1962, she had become mentally ill, much like her father and paternal grandmother,[3] and was forcibly moved to St Andrew's Hospital in Northampton,[2] where she died in 1977, aged 96.