It is a curious fact that the young Duchess of Marlborough, née Miss Vanderbilt, is the godchild and namesake of Consuelo, Duchess of Manchester, owing to the circumstance that the latter and Mrs. Vanderbilt were intimate friends. The Duke of Marlborough first met Miss Vanderbilt when she was visiting her godmother, but the engagement and marriage took place, as all the world knows, in New York.
The Duchess of Marlborough, like most of her fellow countrywomen, has shown remarkable powers of adaptability. She is very much liked, both round Blenheim and in the more critical London world where her rank gives her a very important place.
Everyone is aware that Lady Randolph Churchill is one of three beautiful sisters who all married Englishmen. The brilliant younger son of a Duke of Marlborough first met Miss Jennie Jerome in Paris. Like so many American women, she was and is a very excellent conversationalist; in fact, during Lord Randolph's lifetime, it used to be said that the only woman who was his match in repartee was his own wife. Although brought up in an intensely republican atmosphere, she developed, after her marriage, into an enthusiastic Tory, and a pillar of the Primrose League.
When her husband decided to enter Parliament, his wife set herself to promoting his interests in every way; and it was openly averred at the time, that he owed his appointment as Chancellor of the Exchequer to her efforts, for in those days Lady Randolph Churchill may be said to have had a salon in the true sense of the word, and her beautiful house in Connaught Place was a rendezvous for her husband's friends and supporters. She showed American thoroughness in everything about the establishment, keeping the best chef in town and being a perfect hostess from every point of view.
Since the premature death of Lord Randolph Churchill, his widow has continued to make her home in London. She is very devoted to her two sons, and is said to be as ambitious for them as she was for their father. It was at one time widely asserted that Lady Randolph was about to become the second wife of her millionaire fellow-countryman, Mr. William Waldorf Astor, but up to the present time the rumour has not been confirmed.
(1) LADY GREY-EGERTON. A. Hughes, Photo (2) LADY RANDOLPH CHURCHILL. A. Hughes, Photo (3) THE COUNTESS OF CRAVEN. Lafayette, Photo
Lady Randolph's great interest in life is music. She is a very fine pianist, and sings almost as well as she talks. She has of late devoted a great deal of her spare time to private theatricals, her first appearance having taken place at Blenheim, during the now historical visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to the Duke of Marlborough and his young American bride.
Lady Randolph has preserved an extraordinary look of youth, and, though the eldest of the three, she looks younger than either of her sisters, Mrs. Jack Leslie, and Mrs. Morton Frewen.
Among the American women who have been called upon to take an active interest in British political life, Mrs. Joseph Chamberlain certainly deserves the foremost place. She is devoted to her husband, and has made herself thoroughly conversant with all that affects or that may affect his political ambitions. But she is quite content—unlike, it must be admitted, most American women—to take a second place, and she is liked and respected by many people who still retain their prejudice against the Colonial Secretary.