Episode 99: De-Titled
Not all love affairs last forever. When one princess loses her title, will another readily take her place and possibly share the same fate?
#BarbaraHutton, #CarolineAstor, #divorce, #lovetriangle, #siblingromance, #sibling betrayal, #HagueConvention, #JeffBezos, #LaurenSanchez
November 27th, 1932, Princess Louise Van Alen Mdivani appears in the Hague divorce court dissolving her 18 month marriage to Prince Alexis Mdivani. On December 7th, 1932, her cousin Princess Ava Alice Astor Obolensky will also get a divorce in Reno. Two marriages both end but for very different circumstances.
Other people and subjects include:
Barbara Hutton, John Jacob Astor VI aka “Jakey,” James “Henry” Van Alen, William “Sam” Van Alen, Princess Roussadana “Roussie” Mdivani Sert, Prince Serge Mdivani, Princess Mary McCormick Mdivani, Sam Insull, Prince David Mdivani, Princess Mae Murray Mdivani, Charles Huberich, Princess Ava Alice Astor Obolensky, Prince Serge Obolensky, Ivan Obolensky, Sylvia Obolensky, Raimund von Hofmannsthal, Countess Silvia de Rivas de Castellane, Woolworth Donahue, Jeanne Meagher, Peggy Moffett, Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Kennedy, James Blakeley, Grace Rioppel Blakeley Hyde, Nancy Randolph, Cholly Knickerbocker, Caroline Astor, William Backhouse Astor, Jr., Charlotte Astor, Mary Mallon – Typhoid Mary, John Jacob Astor IV aka “Jack,” Ava Lowle Willing Astor – Lady Ribblesdale, Vincent Astor, Madeleine Talmage Astor Dick, Alva Vanderbilt Belmont, William Kissam Vanderbilt, Consuelo Vanderbilt, Duke of Marlborough, Colonel Henry Huttleston Rogers II – Jr., Mary Benjamin, Millicent Rogers, Standard Oil fortune, oil ventures, Princess
Catherine Alexandrovna, Tsar Alexander II Romanov, Prince of Wales – King Edward VIII – Duke of Windsor, American dollar princess marriages, royal titles, Central Park Casino, Reno, Nevada, Lithuania, Hague, Netherlands, Hague Convention, international divorces, remarriage, infidelity, divorce, friends & sibling romances, uneven breakups, betrayals, Edward McLean, Evalyn Walsh McLean, Jeff
Bezos, Lauren Sanchez, Vogue, Washington Post, Hope Diamond
Archival Music provided by Past Perfect Vintage Music, www.pastperfect.com.
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Publish Date: November 28th, 2023
Length: 20:18
Opening Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands
Section 1 Music: You Go To My Head by Joe Loss, Album The Great British Dance Bands
Section 2 Music: I’m In the Mood for Love by Freddy Gardner, Album Elegance
Section 3 Music: Stars Fell On Alabama by Lew Stone, Album The Great British Dance Bands
End Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands
AS THE MONEY BURNS
Podcast by Nicki Woodard
Episode 099 – De-Titled
Outline
Divorce
Royal titles by marriage
00:00
[Music – My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands]
AS THE MONEY BURNS is an original podcast by Nicki Woodard. Based on historical research, this is a deep exploration into what happened to a set of actual heirs and heiresses to some of America’s most famous fortunes when the Great Depression hits.
Each episode has three primary sections. Section 1 is a narrative story. Section 2 goes deeper into the historical facts. Section 3 focuses on contemporary, emotional, and personal connections.
00:29
Story Recap
Rumors abound after Barbara Hutton and Prince Alexis Mdivani are caught in bed, while and Cobina Wright loses two homes due to her husband’s financial indiscretions.
Now back to AS THE MONEY BURNS
Title
00:45
De-Titled
[Music Fade Out]
Episode Tag
Not all love affairs last forever. When one princess loses her title, will another readily take her place and possibly share the same fate?
01:03
[Music – You Go To My Head by Joe Loss, Album The Great British Dance Bands]
Section 1 – Story
[Music Fade Out]
01:18
Oh how quickly wedded bliss can fade. The whirl and swirl of falling in love mired in the realities and complexities of life. An indiscretion can be remedied, or maybe not.
Love forged by money is not immune to heartbreak, and in fact can accelerate the decline even further.
Many speculate over the marital state of Prince Alexis Mdivani and Princess Louise Van Alen Mdivani. Over the summer, another heiress seems to have driven a wedge between the longtime couple. Over the years, ruggedly handsome Russian Prince Alexis secretly seduced his best friend’s sister and debutante It Girl Louise resulting in a quick marriage unwelcomed by her family. Unaffected by the upheaval, the Prince happily secures a portion of their family fortune for himself, as he had already lived off her brothers James “Henry” Van Alen and William “Sam” Van Alen for years since meeting them at Eton. The brothers had no idea that their lothario companion had set his sights on their very lucrative sister Louise. Indeed, Louise is the rare equal heiress to her brothers, and they each are getting a fairly substantial sum and one far larger than the other Mdivani brothers’ entertainment wives have earned.
02:28
Only the seduction and engagement came on the edge of another heiress’s debutante ball, exposing that this other heiress had twice the fortune with less pesky relatives to interfere. The heiress was none other than the chubby budding fashionista Barbara Hutton, an old school mate and sometime friend of Louise. Barbara also served as a liaison between Prince Alexis and his Spanish love Silvia de Rivas now the Countess de Castellane.
Newlywed Louise reveled in her princess status until the endless Lost Midnight Brigade got too repetitive and exhausting. Then over the 1932 summer, Barbara and the Prince grew closer, so close they ended up in bed together at his sister Princess Roussadana “Roussie” Mdivani Sert’s estate in Spain. The unexpected tryst ending in exposure, and Barbara fleeing the premises.
Roussie asserts to Louise she must let Alexis go to be happy, and the Prince himself asks for his freedom. In comes Mdivani brother-in-law American Dutch lawyer Charles Huberich to handle the legal matters.
03:29
But that isn’t the only legal trouble for the Mdivani clan. Oldest brother Serge Mdivani and his operatic second wife Princess Mary McCormick Mdivani are under investigation. The songbird has been a long-time close friend to Chicago industrialist Sam Insull, who has recently fled the United States after his large energy corporation imploded. The liquidation of the Insull energy empire requires a thorough accounting of all monetary transactions, and a petition in the London courts indicate that Serge received a $33,500 loan and Mary an additional $5.3k (the equivalents of $678k and $107k in 2023) to purchase Insull stocks in July 1931, nearly a year prior to the Ponzi scheme’s collapse. Liquidators naturally want repayment.
04:20
Middle brother David Mdivani and his actress-singer-dancer wife Princess Mae Murray Mdivani too are facing the courts over failure to repay debts. Then there is the surmounting troubles from the Mdivani brothers’ oil ventures, which might not be doing as well as originally speculated.
Oooh, yes, the impoverished royal Mdivani siblings are great at spending not so much on saving and far less creating wealth. Maybe Louise is getting off early and just in time before more of her large substantial fortune is depleted further.
04:54
Tuesday, November 29th, 1932, the Hague, Netherlands
Louise finds herself inside a Hague courtroom with her application for a divorce.
Deep down, Louise would prefer to make it work with the Prince. It seems a bit odd, but she has been in love with him since she was a little girl. Despite the humiliation, her heart isn’t fully ready to let go. To her intimate friends, she still professes to have a great love for Alexis. Many thought she might likely thwart any attempt at a divorce and hold on a bit longer.
05:29
Meanwhile, Barbara has returned to New York City and only the day before held a small gathering at the Central Park Casino, in attendance her cousin Woolworth Donahue, newly wedded debutantes and their husbands the former Jeanne Meager and Peggy Moffett along with Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Kennedy, and James Blakeley – the handsome son of a Broadway star and recent divorcee Grace Riopel Blakeley Hyde and also a former beau of Barbara over the last year, among others.
It doesn’t take much for the speculation from society reporters Nancy Randolph, Cholly Knickerbocker, and all the other little associated newspapers to declare that Barbara will likely become the second Princess Alexis Mdivani before a divorce petition is even filed much less finalized.
06:13
Inside the courtroom, Louise steels herself when she hears the marriage dissolved on the grounds of incompatibility. 18 months now gone and passed since her May 1931 wedding. She agrees to a settlement to be paid in support of Alexis. He will also get to keep his polo ponies and Rolls Royce among other things.
Her marriage, her heart, a bit of her money, and lastly her title are now all gone.
One week later…
06:43
Wednesday, December 7th, 1932, Reno, Nevada
Louise’s cousin Princess Ava Alice Astor Obolensky finally acquires a divorce as well, after a previous failed attempt in Lithuania. It seems that Ava has had a bit of trouble finding the right court to dissolve her 8 year marriage to impoverished Russian Prince Serge Obolensky. They have 2 children Ivan and Sylvia. Though rumors point that Sylvia might be the child of Ava’s lover and future 2nd husband Raimund von Hofmannsthal. Thus the nature of Ava’s marriage and divorce differ quite a bit from cousin Louise.
07:22
Meanwhile, Ava’s younger half-brother proud heir John Jacob Astor VI, aka Jakey, returns from his worldwide trip and heads his way to Boston and Harvard. On his travels, he shot thousands of feet of motion pictures. Socialites and debutantes surely delighted at the return of another highly eligible bachelor heir.
Never fear heiresses, heirs, and titled royals will surely find love and matrimony again. Money and titles will always be strong lures of attraction.
It is rumored that Louise has another interest in a Spanish royal with a title older than Mdivani but not as far back as Obolensky.
The heart wants what it wants, whether love, title, or fortune.
08:06
[Music – I’m In the Mood for Love by Freddy Gardner, Album Elegance]
Section 2 – History & Historiography
[Music Fade Out]
08:23
It might be hard to believe with the high prevalence of divorce in the United States and many Western European societies that this trend is barely over a century old. Throughout history, there has always been a form of divorce available but rarely used. For the higher echelons of society, it would have been even more difficult to unentangle.
08:45
The American elite trendsetter really is Alva Vanderbilt Belmont who divorces her cheating husband William K. Vanderbilt in 1895 and quickly remarries Oliver Belmont in 1896. Somewhat scandalous for sure, and Alva is banned from Society for a bit then engineers her daughter’s elaborate wedding to a British aristocrat the Duke of Marlborough to force re-entry. Yes, the future suffragette Alva forces her daughter Consuelo Vanderbilt into a miserable American dollar princess marriage, which Consuelo eventually divorces and remarries happily to a non-noble Frenchman. Thus divorce and remarriage eventually became acceptable but still a fairly rare thing for a few more decades.
09:29
The other Gilded Age society queen Caroline Astor strictly opposes divorce, remarriage, and any form of scandal. She too is stuck in an unhappy marriage with a very public cheating husband William Backhouse Astor, Jr. Caroline and William spend most of their time apart. He entertains less reputable younger ladies on his luxury yacht, which Caroline claims to never travel on as she suffers seasickness. Ironically, she comes from a Dutch shipping and mercantile family. Luckily, Caroline is widowed in 1892, and she too will pass in 1908.
10:03
Now Caroline’s third daughter Charlotte Astor had a bit of romantic and sexual scandal and causing an international controversy with her divorce in the 1890s. In 1902, Charlotte’s first husband and children would later suffer typhoid fever in Dark Harbor, Maine, while being served by their cook Mary Mallon, the infamous Typhoid Mary.
10:24
Caroline’s son John Jacob Astor IV, aka Jack, too is trapped in a loveless marriage with Ava Willing Lowle Astor, who already spends most of her time with their daughter Ava Alice Astor in England. Upon his mother Caroline’s death, Jack and his wife promptly get a divorce. He stays in the United States with their son Vincent Astor, while his ex-wife and the mother Ava permanently remains in England with their daughter and eventually remarries becoming Lady Ribblesdale, and has with her own intentions to marry their daughter into nobility and European aristocracy. Within less than 2 years, Jack remarries the much younger Madeleine Talmage *Astor, who is younger than Vincent. Jack will die on the Titanic leaving a fortune unevenly divided amongst his children including the posthumously and post-tragedy born John Jacob Astor VI, aka Jakey.
11:16
It is safe to say Caroline Astor would abhor the marriages and divorces of her grandchildren and great grandchildren. Caroline’s granddaughter and Jack’s daughter is none other than Princess Ava Alice Astor Obolensky. Caroline’s great granddaughter is Princess Louise Van Alen Mdivani. Both female descendants married impoverished royals though the marriages didn’t last.
11:36
As covered in this series, the American dollar princess trend began during America’s Gilded Age and continues well into the 1930s and periodically later. The trend is still very strong during the time of our story as is evident with the plethora of recurring instances noted in various episodes.
11:53
However it is interesting to see the reference to another rising trend – a fashionable divorce abroad. With announcements regarding the Astor heiresses’ divorces, there is mention of this particular divorce trend starting back in the summer of 1929. When heiress Mary Benjamin divorces her cheating husband heir Colonel Henry Huttleston Rogers II (or Jr depending on the source). The Rogers fortune is another offshoot from the Standard Oil fortune. Ironically, the divorce proceedings are so secretive no one knew until it was over. In fact, part of the appeal is that only the terms of the divorce and no other specific matters are made public outside the courts. Thus somehow the Rogers divorce at the Hague becomes a fashionable and acceptable trend for higher profile marriages.
12:40
The couple’s daughter is socialite heiress Millicent Rogers, another former dollar princess already on her second marriage. Millicent will side with her mother and will have strained relationship with her father afterwards. Since the Rogers divorce in 1929, both Evalyn Walsh McLean’s husband Edward McLean as well as Princess Ava Alice Astor Obolensky attempt to get divorces in Lithuania, and both end up eventually having to settle their divorces inside the United States.
13:07
For her situation, Ava Alice Astor is finally granted a divorce in Reno, Nevada on December 7th, 1932 on the grounds of cruelty. In all twists, it should be noted Millicent Rogers is supposedly partially responsible for Prince Serge Obolensky divorcing his first wife Princess Catherine Alexandrovna – the morganatic daughter of Russian Tsar Alexander II Romanov from his second marriage to his former non-noble mistress. Millicent also was a favorite dance partner of the Prince of Wales, eh-hem future King Edward VIII and later Duke of Windsor.
13:42
An extra note, the Hague in the Netherlands became center of European and international legal activity by the end of the 19th Century. “The Hague Convention” refers to a series of various treaties over the decades that outline appropriate procedures and jurisdictions for multiple international matters including divorce, child custody, and adoption procedures. Anyone who has had to initiate or execute an international divorce where spouses live in separate countries following the Convention will be obliged to follow the laws involving serving papers and other restrictions. I myself have had direct experience as my own divorce involved my ex living in his home country during the proceedings, and I had to follow international as well as my own American national and state laws. What a pain, but so worth it. Recently, I warned and advised another under similar circumstances on the proper foreign service of papers. My warning unheeded resulted in further delays in expediting that divorce.
14:39
Now here’s one thing to keep in mind with these Society, wealthy, and somewhat royal marriages. How quickly these newly divorcees are remarried often within a year or two of their divorces. Newspapers covering the Astor heiresses note that their penniless princes will still be desirable and able to continually bestow their titles onto as many wives or ex-wives as they obtain. The former wives might be able keep their titles for life, but their next husbands will be unable to share or gain it as their own. Well, there has to be some limitations after all.
Love and marriage, horse and baby carriage, and now divorce as it all goes round again.
15:23
[Music – Stars Fell On Alabama by Lew Stone, Album The Great British Dance Bands]
Section 3 – Contemporary & Personal Relevance
[Music Fade Out]
15:42
This is an ongoing tale of love, fortune, and heartbreak. While we are following a set of extremely rich heirs and heiresses the themes are still relevant to anyone and anywhere.
Divorce and heartbreak *are never fun, and it is very rarely mutual. Like any breakup but amplified by legal entanglements, a divorce often has one spouse still very much in love and wanting to work a relationship out. Or sometimes even in misery, one spouse still insists in keeping the marriage, likely for social status or money. If the marriage has been broken up due to an affair or scandal, it might be even harder to heal. Louise Van Alen has been in love with Prince Alexis Mdivani since she was a young girl. He was her brothers’ best friend for over a decade, and now it is suddenly all over.
16:31
That simply should not be overlooked. This short marriage is much diminished in the sources that favor Barbara Hutton. Yet as a sister with a brother where we both had crushes on and were crushes of our various friends, I have to say this got me tremendously. This is a double, triple, maybe quadruple betrayal.
There are a few instances where my brother’s older teen delinquent friends had crushes on me. Fortunately, I was strictly declared off limits and untouchable to them by my brother and the friends as well. Trust me, that was for the best and a far less headache otherwise.
17:09
My own childhood best friend and beloved brother were briefly early adolescent sweethearts. Complications of lingering feelings were entangled for years, especially when his older teen friends also took an interest in her. Yeah, that got a little weird too. As for my brother and bff, they both behaved well due to their love of me, and a deep friendship developed between them until his death. She sat next to me at his funeral.
So I get the complicated triangles between family members and friends, lingering feelings, and other messes. And that is when situations end cleanly and in a time of relative innocence.
17:45
But what if there had been cheating or something else to make things far more trickier?
I could never imagine how much angrier and more complicated it could get if money became the motive for all the betrayals – both in getting and so callously discarding a friend’s sibling.
When I would tell others about this particular Mdivani – Van Alen dynamic, they would slightly shrug it off a bit confused. But then I would explain what if my best friend dumped my brother for one of his other friends, or if I had later seduced her brother, several years our junior, then dumped him for one of his more well-off friends? Can you imagine? Then people start to get how big this betrayal really is.
18:28
The recent Vogue November 14, 2023 article features Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his fiancée Lauren Sanchez talking about their engagement and their relationship. A relationship which exploded onto the scene back in 2019 when Bezos fought back against an extortion and blackmail attempt at exposing their affair. Promptly, Bezos and Sanchez divorced their respective spouses, *who had previously been friends. Now the billionaire and his mate are happy, and the resulting public reaction has been mixed some praise and other criticism both over the alleged beginning and the weird faux modesty ostentation of their extravagant life. Oh, and a reminder Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post – the same publication owned in our story by Edward McLean, the man and heir trying and failing to divorce his wife Hope Diamond owner Evalyn Walsh McLean.
Hmmm, something so far from the past comes right into the present. Could there be more connections and potential overlaps amongst our heirs and heiresses? Only time will tell…
19:34
Thank you for listening. Can you believe this is the last episode before 100. Please come to any social media for As The Money Burns on Facebook, X, or Instagram with any comments, questions, or tales you would like to share and include for Episode 100.
19:50
Speaking of trends have you heard of Firebreathing Kittens podcast? You might be in for a treat. Every week this rotating group of regular friends engage in a different role playing game. Mixing up detective mysteries, space adventure, and occasional dragon hunting with comedic banter and most of all friendship. Each episode has a beginning and an end, so you can start at any episode. That’s Firebreathing Kittens podcast, available at a podcast directory near you and Patreon.
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Hook
20:29
[Music – My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands]
Next when we return to AS THE MONEY BURNS…
With a large fortune in sight, a whole family gathers to determine the next set of moves. What is an heiress to do?
Until then…
Credits
20:46
AS THE MONEY BURNS is an original podcast written, produced, and voiced by Nicki Woodard, based on historical research. Archival music has been provided by Past Perfect Vintage Music, check out their website at www.pastperfect.com.
Please come visit us at As The Money Burns via Goodpods, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram. Transcripts, timeline, episode guide, and character bios are available at asthemoneyburns.com.
21:18
THE END.