Million Dollar American Princesses
Join Elizabeth McGovern as she takes an in-depth look at the young American heiresses whose real life stories inspired the acclaimed TV drama "Downton Abbey." This series takes you from the late 1800s, when daughters of America's new industrial millionaires marry into the money-strapped British aristocracy, to the 20th century, when a new kind of American Princess wields power not through wealth, but through character, style, and wit. Through the decades, these women bring dramatic change to the European aristocracy and eventually the world.
On TV
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- Thursday
- 9:00pm
Mar 14Queens of the Screen -
- Friday
- 12:00am
Mar 15Queens of the Screen
Ways to Watch
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Seasons
Season 2
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Leading Ladies
Meet three American heiresses who transformed their lives in England and blazed a trail for future generations of women.
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Beautiful and Doomed
See how American heiresses Barbara Hutton, Clara Ward, and "Kick" Kennedy found tragedy after marrying into royalty.
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Queens of Culture
See how Winnaretta Singer, Sara Murphy, and Peggy Guggenheim rose to become towering figures in 20th century art.
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Queens of the Screen
See how Grace Kelly, Gloria Swanson, and Rita Hayworth rose from Hollywood royalty to part of European nobility.
Season 1
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Movers & Shakers
Witness the epic ending to Million Dollar American Princesses, and the scandalous events that nearly toppled a kingdom.
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Wedding of the Century
Enter the world that inspired "Downton Abbey," where America's richest heiresses traded cash for British royalty.
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Cash for Class
Follow snubbed new-money American families as they take England by storm and find love - and misery - as British royalty.
Bios
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Winnaretta Singer
Winnaretta Singer (January 8, 1865--November 26, 1943) was the 20th child of Isaac Singer, of Singer sowing machine fame.
In 1875, shortly after moving his family to England, Isaac passed away, leaving Winnaretta devastated... and very rich. In 1886, she married Prince Louis de Scey-Montbeliard, but by 1889, the marriage had ended, partly due to the fact that Winnaretta was attracted to women, not men.
Four years later, she remarried, this time to a 59-year-old Prince Edmond de Polignac who was also gay, but, crucially, shared her love of music, art, and all things modern. They developed an affectionate, happy relationship.
Under the cover of marriage, the Princess De Polignac was free to pursue sexual affairs with women, but music remained her greatest passion. She built her reputation as a famous salon hostess and patron, promoting a number of new artists and commissioning works from notable composers, like Claude Debussy and Erik Satie.
In 1901, Edmond fell seriously ill from unknown causes and died suddenly soon after. Winnaretta commissioned a gravestone inscribed with an epitaph by the composer Wagner that read: "Happy in faith, happy in love." She would continue her work as a musical patron, right until her death in 1943.
Her Paris mansion is now the site of the Singer-Polignac Foundation, which continues to patronize the arts and sciences.