Crushed By Troubles, Duchess Studies Esperanto

What language would she be
studying if she were happy?

I’m sorry, but was the Esperanto part supposed to make us feel more sorry for Consuelo Spencer-Churchill? The Esperanto reference appears in the third subhead in an article in September 9, 1907 San Francisco Call. In the headline and subheads we learn that the “American duchess” is “crushed by troubles,” “forlorn,” has given up society, and that she’s “reading and learning Esperanto.” Oh, the horror of it all.

The duchess in question was, at the time, Duchess of Marlborough. Her maiden name was Consuelo Vanderbilt; she was an American heiress who married into the British nobility (just like Downton Abbey!). Unlike the Crawleys (specifically the Earl of Grantham and his American-born wife), history (and Wikipedia, yeah) records that the Spencer-Churchills did not have a happy marriage (though this scandal would have died down before the Titanic sunk with Lady Mary’s marriage prospects)[1]

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