5. One Heiress Married a French Prince… Twice
Winnaretta Singer was the twentieth of twenty-four (yes, twenty-four) children born to Isaac Merritt Singer, the man who invented the modern sewing machine. She grew up mostly between New York City, France, and England. When she was 22 years old, she married the French prince Louis-Vilfred de Scey-Montbeliard. Five years later, the marriage was annulled. The next year, she married a different French prince, Edmond de Polignac. They remained married until Edmond died in 1901. Of course, the annulment of the marriage between an American dollar princess and a French prince raised many eyebrows in France’s more traditional society, but there was a pretty good reason for it: the marriage was never consummated.
Winnaretta was a lesbian and, like so many other dollar princesses, married the prince so that she could get a noble title. On their wedding night, she reportedly climbed onto the wardrobe and, waving an umbrella at her husband, said, “I am going to kill you if you come near me!” The second prince that she married happened to be gay, so the two enjoyed a platonic union that was more of a friendship and business arrangement. They hosted musicians at their home and championed the arts and other creative endeavors.