Modern princesses of this new age have always been at the forefront of tabloid media all over the world. Such was the case of Gloria Vanderbilt, the heiress to a famous American railway dynasty, and the darling of the American public.
She was the member of a famous family, the name synonymous with one of the richest dynasties in the USA. After all, her great- grandfather was Cornelius Vanderbilt, the founder of a steamboat and railway imperium. It is no surprise that a university and several streets in the USA bear the family’s name. And Gloria Vanderbilt also became the inspiration for the Oscar-winning movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
The bone of contention
Gloria was born in 1924 as the only child of Reginald Vanderbilt, the famous heir to the boat and railway dynasty, and his second wife Gloria Morgan. After her father’s death, she spent some time in Paris, where her mother would recklessly spend their family’s money. Little Gloria became the bone of contention in a scandalous dispute between her mother, and her worried aunt Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, who fought to gain custody of her. While she suffered during her years with her mother, the only person close to her being her caretaker, the years with her Aunt Gertrude in Old Westbury in Long Island were spent in luxury and comfort.
Gloria Vanderbilt with husband Wyatt Cooper pose for the camera of Toni Frissell, for Vogue magazine.
A woman of many talents
Gloria Vanderbilt wasn’t only a sinfully rich heiress to millions, but also a multifaceted artist with a tumultuous love life. She studied acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse and worked as a model and an actress on Broadway, among other things. She was also a skilled painter, fashion designer and writer. She wrote poems, novels, books about art and interior design. Among her most famous creations are her perfumes, liqueurs, household items, shoes, dresses, blouses or jeans with a telltale swan logo. The name Gloria Vanderbilt became a successful brand, one she trademarked all the way up to the 1970’s. That’s how a collection of eight perfumes emerged, brought to market by the L’Oreal company. By the way, she sold the rights to her famous jeans in 2002 to the Jones Apparel Group company. The success didn’t last long, however. She lost a large part of her wealth in disputes with her business partners, where she ended up facing tax issues. In the current millennium, she turned her focus towards efforts in art and literature. Towards the end of her life, she wrote books and exhibited her oil and watercolor paintings in different galleries around the world, until she died on the 17th of June 2019 at the age of 95.
A tumultuous love life
It wasn’t only her successes that earned Gloria Vanderbilt a spot at the front pages of newspapers, but also her tumultuous love life. Aside from four husbands and several children, she also had many celebrity lovers. Among them were Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly or Marlon Brando. With her last husband, the writer Wyatt Cooper, with whom she lived until he died, she had two sons. Ten years after the death of her husband, fate dealt her a cruel hand. At only 23 years of age, her son Carter Cooper tragically died right before her eyes. She fixated on her other son, the star CNN news anchor Anderson Cooper, who cooperated with her on several of her books. Cooper described his mother as “an exceptional woman, who loved life and lived it as she pleased”. It is said that she inspired the writer Truman Capote to create the character of Holly Golightly in the novel Breakfast at Tiffany’s, portrayed in the Oscar-awarded movie adaptation by the exceptional actress Audrey Hepburn.
Gladys Vanderbilt and Lászlo Széchenyi, who also lived in Slovakia.
TRACKS EVEN IN SLOVAKIA
In 1908, the daughter of Cornelius II. Vanderbilt, Gladys, married the Hungarian Count László Széchenyi, who would go on to become the Hungarian ambassador in the USA. The pair lived in Slovakia for a time, where they used Gladys’ multi million dowry to invest in railways and mines. These investments were unsuccessful, and there were speculations that the couple would divorce. But the marriage lasted until the Count’s death. It was thanks to Gladys’ efforts that the east Slovak village of Remetské Hámre, where they had their summer residence, was one of the first in the country to be electrified. She also ordered the construction of a water supply that works to this day. Their mansion in the village burned down in 1956, and the one reminder of the Vanderbilt family in Slovakia is the Morske Oko castle, standing at the shore of a lake by the same name. After the death of her husband, Gladys moved back to the USA.
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