The 2018 wedding between British Prince Harry and American actress Meghan Markle captured the hearts and minds of people around the world, garnering both admiration and criticism; but did you know marriages between American women and European nobles have been a popular, and controversial, trend since the Gilded Age?

During the tail end of the 19th century, wealthy American heiresses married impoverished European nobles by the score to secure social status for their “new money” American families while allowing impoverished nobles from across the Atlantic to maintain the lifestyles their families had become accustomed to.

Join us virtually as we discuss the so-called “dollar princesses” of the Gilded Age, including quite a few Jersey girls! Featuring Professor Melissa Ziobro of Monmouth University