Consuelo Montagu (née Yznaga), Duchess of Manchester
(1853-1909), Socialite; wife of 8th Duke of Manchester; daughter of Antonio Modesto Yznaga del Valle and Ellen Maria ClementSitter in 7 portraits
Consuelo Yznaga was a Cuban-American socialite from Louisiana, who caused a stir in London with her uninhibited nature and fondness for playing the banjo. In 1876, she married George Montagu, Viscount Mandeville, the notoriously rakish and dissolute heir to the Duchy of Manchester. The carriages of the 1,200 guests at their New York wedding caused a traffic jam along Broadway. The Manchesters (who later divorced) were part of the Prince of Wales's 'Marlborough House set', and Consuelo used this social leverage to act as an Anglo-American marriage broker for later generations. She nonetheless disapproved of her son's secret marriage to an American railroad heiress, Helena Zimmerman.
Consuelo Montagu (née Yznaga), Duchess of Manchester
by José Maria Mora
albumen cabinet card, circa 1883
NPG x197472
Consuelo Montagu (née Yznaga), Duchess of Manchester
by José Maria Mora
albumen cabinet card, circa 1883
NPG x197473
Consuelo Montagu (née Yznaga), Duchess of Manchester
by José Maria Mora
albumen print, circa 1883
NPG x197474
Consuelo Montagu (née Yznaga), Duchess of Manchester
by Unknown photographer
albumen cabinet card, circa 1891
NPG x197583
by James Russell & Sons
dry-plate glass negative, 23 November 1904
NPG x8461
Members of the Marlborough House Set
by David Knights-Whittome, for James Russell & Sons
dry-plate glass negative, 23 November 1904
NPG x8465
Consuelo Montagu (née Yznaga), Duchess of Manchester
by Frederick John Jenkins
heliogravure, late 19th century
NPG D38189
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