Who's On First?

I away thought I knew just about all of the American Royal Brides, or at least those that got the title Princess added to their name. However, a few months ago I came across a Wikipedia entry for one Clara Ward, who had married into a Belgium princely family in the late 1800's. I had never heard of her, but the entry made her sound fascinating. To quote Lady Caroline Lamb (Who said the following about Lord Bryon) Clara seemed "Mad, bad, and dangerous to know." Imbedded in the entry was a  throw away line about the "first" American Princess, Catherine Willis Gray, Princess Murat. Who? Who was she? "No, no", I said to myself, "Betsy Patterson Bonaparte was the first American Royal Bride." Even if she never held an official title, Betsy was first!

A couple of weeks ago I came across a web site that had a whole section of American Royalty, including a couple of American  men who married Princesses. They had good ol' Betsy listed at number one, but no mention of Ms. Gray. However, on further research by me, Catherine Gray was indeed an acknowledged princess. 

I then moved on to Amazon in hopes of finding some reading material to help with my research, and I stumbled across a book  The Kaiser's Confidante: Mary Lee, the First American-Born Princess, by Richard Jay Hutto. I haven't read it...yet (Taking it on my next cruise), but the title suggests that the author feels that Mary Lee, who married her prince 1864, was the first American Princess, but I have to disagree as I have already found at least four that pre-date her marriage.

And then I managed to find yet another piece of information that put my original guess of 19th century American Princess at seven (7) so wrong. It was a copy of an article that originally appeared 29 October 1899, in the San Francisco Call that gave a recap of twenty (20) American Ladies, mostly married during the Gilded Age, who were now princesses. To quote the article "Twenty American Girls, who by Marriage have Become Princesses and Therefore Ought to be Happy." What dribble, as if marriage alone to a man that had a title was enough to make one happy! 

Anyway, a quick search on Google has me thinking I have only just begun to unravel Who, What, Why & Where. Some on these ladies are proving to be elusive on details of their lives or any photos are proving to be quite scarce. But I am up to the challenge, and hope to bring you more stories of the woman who snagged their prince.



Links to Reference Material:

Americans Who Married Royalty

San Francisco Call 29 October 1899