Helena Zimmerman, Countess of Kintore, former Duchess of Manchester, circa 1900s
Helena Zimmerman, later known as Helena Keith-Falconer, Countess of Kintore and formerly Helena Montagu, Duchess of Manchester, was an American heiress. She married into the British aristocracy twice, first to the 9th Duke of Manchester and later to the 10th Earl of Kintore. The daughter of American industrialist and railroad owner Eugene Zimmerman, she was one of the "American dollar princesses" — wealthy American women who wed European nobles from the late 19th to early 20th centuries.
At a costume ball in Dinard, France, twenty-one-year-old Helena met William Angus Drogo Montagu, the 9th Duke of Manchester, who was twenty-three. He was the son of the late 8th Duke and Cuban American heiress, Consuelo Yznaga. They married at Marylebone Church in London on 14 November 1900, without her father or his mother in attendance. The marriage between the Duke of Manchester and Miss Helena Zimmerman stirred quite a buzz in London's elite circles. When questioned by an Associated Press representative about the authenticity of the marriage news, the Dowager Duchess of Manchester firmly denied it. She suggested that the news was tripe from wishful thinkers and gossips. She was clearly displeased at the thought of her son marrying Miss Zimmerman and even more so when it turned out to be true. Eugene Zimmerman, a Cincinnati magnate, was surprised yet supportive, stating, "I have met the Duke and was very impressed by his manly bearing." In 1903, Zimmerman bought Kylemore Castle in Connemara, Ireland for them. The Duke, known for his questionable reputation and recent bankruptcy, had the castle sold by 1920 due to gambling debts. It became a monastery under Benedictine nuns.
Zimmerman died in December 1914 in Cincinnati, leaving a $10,000,000 trust. He gave Helena an allowance, ensuring the Duke got none of it. Their 21-year marriage faced challenges with the Zimmermans often covering the Duke's expenses. They divorced in December 1931 after the Duke sought a separate divorce in Cuba. Helena later remarried on 23 November 1937 to Arthur Keith-Falconer, 10th Earl of Kintore.
Read more [here.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helena_Keith-Falconer,_Countess_of_Kintore)
And [here.](http://theesotericcuriosa.blogspot.com/2012_12_04_archive.html)
Read more about "American dollar princesses" [here.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_dollar_princess)
