Belle Herbert

Rick Hutto: She enchanted the Prince of Wales, was outfitted at Worth’s in Paris, then married a popular diplomat, Sir Michael Herbert, who was a grandson of the Earl of Pembroke. When Belle’s husband was appointed Ambassador to the United States in 1902, she returned to Washington in triumph. The youngest Wilson sister, Grace, was dating the eldest Vanderbilt son, Bill, who died when he was only twenty. Grace courted disapproval when she transferred her attention to his younger brother, Cornelius Vanderbilt III. They were married and young Cornelius eventually inherited his parents’ palatial mansion on Fifth Avenue where Grace Wilson Vanderbilt famously reigned as the undisputed queen of society.