Spoil of war

Gloria Vanderbilt was 10 years old when she became a spoil of war.

At stake was not only who she would live with, but who would control her very substantial trust fund. 

In one corner:  Gloria's mother, Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt, widow of Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt.

In the opposing corner:  Gloria's aunt, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, Reginald's sister, patroness of the arts, and the wife of Harry Payne Whitney, banker and investor.

The setting:  a Manhattan courtroom in October of 1934, during the depths of the Great Depression.

Called "the trial of the century" by the press, it fascinated a nation and gave it a window into the lifestyle that most Americans could not even fathom. 

So why were two women fighting over the same child?

I'm sure there was a long list of reasons. 

Much of the situation revolved around Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt's age.  She was allegedly 19 when she married the 42-year-old Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt.  Because she was not 21 yet -- in other words, not legally of age -- she received her father's legal permission to get married. 

They were married in March of 1923.  In February of 1924, their only child, Gloria Laura, was born. 

In September, 1925, Reginald Vanderbilt died of an internal hemorrhage (probably complicated by cirrhosis of the liver), leaving his widow in charge of a trust fund totally $2.5 million dollars.  But, because Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt was believed to be 20, and still underage, she also needed a legal guardian.  The only income available for her and her young daughter was the interest from little Gloria's trust.

That income funded Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt's travels to Europe over the next several years.  She traveled in high society circles and went through a brief engagement to a German prince.  (Gloria's twin sister, Thelma, was also the mistress of Edward, Prince of Wales; later to become Edward the VIII.)  Little Gloria spent most of her time with her live-in nurse.

When little Gloria developed tonsillitis, she and her mother sailed back to New York.  Little Gloria had her tonsils out, and then, aunt Gertrude Whitney offered to let little Gloria recuperate at her house.

Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt accepted the offer, left her daughter with her aunt Gertrude, and sailed back to Europe, having very little contact with the child.  Then, in 1934, fearing that she was about to be cut completely out of her daughter's life, she went back to New York and filed a petition for guardianship. 

Gertrude Whitney's response was to declare Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt an unfit mother.

The war was on.

Back and forth, during those days of late 1934, the headlines screamed of scandal, of "unfit motherhood", told of Gloria's "neglect" of her child while partying in Europe and socializing with relatives of the royal family.  When a witness testified that she'd seen Gloria kissing another woman "like a lover", a shocked judge ordered the courtroom cleared of all press. 

Caught in the middle was a 10-year-old child whom no one seemed to consider. 

Little Gloria, on the one hand, wrote her mother letters about how much she missed her and loved her.  But during the trial, she told the judge she hated her mother and was afraid of her.  Barbara Goldsmith, the author of Little Gloria . . . Happy At Last, her account of the sensational trial, theorized that little Gloria feared being kidnapped and murdered by her mother.  Only two years before, the baby son of Charles Lindbergh had been kidnapped and murdered . . . and Gloria herself , because of her wealth and the Vanderbilt name, was also a target for a kidnapper.

But many years later, little Gloria herself said that she'd been coached by her aunt's attorney to lie about how she'd been treated. 

The judge ruled in favor of Gertrude Whitney, with Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt allowed weekend visitation.

Gloria Laura Vanderbilt died today, at age 95.  Did she live happily ever after, after that bitter, sensational custody trial? 

She married four times.  She inherited that trust fund at age 21 and immediately erupted in a mass amount of lavish spending.  One of the recipients of the Vanderbilt money was Pat DiCiccio, her first husband, from whom she got a Reno divorce.  She immediately married conductor Leopold Stokowski.  Later, she would marry Sidney Lumet and Wyatt Cooper.  Her last husband was the father of CNN correspondent Anderson Cooper.

She became an actress, and then a businesswoman.  For my generation, Gloria Vanderbilt jeans were a prized possession, and I remember having two Gloria Vanderbilt tops, one in pink, one in turquoise. 

Then she became a writer, telling her story in Once Upon a Time and other books. 

The New York Times published Barbara Harrison's review of Once Upon a Time, and in it, stated that little Gloria Vanderbilt "knew her mother just enough to worship her . . . and just enough to fear that her capricious mother would take her away from the few adults she briefly trusted."  During the weekend visitations awarded Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt, she used that time to, once again, associate with the adults in her social circle and not bond with her daughter. 

Her aunt Gertrude Whitney, who'd fought in court and won custody, told her niece she loved her . . . one time, and only one time.

Was "the trial of the century" a fight over the best interests of a 10-year-old girl, the desperate attempts of a aunt to rescue her niece from the clutches of an unfit mother?  Or the desperate attempt of a mother to rescue her beloved only daughter from the clutches of a manipulative aunt?

I fear that little Gloria lived her life believing that she was nothing more that a prize to be displayed, and nothing more than a spoil of war. 

The eighty-five years she lived after her custody trial is a long, long time to bear that burden. 

I hope now that she will find peace.

Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.