Million Dollar American Princesses

2015 • Smithsonian Channel
4.6
84 reviews
TV-PG
Rating
Eligible
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Season 2 episodes (4)

1 Queens of the Screen
1/4/16
They were three American actresses about to take on the biggest roles of their careers, thousands of miles from Los Angeles. Join "Downton Abbey" star Elizabeth McGovern as she details how Grace Kelly, Gloria Swanson, and Rita Hayworth transformed from Hollywood royalty to part of European nobility. Unlike previous Million Dollar American Princesses, these starlets also brought unparalleled glamour and fame to the aristocracy, as well as dramatic twists and turns that would rival any one of their movies.
2 Queens of Culture
1/11/16
They had passions for paintings, music, entertaining, and obliterating the constraints of societal norms. Meet the "Queens of Culture," three modern, empowered Million Dollar American Princesses who blazed a trail through the arts world in Europe and eventually the world. "Downton Abbey" star Elizabeth McGovern shows how Winnaretta Singer, Sara Murphy, and Peggy Guggenheim inspired and supported some of the most innovative creative talents of the 20th century, from Stravinsky and Picasso to F. Scott Fitzgerald and Jackson Pollock.
3 Beautiful and the Doomed
1/18/16
Host Elizabeth McGovern continues her exploration of the Million Dollar American Princesses who inspired the series Downton Abbey with the stories of three women who looked for love, but found disaster instead. Witness the tragic tales of Barbara Hutton, Clara Ward, and Kathleen Kick Kennedy, women of beauty, wealth, and power, who married into European nobility but ended up shunned by society, family, and the happy endings they hoped to achieve.
4 Leading Ladies
1/25/16
They were three leading ladies, American heiresses who came to England and had a major impact on the fashion world, interior design, and even Parliament. Elizabeth McGovern's exploration of the women who inspired the acclaimed series Downton Abbey brings us the stories of Nancy Astor, Nancy Lancaster and Pauline de Rothschild. They crossed the Atlantic for very different reasons and embarked on very different paths to fame, but each woman shared one attribute: the desire to stand up and be heard, and they were.

About this show

Join Elizabeth McGovern as she takes an in-depth look at the young American heiresses whose real life stories inspired the acclaimed TV drama “Downton Abbey.” This series takes you from the late 1800s, when daughters of America's new industrial millionaires marry into the money-strapped British aristocracy, to the 20th century, when a new kind of American Princess wields power not through wealth, but through character, style, and wit. Through the decades, these women bring dramatic change to the European aristocracy and eventually the world.

Ratings and reviews

4.6
84 reviews
Kevin
June 13, 2019
Love this show, one of my favorites from Smithsonian channel. I never knew this bit of history, of American wealth from the richest families providing marriage with new British royal titles for their daughters and much needed money to well known British families of nobility with enormous estates and lavish lifestyles to upkeep without the great family wealth they once did. Elizabeth McGovern is perfect as the host/narrator. I wish she'd narrate more she's got such a wonderful voice.
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Quiet Storm
June 10, 2015
A very nice series that I happen to find through one of my favorite shows...Downton Abbey. Nicely Done piece on what the wealthier side of the tracks looks like." hope they make more.
11 people found this review helpful
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ebzzful
September 25, 2017
I've been wanting to watch this series forever and am yet to be able to purchase it :(
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