The rich have always craved status symbols, from peerages to spaceships | opinion
email rounding up the latestCan class be bought? A spate of financial controversies involving the newly rich and the British royal family would suggest some still think so — and believe a cheque to charity or a loan write-off is a price worth paying for social elevation. Or just a wedding invitation.
The late 19th century was the heyday of this. American robber-baron capitalism was powering ahead while the British aristocracy was in decline. In 1874, the tattooed Jennie Jerome, daughter of a New York financier, married Lord Randolph Spencer Churchill. Later that year, she gave birth to Winston Churchill. And, in 1895, Consuelo Vanderbilt, daughter of US billionaire Willie Vanderbilt, married Sunny, Duke of Marlborough.
But that was then. As with royalty itself, the shine may be coming off titles. If you are a modern success in business, do you want to join a so-called nobility whose most prominent members are oligarchs and political cronies? Sir James Dyson is an example of how conflicted it can get. His mix of entrepreneurial inventiveness, knighthood and country pile all feels textbook establishment, with a modern twist. Yet it sits awkwardly with his more recent endeavours, such as relocating businesses to Asia andMore straightforward is Evgeny Lebedev — now Lord Lebedev — the Moscow-born newspaper owner and son of a billionaire ex-KGB officer.
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