Nancy Lady Astor was born in 1887 into a British aristocratic family. She was educated at home until the age of 12, when she was sent to Paris to be educated abroad. She went on to study at Oxford University, where she met her future husband, John Jacob Astor IV. Her marriage did not last long, but it produced one son, John Jacob Astor V
By the time he reached his teens, he had inherited his father's considerable fortune. Nancy became an American citizen in 1915 and married her second husband, Vincent Astor. Vincent died after three months of marriage in 1919.
Nancy had two more husbands, first Prince Roland Bonaparte, then William Read Thomas. She lived most of her life at Norland Park, her sprawling estate on Long Island, which was built by her father-in-law's grandfather in the early 1800s. It is now a museum open to the public.
I refuse to admit that I am more than 52 even if that makes my sons illegitimate.Nancy Lady Astor
I'm an extinct volcano.Nancy Lady Astor
I married beneath me - all women do.Nancy Lady Astor
My vigour vitality and cheek repel me. I am the kind of woman I would run from.Nancy Lady Astor
