Brooke Astor Had a Suitor Half Her Age!



(image via criptome)

Who is the mysterious suitor half Brook Astor's age who proposed marriage to her in the last days? We know that From our favorite social chronicler, David Patrick Colmbia in NYSocialDiary:

"Meanwhile, there is an amusing little known chapter in the dowager’s final days before she became non compos mentis. At about the time of her centenary, a younger man, by which I mean a man who was about a half century younger than she, made a proposal of marriage.

"Yes. True. He was a friend, an occasional dinner companion, a not infrequent guest at her dinners, someone who amused and charmed her with both his personality and his good looks.

"Then one day he took her out to dine and confessed that he was madly in love with her and had thought about it and thought about it and decided to propose. His ardor was illustrated with his suggestions of how much fun they could have together, how the age difference didn’t matter and how he could care for her and look after her, all the while sharing a May (or was it February-December) romance.

"Mrs. Astor was said to be charmed by this 'proposal' although she didn’t take it seriously."

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