Titanic's DIRTY Secrets: The Mistresses Who Lived Through History's Most Famous Shipwreck

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Imagine hearing the cries and screams of horror from people who you know will surely sink to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, as you sit safely in a lifeboat. Now imagine being in that lifeboat, with death all around you, and having one concern on your mind, and it is... “I’ll never be able to wear all of my new clothes from Paris! They sank with the Titanic!”

If you were Dorothy Gibson, you wouldn’t have to imagine it. That’s one of the many selfish thoughts that went through her head as 1,500 people were in the midst of losing their lives while she made her way safely onto a lifeboat that was never even loaded to full capacity.

In our modern times, many of us can’t help but to think of James Cameron’s Titanic film when we think of the actual 1912 sinking. Its big names and big budget special effects certainly made it a spectacle for the eye to remember. Yet, Titanic historians (and survivors when they were alive) preferred the 1958 film called A Night To Remember for its historical authenticity. It is often called the first Titanic movie, but it’s not.

The FIRST Titanic movie was called Saved From The Titanic and it was released in May of 1912 - just FOUR WEEKS after the disaster occurred. And its star was our Dorothy Gibson - the girl who was so sad about losing her brand new Parisian fashions in the wee morning hours of April 15, 1912. She was a silent film actress and this role was going to make her a bigger star than she already was. And the movie was made by her lover - a man who was married to another woman. But you know how the saying goes. Whatever is done in the dark…will come to the light. And the way that this adulterous affair came to be known by the public…was a scandal in and of itself.

This is the story of one of the most self-absorbed first class passengers who boarded the Titanic. Silent film actress Dorothy Gibson. And she was a total hot mess.

We know that James Cameron’s Titanic story revolves around the love story of a fictional couple. But, what was the inspiration for The Heart of The Ocean and who was wearing it? Well, the movie’s design is based on the Hope Diamond. The magnificent 45 carat stone was extracted from a mine in India and has a history similar to the one that Cal described in the Titanic movie - though its real history is much more extensive.

But there was a man on the Titanic, a second class passenger, who gave a young woman a similar necklace. It was actually a deep blue, oblong sapphire that graced the neck of his sweetheart. And sources say that this couple’s story laid the groundwork for the Heart of The Ocean to make its way into the script of Titanic. It’s a fascinating and scandalous story.

His name was Henry Samuel Morley. Her name was Kate Florence Phillips. They were both from England and boarded the Titanic in Southampton. But if you look at the Titanic passenger lists, you won’t see either of those names. You WILL see Mr. & Mrs. Henry Marshall. That… was them. And they had a secret. They actually had a couple of secrets, but Henry died before learning one of them.

He planned on starting a new life with Kate in America - San Francisco, California. And that alone… is so romantic and… so boring. The problem with Henry taking off to marry Kate…was that he already had a wife…in England, and a child too.

How messy. Just the way we like it.

And the days didn’t get much better for Kate as time marched on after the Titanic disaster.

In the immediate days after the Titanic sank, there was a frenzy amongst the relatives of its passengers to get information about their loved ones - hoping that ones THEY knew beat the odds and were among the survivors. Incorrect headlines had been printed, reflecting that people who had in fact died were alive. There was even uncertainty about who had even boarded the ship to begin with - as can be seen in this notice that was printed in the Buffalo News on April 16, 1912 that shows that Benjamin Guggenheim’s brother was looking for him.

As we know, Benjamin didn't survive, but he helped a lot of women and children get into lifeboats. One of the women that he helped was his French mistress, Leontine Aubart. He had the nerve to buy her 4,000 pounds worth of jewels that went down with the ship. She tried to sue to recover their worth.

It's another Hot Mess History scandal compilation from Ti. Your source for the hottest scandals from 1870 - 1940. Whether you are looking for scandals from The Gilded Age, The Titanic, or The Great Depression…you can find them on this channel.

Enjoy!