By: Don Driggers

As Fox News reported, New York heiress Belle Burden grew up immersed in generational wealth and elite social circles — but her new memoir details how that security evaporated after her marriage collapsed and a prenuptial agreement she once signed against legal advice left her financially vulnerable.

In “Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage” Burden recounts the unraveling of her marriage following her husband’s affair, describing a bruising divorce that exposed how power and money can dramatically shift when a relationship ends. According to Fox News, Burden says the prenup she agreed to before her wedding nearly cost her everything, despite decades of marriage and three children.

Burden is the daughter of Carter Burden, a descendant of the Vanderbilt family who built a major broadcasting career, and Amanda Burden, the former New York City planning commissioner and daughter of legendary socialite Babe Paley. As Fox News noted, Burden was independently wealthy long before marrying Henry Davis — referred to as “James” in her book — in 1999.

Davis, by contrast, did not come from lasting financial stability. Burden writes that although his family once had money, his father suffered a breakdown in the 1970s, stopped working, and temporarily left the family, possibly following an affair. According to Fox News, Burden says those early experiences deeply shaped Davis’ ambition and sense of insecurity.

“He told me how much he wanted to be a husband and father,” Burden recalled in the memoir, as cited by Fox News. “He told me how much he wanted an honorable life.”

Just months into their relationship, Davis proposed. Ahead of the wedding, Burden’s mother reminded her that a prenuptial agreement was expected — something Burden had already agreed to in her early 20s. As Fox News reported, her assets were already held in trusts, but she felt obligated to move forward.

The original prenup was conventional: each party would keep premarital assets, while earnings during the marriage would be split. Burden writes that Davis reacted angrily, saying the agreement made him feel like “an outsider” and a “threat,” according to Fox News.

Weeks before the wedding, Davis pushed Burden to revise the agreement so that income earned during the marriage would not be shared. Against her lawyer’s advice, Burden agreed. As Fox News reported, she kept the change from her family, fearing they would stop the wedding.

Over the years, Burden used her trust funds to purchase a large Manhattan apartment and later a summer home in Martha’s Vineyard, placing both properties in joint ownership with Davis — despite his financial contributions being minimal. According to Fox News, Burden said she did so happily, believing they were building a life together.

Between 2002 and 2007, the couple had three children. Burden writes that as Davis advanced at his investment firm, he became increasingly consumed by work, leaving her to manage the household and raise the children full time.