ABSTRACT
This chapter shows how in the key processes of transfer and reproduction of wealth, and of the humans able to manage and grow that wealth, women's work is clearly central. It shows that elite London has emerged as a social space structured around strong hierarchies not just of class but also gender. The chapter suggests that it is essential to understand more about the interplay of these two structuring principles within elite spaces, focusing on the "invisible" labour performed by elite women. It looks at the labour of other, female bodies, and their roles in creating uber-achieving "alpha" males. The chapter presents the ethnographic data which show how much labour the women invested in the marriages, how they eschewed the development of their own careers for the sake of their families, and in general accepted gendered norms that seemed hugely outdated in their patriarchal character.
