How a French sex worker got away with murder by blackmailing Edward VIII

Daily Mail​

12-06-2025

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On the first episode of a new ' Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things' podcast series, Royal biographer Robert Hardman and historian Kate Williams examine the 'objectionable' love lives of King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson.
This three-part miniseries aims to definitely answer the question of whether the controversial Royal couple are deserving of their notorious reputation.
Scandal followed King Edward VIII after his unlikely romance with the twice-divorced American socialite.
The King's unprecedented decision in 1936 to abdicate and leave the throne to his younger brother in order to marry Ms Simpson changed the course of British history, leading to the reign of the nation's longest serving monarch Elizabeth II.
Even before the pair met and broke with Royal tradition, King Edward was displaying signs he may be unworthy of the crown as early as the First World War.
This first episode explores the scandals of Edward's youth, kept under wraps in their day, which expose the soon-to-be King's dubious character.
Edward's Liaison with a Murderous Courtesan
Young Prince Edward was deemed the British Empire's most eligible bachelor. He was tall, handsome and a would-be King.
In 1914, at the onset of the First World War, a 20-year-old Edward joined the Grenadier Guards, leaving Britain for France to help the war effort.
On the insistence of Secretary of State Lord Kitchener, Edward never saw any frontline action and was appointed a Staff Captain, an administrative role.
Two years into the war, Edward had been gotten drunk by some senior officers and they prompted him to lose his virginity in a French brothel.
He eagerly obliged, as Mail columnist Hardman explained: 'Edward got very drunk at a dinner in Amiel and he was then introduced to a popular girl in town named Paulette.
'She was already attached to an officer in the Royal Flying Corps, but I think everyone decided he could spare her for this important duty.
'She took him to bed and this night of passion was by all accounts a great success. It made a lifelong impression on Edward himself.
'Afterwards he writes, all I think of is women now.'
After sleeping with a prostitute, the Prince of Wales then turned his wandering eyes to a more serious paramour, a Parisian courtesan by the name of Marguerite Alibert.
Unlike the Prince, 17-year-old Marguerite had a difficult upbringing, as Kate Williams told the podcast.
'Marguerite is the daughter of a coachman. Her little brother was killed by a lorry and her parents blame her for it.
'They send her to a Catholic school in Paris where Marguerite gets pregnant and then expelled.
'She's quickly snapped up by one of these high-end brothels. She's only 16 at the time and this is the only way she can earn money.
'Marguerite works her way up to becoming a courtesan to much older men, which she is very good at – marrying clients and receiving generous divorce settlements.'
In 1917, Marguerite is introduced to Edward, and they begin a very intense love affair. Edward sends 20 letters to the courtesan, featuring explicit sexual details.
'They're very explicit – they'd ruin his reputation if they ever got out', Williams said.
Knowing that the prince would soon be forced to leave her, Marguerite cleverly kept hold of the letters as an 'insurance policy' if she ever found herself in trouble with the law.
She would need the letters six years later, as Robert Hardman explained: 'Marguerite ended up in a particularly miserable marriage with an Egyptian aristocrat.
'She ends up murdering him at the Savoy Hotel. It all goes to court – with the courtesan tried in London.'
The former Courtesan shot her husband three times - in the neck, back and head - in what is seen as an 'open and shut case'.
However, as Hardman told the podcast: 'Marguerite presents the letters to the prosecution and threatened to make them public. Some kind of deal is done.
'Afterwards the case was not pursued with any great alacrity, almost certainly thanks to her earlier liaison with the Prince of Wales.'
Marguerite was acquitted of all charges. The letters were so decisive in the case not only because of they revealed the affair, but also due to the Edward's moaning about the war effort.
'These letters aren't just love letters', Williams said.
'Within them, he's also critical of his father George V and there were also criticisms of how World War One was organised and fought.
'There were whispers at the time Marguerite had a relationship with Edward, but no one could prove it because they were buried in her chest at home.'
To hear more Royal scandals like this one, search for 'Queens, Kings & Dastardly Things' now, wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes are released every Thursday.