VALTESSE DE BIGNE's LETTERS FROM LIANE DE POUGY END UP SOLD and HER GRANDDAUGHTER ANDRE DE LA BIGNE FOLLOWS IN HER FOOTSTEPS

After her death in 1910 at the age of 62, the famous old courtesan, Valtesse De Bigne not only gave herself a decorative grave, but her estate held some beautiful antiques and paintings that were selectively given to her friends.

Courtesans of Paris often had a child somewhere in their youthful past, often raised by others, while they sent money. My observation is that the child was usually from a very early relationship, and that somehow these women managed to avoid further pregnancies. It is unknown to me, but I speculate that they may have also denied having any children to the men who they had affairs with. If you read Mistress Manifesto BlogSpot, you know that these relationships varied, that some courtesans had many, some had one at a time, and the definition of Courtesan varies. I always wonder who in the family knew about the child and if the child grew up to know its mother or even know her reputation or if that child admired its courtesan mother.

Valtesse's own granddaughter took the letters that Liane de Pougy had sent to Valtesse and she sold them.  (Page 293)  My guess is that she read them. That she did come to understand some things and might have been inspired.

Perhaps you watch The Crown, as I do, and you caught the way Prince Phillip was depicted, a boy alone sent to a rather, in my opinion, brutal school, where team work was emphasized. After the devastating loss of relatives due to a plane crash, it would seem that his mother, who had been mentally ill and received treatment in a hospital, joined a nunnery.  His father was not much in his life.  His father was with his Mistress in Monaco.

Guess who Prince Phillip's father, Prince Andrew of Greece, had as a Mistress in Monaco!

Comtesse Andre de la Bigne, as she called herself was the grand-daughter of Valtesse de la Bigne.  

She deserves a month all to her own here, so I'll stop with that teaser here...

C 2022 Mistress Manifesto BlogSpot

Our primary reference for this month's subject, Courtesan Laine De Pougy, is the book titled the Mistress of Paris by author Catherine Hewitt. Additional information comes from other sources, such as, for this post, wikipedia.

SIR JOHN NOT QUITE A CHARACTER IN NETFLIX's THE CROWN

Just a note.  I was rewatching The Crown, which is an excellent series about the British Royal Family.  I know it cannot be "accurate" and must be considered fiction based on much of what is known about the Royal Family, but if you haven't seen it, well, try to. Excellent production values.  Historical content. Terrific acting. Truly an achievement for all involved.

In Season Two, Episode Four, which is about Princess Margaret's introduction to the photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones through a Lady In Waiting, she is invited to a dinner party attended by "unconventional" people.  Margaret has had a tough love life thus far, being unable to marry her first true love because he was a divorced man. She is starting to go nutty and so, to help her get out of the house (the castle) she attends this dinner party.

She notes that the poet John Betjeman is at the party.  She says, "Is it true he has two wives?"  and Armstrong-Jones says, "Better he has three."

Ever since I saw that, I've been wondering - WHO WAS THE POSSIBLE THIRD WIFE OF POET SIR JOHN BETJEMAN?  If you know, please leave a comment!