Cora Pearl - Life As A Courtesan

Life As A Courtesan

Again on her own in a major metropolis, this time Paris, the self-christened Cora Pearl was initially forced to reside in humble quarters and offer her services to commonplace men. Working as a street prostitute, she made a connection with a procurer, a "Monsieur Roubisse," who set her up in more suitable quarters, taught her the business rudiments of her new trade and tutored her in refining and broadening her repertory of professional skills. After six years she despaired of ever being able to separate herself from the man’s all encompassing sphere of influence. However, fate stepped in, the procurer died of a heart attack, freeing Emma from his hold.

Her first lover of distinction was the multi-titled, twenty-five year old Victor Masséna, third Duke du Rivoli, and later fifth Prince of Essling. He set her up in opulence, showering her with money, jewels, servants and a private chef. He provided her with funds for gambling when she visited the casinos and racecourse in the fashionable resort destination of Baden, Germany. He bought her the first horse she had ever owned, and she became an accomplished equestrian; it was said “she rode like an Amazon,” and “was kinder to her horses than her lovers.” Her liaison with Masséna lasted five years. While cultivating Masséna, she was simultaneously sharing her favors with Prince Achille Murat, a man much younger than Masséna.

By 1860, Pearl was one of the most celebrated courtesans in Paris. She was the mistress of notable aristocrats, the Prince of Orange, heir to the throne of the Netherlands, Ludovic, Duc de Grammont-Caderousse, and more significantly Charles Duc de Morny, who was the half-brother of the Emperor Louis-Napoleon, Napoleon III. The Emperor’s brother generously contributed to the opulent life Pearl demanded.

In 1864, Pearl rented a chateau in the region of the Loiret. Known as "Chateau de Beauséjour" ("beautiful sojourn"), it was a luxuriously appointed residence of stained glass windows, costly decorations and immaculately maintained interiors and grounds. Her boudoir boasted a custom-made bronze bathtub monogrammed with her intertwined initials. The château was conceived for gala entertainments, there were rarely fewer than fifteen guests at the dinner table, and the chef was instructed to spare no cost on the expenditure for food. Pearl was known for devising entertainments of an unexpected and outrageous theatricality of which she, invariably, was the star attraction. On one such evening she dared the group assembled around the dinner table “to cut into the next dish “ about to be served. The meal’s next course was Cora Pearl herself, presented lying naked on a huge silver platter, sprinkled with parsley, and carried in by four large men.

Her most dedicated benefactor and enduring admirer was Prince Napoleon, Napoléon Joseph Charles Paul Bonaparte, the Emperor’s distinguished cousin. She met the extremely wealthy Prince in 1868 when he was forty-two years old. Their liaison lasted nine years, the longest relationship in Pearl’s career. He bought her several homes, one a veritable palace, "les Petites Tuileries."

In 1860, Pearl made an appearance at a masquerade ball attended by the elites of Parisian society. She caused a sensation as a scantily costumed Eve whose degree of nudity diverged little from the biblical original. Invariably enthusiastic about exhibiting her physical charms to an audience, she took the role of a singing Cupid in the Jacques Offenbach operetta, “Orphée en Fer,” (Orpheus in the Underworld) performed at the Theatre Bouffes-Parisien in 1867. It was subsequently written in part that: “Cora Pearl made an appearance half-naked on the stage. That evening the Jockey Club in its entirety, graced the theatre. All the names…of French nobility were there…It was a success of a kind…” The chronicle of the evening continued with an addendum addressing the tenor of her notoriety “Apparently the beautiful Cora Pearl had already munched up a brochette ("skewer") of five or six historical fortunes with her pretty white teeth.”

The high point of Pearl’s career as courtesan were the years 1865-1870. In his biography of Pearl, “The Pearl From Plymouth,” (1950) author W.H. Holden writes that there is evidence that Pearl regularly sent money to both her mother in England and father in America. For Cora Pearl money was for spending, for accumulating the luxuries of life and buying her way to a coveted perch in the upper echelons of society. Her jewel collection alone was valued at some one million francs; at one point she owned three homes, and her clothing was made for her by the renowned couturier, Charles Frederick Worth. As her career progressed, and prospered, the gifts from her suitors needed to be both costly and imaginative. She pitted her admirers against one and other, raising the price for her favors as the game between competitors escalated. In her heyday she was able to command and receive as much as ten thousand francs for an evening in her company.