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Through a London that was "a vast sink of sweated female labor," the ladies of easy virtue rode through Hyde Park in such splendid carriages or on such fine horses that the popular euphemism for rich prostitutes of the time was "pretty horse-breakers." One, Lizzie Howard, became the mistress of Napoleon III, and a French countess, and died a rich woman. Cora Pearl (born Crouch and no kin to Author Pearl), one of the few prostitutes to win mention in the Dictionary of National Biography, also made good in Paris. The book's title is provided by Catherine
Walters, who was described by an admirer as "a whore, sir, much sought after by fast young swells." The public knew her as "Skittles," and her rich patrons called her "Skitsie." As "the self-crowned queen of mid-Victorian harlotry," she maintained herself in London in such magnificence that the toilet seat in her bathroom was upholstered in swansdown. She was one of the most accomplished horsewomen of the time, was among the first to become proficient in the sport of roller skating (newly imported from America), had the Prince of Wales at her Sunday afternoon parties. Lord Kitchener, with his splendid mustachios, occasionally walked alongside when, in her 60s. Skittles made her parade through Hyde Park in a Bath chair. In her 70s, living in quiet respectability as Mrs. Bailey, she was deaf and partially blind, but "unconquered in talk" when old friends came to chat. In 1920 Skittles died; she was past 80 and "comfortably unrepentant."
*In 1793, an official estimate tallied London prostitutes at 50,000 when the total population was about 750,000; in 1951, with the population over 8,000,000, London was estimated to have 10,000 prostitutes.