Marguerite Marie Alibert, also known as Maggie Meller, Marguerite Laurent, and Princess Fahmy, was a French socialite. She started her career as a courtesan in Paris and in 1917–18 she had an affair with the Prince of Wales. After her marriage to Egyptian aristocrat Ali Kamel Fahmy Bey, she was frequently called Princess by the media of the time. In 1923, she killed her husband at the Savoy Hotel in London. She was eventually acquitted of the murder charge after a trial at the Old Bailey. Her affair with the Prince became the subject of the book The Prince, the Princess and the Perfect Murder. The killing of her husband was the focus of the book Scandal at the Savoy: The Infamous 1920s Murder Case.
Life
Marguerite Marie Alibert was born on 9 December 1890, in Paris to Firmin Alibert, a coachman, and Marie Aurand, a housekeeper. At the age of sixteen she gave birth to a daughter, Raymonde. In the following eight to ten years, Alibert led an itinerant life until she met Mme Denant who ran a Maison de Rendezvous, a brothel catering to a high society clientele. Under the tutelage of Denant, Alibert became a high-class prostitute.
Prince of Wales
Alibert met Edward, Prince of Wales in April 1917 at the Hôtel de Crillon in Paris. At the time, Edward was in France as an officer of the Grenadier Guards in the Western Front during World War I. Edward became infatuated with her and during their relationship he wrote many candid letters to her. Although the affair was intense while it lasted, by the end of the war Edward had broken off the relationship.
Ali Fahmy
Ali Fahmy Bey became infatuated with Alibert when he first encountered her in Egypt while she was escorting a businessman. He saw her again several times in Paris and they were eventually formally introduced in July 1922. Following that meeting, they embarked on a tour of gambling and entertainment establishments in Deauville, Biarritz, and Paris. Fahmy returned to Egypt, but, soon after, he invited her to the country feigning illness and telling her that he could not live without her. They were married in December 1922 and had a formal Islamic wedding in January 1923.
On 1 July 1923, the couple arrived in London for holidays. They stayed at the Savoy Hotel with their entourage consisting of a secretary, a valet and a maid. On 9 July, the couple and the secretary went to see the operettaThe Merry Widow. Upon returning to the hotel, they had a late supper where they started one of their frequent arguments. At 2:30 a.m. on 10 July, Alibert shot her husband repeatedly from behind, striking him in the neck, back, and head. She used a.32 calibre semi-automatic Browning pistol. The victim was transported to Charing Cross Hospital but died of his wounds in about an hour.
Trial
The trial opened on Monday 10 September 1923 with large numbers of people queuing to enter, including some who had waited since before daybreak. The trial lasted until Saturday 15 September. During the trial, Alibert presented herself as the victim of the "brutality and beastliness" of her "oriental husband". Alibert was defended by Edward Marshall Hall, one of the most famous British lawyers of that era. The trial judge disallowed any mention of Alibert's past as a courtesan, ensuring that the name of the Prince of Wales was never mentioned as part of the evidence during the trial. At the same time, Fahmy was described as "a monster of Eastern depravity and decadence, whose sexual tastes were indicative of an amoral sadism towards his helpless European wife". Alibert was acquitted of all charges.
Post trial
After the trial, Alibert sued her late husband's family aiming to lay claim to his property. A court in Egypt rejected the verdict at the Old Bailey and dismissed her claim. She lived in an apartment facing the Ritz in Paris until the end of her life. After her death, the few remaining letters from Edward, which she had kept as insurance, were found and destroyed.
In culture
Book
In the book The Prince, the Princess and the Perfect Murder it is speculated that the acquittal of Alibert of the charges for murdering her husband was part of a deal for returning the love letters of the Prince of Wales to him and a further guarantee by Alibert that Edward's name would not be mentioned in court.
Television
In 2013 the UKChannel 4 aired the documentary Edward VIII's Murderous Mistress: Was there a cover-up of Edward VIII's fling with a murderess?
