Marie-Anne Walewska one after another of the ladies at court, but she remained his only serious mistress until their relationship ended in 1861. Walewska succeeded Pauline de Bassano as "dame d'honneur" in 1868. Marie-Anne Walewska Marie-Anne Walewska (1823–1912), was a French courtier and royal mistress. She is known for her relationship to emperor Napoleon III of France in 1857–1861. She served as "dame d'honneur" to empress Eugénie de Montijo in 1868–1870. She was born to the Italian count Zanobi di Ricci and princess Isabelle Poniatowski-Luci (illegitimate daughter of the last king of Poland's nephew). She married the Polish count (later duke) Alexandre
Pearl Argyle of Nikolai Legat, in Colet Gardens, and Dame Marie Rambert, in Notting Hill Gate. There she was known as Pearl Argyle by other students and members of Rambert's Ballet Club, the performing group from which Ballet Rambert was to evolve. Among other club members at the time was the emerging choreographer Frederick Ashton, who would play a significant role in her career on the ballet stage. At the time that Argyle studied at the Rambert Ballet School, Ashton was the principal dancer of its performing group as well as a budding choreographer. He recalled that she was a shy young