Who Was the First Influencer in the World?

Many, many, many years before the profession of influencer became so common, there was a woman who made money from this occupation. She used her fame and assets to promote commercial products and to advertise a famous brand of the 1800s.

The ivory complexion, slim waist, and attractive physique helped Lillie Langtry gain a fortune from her image.

The illegitimate child

Emilie Charlotte Le Breton (Lillie Langtry) was born on October 13, 1853, on the island of Jersey, off the coast of Normandy. She was the only daughter of the Rev. William Corbet Le Breton, the result of his relationship with his mistress, Emilie Davis.

His father had a negative reputation in the community because of the large number of extramarital affairs. In 1880 they moved to Gretna Green Parish in Scotland, and two years later the man officially married her mother. She had six more brothers.

Married at 20

As a child, she was quite boyish and did not have the chance to receive a chosen education. But she was helped by her brother's governess, who taught her the secrets of good manners.

As a teenager, she accompanied her mother to various social events, and it was not long before she met Edward Langtry, a 26-year-old Irish landowner. The couple got married when she was 20 and, shortly after the wedding, moved to London at her insistence.

The adventure with Prince Albert Edward

She quickly began to catch the taste of London's high society parties and receptions, and at every event, she drew attention to her spontaneity and unparalleled beauty.

The news of the young woman's fame reached the royal court, and Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, even arranged for her to be with him at a reception in 1877.

Although he was then married to Princess Alexandra of Denmark, with whom he had six children, he was enchanted by Lillie's gorgeous features and called her his semi-official mistress, and was even presented to Queen Victoria. Their adventure lasted only a year.

He was spinning his fingers

Her "appetite" for men with degrees and financial strengths was growing, even though she was officially married to Edward Langtry.

Shortly after falling in love with Prince Albert Edward, Lillie reoriented and began a relationship with the Earl of Shrewsbury, then Prince Louis of Battenberg, although she was involved in a romantic relationship with an old friend, Arthur Clarence Jones.

She became pregnant in 1880, but her husband was not the father of the child. She made him believe that Prince Louis was her daughter, and with the money she got from her relationship, she went to Paris with Arthur Jones. Her daughter, Marie Marie, was also married to a man of important status, the Scottish politician Sir Ian Malcolm. The wedding took place in 1902.

Theater debut

In 1881 she began her career in theater, at the suggestion of the writer Oscar Wilde, who was a close friend of hers. She first appeared at the "Haymarket Theater" in London as part of the play "She Stoops to Conquer". A year later she went on tour in America and was highly regarded by the public there, returning in 1906 and then in 1912.

She met the American millionaire Frederic Gebhard, and became an American citizen in 1887, at the same time officially divorcing her husband.

She later began a relationship with a millionaire boxing enthusiast, George Alexander Baird, and in 1899 she married Baron Hugo Gerald de Bathe, who was 18 years her junior. He raised a lot of money from US tours and invested in farmland, buying a farm in California, where he owned a winery and raised horses.

Money from product promotion

Lillie Langtry not only made money from appearances on stage but also the promotion of various cosmetics, on the model of today's influencers.

She took advantage of her flawless physical features to make a living from marketing, being the first woman in the world to associate her name with a commercial product when she advertised the London brand "Pears Soap".

The actress continued to tour in America until the age of 65. In the last years of her life, she was cared for in Monaco by her good friend, Mathilde Marie Peat. Her husband, Sir Hugo, lived in Vence, on the Cote d'Azur, and the two rarely saw each other at private meetings or public events.

She died in her villa in Monte Carlo at the age of 76 on February 12, 1929, after falling ill with pneumonia. Much of his wealth, including £ 100,000, a Monaco home, clothes, and a luxury car, he left to his caretaker.