La Belle Otero (1868-1965), Carolina Otero, Belle Époque singer and courtesan
La Belle Otéro... Inspiration for the Carlton's Decoration. Early Career
Carolina Otero wore extraordinary clothes and was covered in highly valuable jewels given to her by the “great and the good” of the day. Her breasts had such an aura that, according to legend, they inspired Charles Dalmas, the architect of the Carlton, when he designed the hotel's two cupolas.
Carolina Otéro was born on 4 November 1868 into very humble circumstances in Valga, Spain. Her real name was Agustina Otero Iglesias. She began singing in Barcelona, then in Marseille. She then arrived in Paris, where she sang at the Grand Véfour restaurant, the Cirque d'Été, the Théâtre des Mathurins and the Folies Bergère.
In 1898 she appeared in a very short film in Saint Petersburg. It was one of the first films in history, made by an employee of the Lumière company (inventor of cinema), Félix Mesguich. The film caused a scandal in Imperial Russia because an officer of the Tsar appeared in a scene deemed scandalous, in which Carolina Otero dances her “Valse Brillante”.
She went on to sing in Moscow, London, New York, Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro.
at the height of her fame
In Paris she was known as one of the "Three Graces" of the Folies Bergère, alongside Émilienne d'Alençon and Liane de Pougy. The photograph was taken by Charles Reutlinger, along with Charles Marville and Eugène Atget. There is no record of her ever having visited the Cremerie de Paris, which at the time was one of the finest cheese shops, drawing "Tout Paris", but it is quite possible.
Carolina Otero very quickly became a famous courtesan, sought after by wealthy men. At the height of the “Belle Époque” she was the courtesan of Prince Albert I of Monaco, King Edward VII of England and Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich of Russia.
According to legend, several men took their own lives for her. Another legend has it that at the Cafe de Paris in Monaco, five European rulers tried to catch her eye at the same time: Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, King Edward VII of England, King Alfonso XIII of Spain and King Leopold II of Belgium. Many articles mention
the Duke of Westminster as one of her lovers, but in reality this is completely untrue, for according to Begogna Angulo the Duke "hardly cared for her". And in any case, Carolina Otéro was far too old to interest him.
Begogna Angulo was always "in the know" about everything that went on (including what was better left unknown) on the French Riviera, in St Moritz, in Gstaad, in Paris, in Madrid and above all on the Basque Coast... and even decades later her information was passed on by word of mouth directly to the publisher of this website
At the outbreak of the First World War, La Belle Otéro retired. She could have continued her singing career, but from then on she turned down every offer. Thanks to her lovers, Carolina Otéro had amassed a considerable fortune. The figure quoted is $25 million, the equivalent of around 300 million euros today. This allowed her to buy a sumptuous residence in the Saint-Maurice district of Nice.
According to Begogna Angulo, the Tsar even gave her a villa on the Black Sea, and she owned various houses in France - not only villas but also apartment buildings let for income - a residence in Ostend, a yacht and jewels of great value.
Casino Addiction
La Belle Otero was, alas, a great spendthrift... but above all she suffered from a gambling addiction; she was utterly hooked on the Casino. Over the following 25 years, as a result of this psychological dependence on gambling, Carolina lost her entire fortune there, one casino night after another: around 250 million euros (in today's value) between the casinos of Monaco and Nice. There was no one to help her break free of the addiction... By the end of the Second World War, nothing was left for her old age.
Through Begogna Angulo, and probably many others, Prince Rainier of Monaco heard of her difficulties in 1945, and so the director of the Société des Bains de Mer de Monaco, owner of the Casino, decided to pay her discreetly a modest pension for the rest of her life.
This allowed Carolina Otéro to live out her last 20 years, from 1945 to 1965, in the small Hotel Novelty in the Gare de Nice district. Like other people ruined by a psychological dependence on the casino, she lived in solitude... only the birds were there to listen to her stories.
At the end of her life she was completely detached from reality, no longer listening to anyone and talking endlessly about her past: the parties, the Princes, Champagne... the villas and the magical hotels: Hotel Carlton, Hotel du Cap, Hotel Hermitage, the other Hotel du Cap, Hotel du Palais. At least she had beautiful memories that no one could take from her...
Her dreams kept her going... from the age of 76 until the age of 96.
She died in her modest lodgings in Nice on 10 April 1965.
Posthumous Tributes
In 1954 Richard Pottier made a film about her life. The role of Carolina Otero was played by María Félix.
Her small home town of Valga, in Galicia, Spain, erected a statue in her memory in its gardens.
The mayor of Nice paid a curious tribute to the woman who, in the "Belle Époque" years, was one of its greatest "attractions"... and, in the 1930s and 1940s, one of its casino's most important patrons by renaming, after her death, the very modest and tiny "ruelle de Belgique" - running from no. 31 rue d'Angleterre (next to no. 26, where she had lived) to no. 22 rue Paganini - as "RUE LA BELLE OTERO".
This almost squalid alleyway, where rubbish bins are piled up, is "quite a long way" from the glamour of the "Boulevard des Anglais" - the "English" who came to Nice, among other reasons, because of "La Belle".
In front of the "Caroline Otéro" guesthouse, which replaced the former "Hotel Novelty", a commemorative plaque was placed, which states without respect:
Here lived, from 1945 to 1965, Caroline Otero, known as La Belle Otéro, 1868 - 1965, Frivolous Queen of the Belle Époque.
It is all too easy to mock an elderly lady... almost a hundred years old, when she has suffered reversals of fortune for which she was responsible, but thanks to the municipal casino. Rather than proclaiming a "frivolous queen", the mayor might perhaps have done better to send her to a doctor and bar her from his casino...
Perhaps one might point out to this same town hall that it has itself been "frivolous" in its lack of "internet know-how", for... quite unlike Cannes... the city of Nice well and truly forgot to register its famous name on the internet in time... Nice.com redirects to a company in the United States.
The city of Cannes (online, Cannes.com works just as well as Cannes.fr) pays her an even finer tribute ...
in the very heart of the famous Croisette, the "portrait of her breasts" is sculpted into the twin cupolas of the façade of one of the most beautiful Palace Hotels of the World ...
