Pamela Churchill Harriman: The 20th Century’s greatest courtesan? [audio 9min]

Pamela Churchill Harriman was Winston Churchill’s daughter-in-law and confidante. With his knowledge, she conducted a series of affairs in wartime London, picking up the pillow talk of diplomats and generals. She then became the lover of the rich and famous on two continents, including Gianni Agnelli, heir to the Fiat fortune, and Baron Elie de Rothschild -- all before the age of 27. She later become a key player in American politics and ended up as Bill Clinton’s mentor and US Ambassador to France. As a new TV documentary, Churchill’s Girl, is aired in Britain this week, presenter Martha Kearney discusses the life of the woman often called the 20th century’s greatest courtesan with Chris Ogden, author of Life of the Party: The Biography of Pamela Digby Churchill Hayward Harriman (Warner Fiction), and historian Katie Hickman, author of Courtesans (Harper Perennial).