Mata Hari and other racy ladies who were agents of seduction

With their smouldering good looks and oodles of oomph, these racy ladies famously tempted their way into the hearts, and beds, of influential people:

MATA HARI

Born as Margaretha Geertruida MacLeod, the Dutch exotic-dancerturned-spy took on Mata Hari as a stage name and gained quite the reputation for her provocative and seductive performances across Europe. During that time, she took on many important men as lovers. In her reports to her French handlers, Mata Hari described how she seduced Arnold von Kalle, a senior German diplomat, among other important figures. Accused of spying for Germany, she was executed in the October of 1917 by a firing squad at the age of 41.

ANNA CHAPMAN
Chapman was one of ten Russian spies exchanged for Sergei Skripal as part of the Russian-US prisoner swap in 2010. Dubbed as Russia’s “most glamorous secret agent”, Chapman reportedly infiltrated influential American circles with her sultry ways. Arrested on espionage charges in 2010, she found her way back to Russia after the prisoner swap. Since giving up her spying ways, Chapman has worked as a model and actor.

MARILYN MONROE

The gorgeous actress remains the ultimate femme fatale. She started life as Norma Jean Baker and grew into the image of a temptress, which was also an extension of some of the risque roles she portrayed on screen. The blonde bombshell had two very public and troubled marriages. She also had some highlypublicised affairs, including one with former US President John F Kennedy and his brother Bobby. The star died of a drug overdose at the age of 36 in 1962.

PAMELA BORDES
Pamela Singh, as she is now known, is a former Miss India winner, who was accused of being part of a secret brothel club. The ‘social companion’ of then-Sunday Times editor Andrew Neil, she is said to have moved her way up to other influential men. Newspapers at the time linked her to Colin Moynihan, the Tory Minister of Sports, high ranking officals, as well as to the arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi. The fact that Bordes had an all-access pass to the House of Commons caused a major scandal. This led to a mudslinging campaign against her in British tabloids, which claimed she had sex with many reporters for money.