- Title: Evelyn And Laila
- Date: 23rd October 2003
- Summary: In September 1996, two Australian former brothel madams arrived in England, checking into Knightsbridge's Berkeley Hotel, paying their bill in cash. For the year that followed, charismatic confidence tricksters Evelyn Burton and Laila Andre fed off the English upper class, funding their own excessive lifestyles and even meeting the Queen. They went as far as to employ 15 personal staff and buy £250,000-worth of antique furniture - without actually buying a house to put them in. Crooked Tarts and Coronets tells the fascinating story of these two colourful ladies, from their humble childhoods in Australia, through their work in Melbourne's sex industry - where they met, becoming a married couple, and eventually came to preside over a chain of 16 brothels - to their English adventure and eventual run-in with the law. The programme contains the frank confessions of both Evelyn and Laila, speaks to the police officer that investigated the case, and hears the stories of those that they tricked, from wealthy investors to duped staff and a young disabled show-jumper. Evelyn posed as a high-flying investment broker, promising vast returns to her clients. She accrued the trappings that encouraged her investors to believe her story - they were collected in a Bentley and chauffeured to meet her at the Berkeley - but they never saw the profits they expected. Their relationship with their staff agent granted them access to the horsey set, and, through a promise to sponsor the Royal Windsor Horse Show, the Queen. But the sponsorship cheque bounced... And it wasn't the only one. The staff's pay cheques started to bounce, and they were asked to leave the hotels they had been put up in. Evelyn and Laila were also asked to leave a string of hotels for non-payment, until the manager of Sopwell House Hotel in St Albans went one step further, calling in the police...
- Description:SEE RECORD 102500 FOR SHOTLIST Crooked tarts and coronets The extraordinary story of Evelyn and Laila,two rough talking Australian brothel madams who passed themselves off as affluent ladies offering investment opportunities and took the British aristocracy to the cleaners - while having tea with the Queen on route. Narrator: John Hannah Director: Gabi Kent
- Broadcaster:Channel 4
- Collection: Channel 4
- Genre:Documentary and Factual
- Producer:Ideal World Productions Ltd.
- Programme Episode:1
- Transmission Date:23/10/2003
- Rights:On Request
- Decade: 2000s