On The 6th. Of February,

a company mascot that many in the world know, but few have owned will be 100 years old as the date that the 'whispering lady' was first registered by Charles Skyes was on February 6, 1911, the mascot of Rolls Royce that was the precursor to the Rolls Royce flying lady mascot was inspired by Eleanor Thornton, secretary and secret mistress of the 2nd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu,

Lord Montagu originally commissioned artist, Charles Sykes to make a mascot for his 1909 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost, using Eleanor as a model, he produced a statue of a young woman with fluttering robes holding a finger to her lips, now this I would like to see, to mark the centenary on Sunday, 100 classic Rolls Royce's will drive through London passing the original homes of the cars,

but unfortunately the story is tinged with tragedy, Montagu fell in love with Eleanor, who was also known as Thorn, in 1902 when she worked for him on The Car Illustrated, his motoring magazine, their long affair held another secret, the lovers had an illegitimate daughter, Joan, who was given away for adoption, on December 30 1915, the P&O passenger ship Persia was on her way to India with 500 passengers on board, among them Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, and Eleanor Thornton, Montagu survived thanks to his bespoke life jacket, Eleanor went down with the ship, her body was never found, the Persia was the first passenger ship to be torpedoed without warning during WW1, she sank in December 1915 - hundreds of passengers lost their lives.