Pamela Singh (born 1961), known for some years as Pamella Bordes, is an Indian

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photographs. Duties and types of photograp ...

and beauty pageant titleholder who won

Miss India Miss India may refer to: Beauty pageants * Femina Miss India, selects representatives to compete in Miss World ** Femina Miss India Bangalore ** Femina Miss India Delhi ** Femina Miss India South * Miss India Worldwide India, selects representa ...

1982.

Personal life

Singh was born in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

in 1961; her father, Major Mahinder Singh, was an officer in the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

. She attended the Maharani Gayatri Devi Girls' Public School in

Jaipur Jaipur (; , ) is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the List of cities and towns in Rajasthan, largest city of the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had ...

then transferred to the Lady Sri Ram College in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

to study literature. She won the Miss India crown in 1982 and represented India in the

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international major beauty pageant that is run by a Thailand and Mexican-based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stree ...

pageant the same year. She subsequently moved to Europe, where she met and married Henri Bordes. Singh studied at

Parsons School of Design The Parsons School of Design is a private art and design college under The New School located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhattan art ...

in New York, the

American University of Paris The American University of Paris (AUP) is a private university in Paris, France. Founded in 1962, the university is one of the oldest American institutions of higher education in Europe, and the first to be established in France. The university ...

, and the

International Center of Photography The International Center of Photography (ICP) is a photography museum and school at 84 Ludlow Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. ICP's photographic collection, reading room, and archives are at Mana Contemporary in Jer ...

in New York. She took to photography as her career in 1997.

Allegations

In the late 1980s Singh worked in a

brothel A brothel, strumpet house, bordello, bawdy house, ranch, house of ill repute, house of ill fame, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in Human sexual activity, sexual activity with prostitutes. For legal or cultural reasons, establis ...

which had provided one of British publicist

Max Clifford Maxwell Frank Clifford (6 April 1943 – 10 December 2017) was an English publicist and convicted sex offender who was particularly associated with promoting " kiss and tell" stories in tabloid newspapers. In December 2012, as part of Operat ...

's clients with various services. Clifford asked the

madam Madam (), or madame ( or ), is a polite and formal form of address for Woman, women in the English language, often contracted to ma'am (pronounced in American English and this way but also in British English). The term derives from the French la ...

to reveal details of her

girl A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. While the term ''girl'' has other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary.com, "Girl"'' Retrieved January 2, 2008. '' daughter'' or '' girlfriend'' regardless of age ...

s and clients, and found that one prostitute, Pamella Bordes, was simultaneously dating

Andrew Neil Andrew Ferguson Neil (born 21 May 1949) is a British journalist and broadcaster. He was editor of ''The Sunday Times'' from 1983 to 1994. He has presented various political programmes on the BBC and on Channel 4. Born in Paisley, Renfrewshire ...

(then editor of ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

''),

Donald Trelford Donald Gilchrist Trelford (9 November 1937 – 27 January 2023) was a British journalist and academic who was editor of ''The Observer'' newspaper from 1975 to 1993. He was also a director of ''The Observer'' from 1975 to 1993 and chief execut ...

(then editor of ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

''), Conservative minister for sport

Colin Moynihan Colin Berkeley Moynihan, 4th Baron Moynihan, 4th Baronet (born 13 September 1955), is a British Olympic silver medalist, politician, businessman and sports administrator. Lord Moynihan served as the Chairman of the British Olympic Association ...

, and billionaire arms dealer

Adnan Khashoggi Adnan Khashoggi (; 25 July 1935 – 6 June 2017) was a Saudi businessman and arms dealer known for his business dealings, extensive geopolitical influence, and opulent lifestyle, which earned him the moniker "''The Jay Gatsby, Great Gatsby ...

. Clifford rang ''News of the World'' editor

Patsy Chapman Patsy Chapman (born 3 May 1948) is a former British newspaper editor. Chapman grew up in Romford and worked on the magazine ''Boyfriend'' before becoming a reporter with the ''Romford Times''. She then joined ''The Sun'' and was gradually promot ...

and drip-fed her the story of Bordes through the investigative reporter she was using on the madam. The story was published in March 1989 under the headline "Call Girl Works in Commons", since it was discovered she had a

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

security pass arranged by MPs David Shaw and

Henry Bellingham Henry Campbell Bellingham, Baron Bellingham (born 29 March 1955) is a British Conservative politician who sits in the House of Lords and former barrister. He was first elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for North West Norfolk in 1983. ...

. Clifford claimed Bordes was never his client, and that he earned his fee for "writing" the story, which ultimately served the purpose of saving the madam from any adverse publicity or court case.Max Clifford and Angela Levin ''Max Clifford: Read All About it!'' Virgin Books, 2005,()

References

External links

Feature
from the ''

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter o ...

''
Pamella Bordes' sexual escapades with high and mighty rock British establishment
– article in

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media, Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' laun ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bordes, Pamella 1961 births 20th-century Indian photographers 21st-century Indian photographers American University of Paris alumni Photographers from Delhi Femina Miss India winners Indian emigrants to England Indian photojournalists Living people Miss Universe 1982 contestants Parsons School of Design alumni Rajasthani people Delhi University alumni Women artists from Delhi 20th-century Indian women photographers 21st-century Indian women photographers Women photojournalists Lady Shri Ram College alumni