The tony escort club allegedly frequented by disgraced New York Governor Eliot Spitzer ranks its prostitutes by diamonds and charges $1,000 to $5,500 (U.S.) an hour, accordingly.
As much as the case appears to mark the end of the governor's career, it has also cast the spotlight anew on the enduring world of high-end prostitution.
"The reality is it is prevalent," says Connecticut-based market researcher and author Russ Alan Prince, who has studied the phenomenon. "There are some very exotic sexual experiences you can have."
During research for his book on the wealthy, The Sky's the Limit, Mr. Prince surveyed 661 people who own private jets and have a personal wealth of about $90-million each. He found that 34 per cent of men and 20 per cent of women had paid for sex within the past five years. (And, for the record, he believes his sample underreported their activity with prostitutes.)
Accompanied by his wife, Silda, Eliot Spitzer delivers a public apology Monday in Manhattan. The New York Governor now faces fierce calls to step down. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images)
Related Articles
But why is it that powerful, wealthy men - and women - who can presumably attract all manner of gorgeous mate, however temporary, choose to visit prostitutes?
Mr. Prince says while ego and the thrill of getting away with it may be unspoken factors, the top reason people reported was more about the ability to pay and the services offered - the most popular survey answer to the question why was "unique experiences," at 71 per cent.
"When you can have anything you want, you gravitate to that," he says. "People say, 'I'm worth $50-million. I can fly around the world. I have groupies galore. I want something sensational.' "
Mr. Prince cites an extreme example: He knows of a Hong Kong company that provides personal concubines. They get paid $1-million a year.
He says perhaps the most surprising thing about the Spitzer case is that it appears he's been caught.
Mr. Spitzer is a public person and people were gunning for him, Mr. Prince pointed out.
"Most of the wealthy are not in that position. Most of them don't want you to know who they are."
Part of the lure of a high-end prostitution ring is the James-Bond-style security and privacy. He says most wealthy clients are willing to pay for utter discretion.
A blatantly contradictory transgression, such as the one allegedly made by Mr. Spitzer, can be revealing of a person's emotional state, says David McKenzie, a Vancouver marriage counsellor and sex therapist.
Often people will act overtly on the outside to cope with deep contradictions on the inside, he says.
"If there's a contradiction in your life, there's a conflict within you," he says.
The duality requires a great deal of mental compartmentalization, he says. One client of his described it this way: "It's like I'm a different person."
"Most of the time he was like a pastor, then he was a real party animal," Dr. McKenzie added.
At the root of many of these cases is an emotional compulsion, more commonly seen among men who frequent prostitutes, even if they are having sex at home. There can be issues with attachment insecurities or a variation on the controversial Madonna-whore theory in which a wife or girlfriend cannot also be an exotic sex partner.
Indeed, Mr. Prince says some of his subjects were honest about the emotional underpinnings of their penchant for paying for sex. One told him he was unloved as a child, so he decided to get superrich and do whatever he wanted.
"Of course, there's something [emotional] going on. That's a given," Mr. Prince says.
31
