"The cockney chanteuse sang of a life of drunkeness, lewd behaviour and moonlight flits. But musical fiction paled next to the facts of her outrageous life. It was a lifestyle that was to scandalise staid English society and would, ultimately, lead to her early death. ... Marie was earning a fortune, which no doubt made her doubly attractive to Percy Courtenay. He became Marie’s first husband in 1887, when Percy was 25 and Marie just 17. She was working as hard as ever, but her husband had no regular job. Marie Jr was born but the marriage was over by 1893. The drunken Percy began following Marie, hanging around at the stage door and abusing her." Percy divorced Marie in 1906. (East London History, accessed April 13, 2009)