http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/my_nights_at_the_harem_p8PbltXYPm7DnA5l7TDAoI
My nights at the harem NYU dropout bares royal pleasure palace By SUSANNAH CAHALAN Last Updated: 10:51 AM, December 27, 2009 Posted: 3:30 AM, December 27, 2009 Jillian Lauren was frightened out of a deep sleep by a banging at her door. "You must get ready. Five minutes," a voice barked. She dressed and timidly entered a Merce des-Benz with tinted windows, more than 9,000 miles from her New Jersey home. Lauren, who grew up in Livingston and studied acting at New York University, was in the last place a Jewish American princess belongs: in Brunei -- a Muslim monarchy on the north coast of Borneo in Southeast Asia -- and in a harem. She waited four hours in a gold-encrusted room for the man she came to see as her "savior," the royal around whom the harem revolved: Prince Jefri Bolkiah, the former finance minister of the oil-rich nation and the brother of one of the world's richest people, the Sultan of Brunei. Tiffany Rose/WireImage.com INSATIABLE: Prince Jefri of Brunei (above) bedded but later tired of Jillian Lauren, one of 40 women in his harem. When he arrived, reeking of Calvin Klein's Egoiste, she breathed a sigh of relief. As he led her into the Hugh Hefner-inspired bed room, she lifted off her sun dress and had sex with him for the first time. "I fell victim to Stockholm Syndrome," Lauren writes in her book "Some Girls: My Life in a Harem" (Plume), out in April. "I knew I was a hooker, but somehow I felt like Cinderella." Lauren lifts the veil off her secret harem life, sharing vivid and explosive details of her 18 months as a hired party girl, her bizarre affair with the prince, the outrageous shopping sprees and the fighting within the international clique of 40 women who fought for the prince's affections. Lauren, the adopted daughter of a Jewish stockbroker and a housewife, never thought she'd end up in a Muslim's brothel. She grew up in a town where "orthodonture was mandatory and getting a nose job as a gift for your sweet 16 was highly recommended." By the time she was 16, she had enrolled in NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Six months later, she dropped out and started stripping in Times Square. Eventually she became an elite call girl. One job required her to "amuse" a Singaporean businessman, with the promise of $20,000 in return. To land the gig, Lauren auditioned with seven other women while a photographer shot pictures of them in lingerie. She won the gig -- but then learned that it wasn't a Singaporean businessman hiring. It was a Brunei prince. Shortly after, Lauren told her parents she had an acting gig and hopped on a plane to Brunei. A woman met her at the airport and taught her how to deal with the prince and his friends at parties. Lauren was escorted to her new home -- an opulent palace with football field-sized Italian marble floors, plush gold-spun carpets, gilded everything (including tissue boxes). That night, Lauren attended a party for the prince -- with 40 other girls, some younger than 16. At that moment, Lauren realized she was part of a harem. She quickly worked out the hierarchy. Tables were arranged by country, with Filipino girls at the top -- because, she heard, the prince's favorite girl was a Filipino ex-television star named Fiona. There were six Americans, including a Marilyn Monroe look-alike. Rumor had it that the prince was looking to crown his fourth wife, so there was constant, subtle infighting. Whenever he walked into a party, the girls preened and posed. Each night, he would pick one and disappear with her for a half-hour. Lauren caught his attention when she sang his favorite Malay song. Soon after, she was sitting to his left, the second-most prized seat in the house, next to Fiona's first-place seat. Once, Lauren was plucked to join Fiona -- a high honor -- on a shopping spree in Singapore, where her driver held a Louis Vuitton sack full of cash. She hit Chanel, Hermes, Versace, Dior, Armani and Gucci. She began to fall for the prince, accompanying him to Malaysia. But on that same trip, he rented her out to his brother, the sultan, for sex. His fancies were fleeting. She soon fell out of favor, and her rank in the harem declined. Rather than battle it out, she returned to the Big Apple. Her pay? A fat sack of Singaporean dollars and a Tiffany choker, bracelet and earring set. More than a decade later, Lauren has cleaned up her life. She met her husband, Weezer bassist Scott Shriner, and adopted a child named Tariku. They now live in LA. Things didn't work out as well for the prince. Prince Jefri Bolkaih was alleged to have embezzled nearly $15 billion during his time as finance minister -- and has reportedly not spoken to his brother since 2004. Although recent reports suggest the prince has returned to Brunei, his international reputation as an over-the-top playboy has marred his image for good. Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/my_nights_at_the_harem_p8PbltXYPm7DnA5l7TDAoI#ixzz0nylErOuZ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
