Lady Bellatrix has been operating in central Paris for about 18 months since moving from the UK and has become one of the most high profile international dominatrices operating on the French scene.

And France can thank Brexit and her French mother-in-law for her arrival on these shores.

Lady Bellatrix, who was born in Canada but moved to Britain and has British citizenship, is now something of a star of the fetish scene and charges €450 for a 90 minute appointment.

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Photo: Rachel May – www.fetishwebmistress.com

Her clientele is international – she saw people from 11 different countries last year – but Brits and of course French men are heavily represented.

She said: “Being in Paris is great because of course a lot of people travel here, so I have regular clients who come here from the UK a few times a year on business and come and see me too.

“I have people who have travelled from Kuwait and Dubai to see me after finding my videos online, and of course I have a lot of French clients.”

For French men the requirements include – beside paying the hefty fee and being prepared to worship at the feet of Lady Bellatrix – speaking English.

She said: “I'm learning French and I'm getting more confident so now I do the odd session in French but I find it easier to speak English.

“I have private tutor sessions with a French man who is a male dom, so that's handy for me learning the vocabulary I need for my work, a well as the basic French grammar.”

Despite her dual nationality, Lady Bellatrix markets herself very much as British “the stern British mistress is very popular”.

She trained in her craft with a British dominatrix and feels her style is very British.

She said: “I'm much more stern and strict than dommes in the USA or Canada and I do a lot more corporal punishment – that's really popular with British guys, more so than any other nationality and it's a big part of the scene in the UK.

“I find that British guys tend to be more reserved – on the surface at least – but French men are more open about what they're in to.

“One of my British friends had her dungeon next to the Bluewater Shopping Centre in Kent and she always had a huge spike in business in December, as men told their wives they were off Christmas shopping but went to visit her instead.

Photo: Rachel May – www.fetishwebmistress.com

“But December is usually a good month for me as well, people are in a party mood and more likely to treat themselves – we all tend to get a little treat for ourselves as well as buying presents for other people.”

Although she enjoyed her time in Britain, it was Brexit that persuaded her to make the move to France.

She said: “I was married to a French guy so visited my mother-in-law in Paris anyway.

“I used to do tours quite regularly in France – advertising in advance that I was going to be there for a month – and then I would go and visit my mother-in-law afterwards.

“I stayed close with her even after my husband and I split up and she was very accepting.

“I was spending several months of the year in Paris and I knew I wanted to carry on spending time here, so when Brexit happened I decided to make the move permanently.”

And it was a good move, as she is now a star of the fetish scene, with 48,000 followers on Twitter and hundreds of subscribers to her videos.

She divides her time roughly 50/50 between performances on camera – some pre-recorded videos and some live on webcam – and 'real time' visits from devoted slaves.

People who want to visit – and it is strictly by advance booking only with a non-refundable deposit – can indulge in a variety of activities including foot fetishism, bondage, humiliation, latex, corporal punishment or cleaning her apartment.

There are also some more extreme activities on offer. She said: “I think the cane is my favourite – it's so very British.”

And being British seems to offer a distinct advantage in the industry.

“I did a performance on camera about Brexit that was really popular with French guys. And I sometimes incorporate current affairs into my performances – the other day I told a slave 'Do not disrespect your queen – look what happened to Prince Harry!”

So, Brexit paperwork permitting, she's here to stay and has plans to expand into a bigger dungeon.

And – in a sign that she's truly embracing the French way of life – she's even joined a union.