Revealed: Edith Piaf’s big regret

A love letter written by the French chanteuse Edith Piaf suggests that the sentiments of her most famous song, Non, Je ne Regrette Rien, may not be entirely true. The evidence? A four-page letter written by the singer to one of Greece's most famous actors, Dimitris Horn (pictured), which is about to go to auction.

In the letter, which she wrote in 1946 at the age of 31, Piaf proclaims her everlasting love for "My Taki", who she appears to have met in Athens while on tour. She goes on: "I love you as I have never loved anyone, Taki, don't break my heart. I would like to live very near you, I think that I could make you happy and also believe that I understand you very well. I know that I am capable of giving everything up for you."

The letter came to light after being kept under lock and key in the Greek capital along with a telegram, marked "urgent" and also addressed to the late Horn from the singer. In the telegram, sent two months later, the clearly infatuated singer again declares her love for Horn, beseeching him to write to her in Paris under the name Mme Bigard at 26 Rue Berry.

Sadly, Horn, a serial seducer of woman, does not appear to have reciprocated Piaf's passion. "We will never know how Horn felt [about Piaf]," said Petros Vergos, the auctioneer behind the sale of the letter. "But with their blind passion these manuscripts testify that it was clearly a case of love at first sight for Piaf."