Alice Tankerville, a London harlot with uncommon beauty and razor-sharp wit, defied the might of King Henry VIII, leaving an indelible mark on history. Her crime? Pirating gold from the Crown, an act of defiance that sparked an international crisis and sent shock waves through the realm.Her tale began with the theft of 366 gold crowns from a ship at the London Steelyard of the German Hanseatic League, a fortune destined for King Henry's depleted coffers. Though her husband John was imprisoned for the crime at the Tower, he walked free for lack of evidence. When two Italian merchants were found murdered floating in the River Thames and their vast fortune disappeared, the pirate couple was arrested again. This time, the High Court of Admiralty delivered a grim verdict-death by hanging in chains at low tide on the River Thames. From her cell in Coldharbour Gate, she seduced the Tower's Yeoman Warders, orchestrating a daring escape. She is known to be the only woman to ever escape the Tower.