Clara Ward (17 June 1873 – 9 December 1916) was a wealthy American socialite who married Joseph, Prince de Caraman-Chimay of Belgium.

She came to the public's attention in 1889 or early 1890 when it was announced that Prince of Caraman-Chimay, a member of the Belgian Chamber of Deputies, had proposed marriage to her.

[citation needed] Two children shortly followed the marriage: There is evidence that she and the Prince favored the more prestigious Parisian restaurants with their patronage.

To her family's consternation, the Ludington Record of 24 December 1896 carried news of the elopement with a woodcut illustration of Ward and the headline "Gone With a Gypsy".

She employed her beauty and celebrity to pose on various stages, including the Folies Bergère and likely the Moulin Rouge, while wearing form-fitting costumes.

Kaiser Wilhelm II is said to have forbidden the publication or display of her photograph in the German Empire because he thought her beauty "disturbing".

The exact timeline is unclear, but Ward's next love interest and final husband is believed to have been Signor Cassalota, a station manager of a small Italian railroad that facilitated tours of Mount Vesuvius.

[2] In fact, Proust based a character in À la recherche du temps perdu (English: "In Search of Lost Time") on Clara Ward: that of a cousin of the Baron Charlus.

[3] The character of Simone Pistache in the film version of Cole Porter's musical Can-Can was based in part on Clara Ward.

[citation needed] In the film, set in Paris in 1896, Shirley MacLaine as Pistache dances in a skin-tight, flesh-colored costume like that favored by Ward.