The Evadne was a large twin-screw motor yacht, built in 1931 by Camper and Nicholsons at Southampton, England as Yard Number 388.

[5] He lent Evadne to Amelia Earhart in 1932 after weather conditions forced her to end her Transatlantic Solo Flight in Ireland rather than Paris, so she could meet her fans at Cherbourg.

[2] In July 1942 Evadne joined the Highlander escort group to escort a convoy across the Atlantic before breaking away to the Imperial fortress colony of Bermuda, where she was employed on anti-submarine duties at the Royal Naval Dockyard[2][8] (Evadne operated outside of Bermuda's barrier reef, leaving the enclosed waters to HMS Castle Harbour, then HMS Sumar).

[9][10][11] Evadne remained in Bermuda until being reallocated to the Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean, arriving on 12 March 1944 in Gibraltar, where she was based until hostilities ended.

[19] Following the death of André François-Poncet in 1962 she was bought by Robert Zellinger de Balkany, a French retail property magnate, who renamed her Marala, a portmanteau of the names of his first two daughters, Alexandra and Maria.

During this period notable users included Frank Sinatra, who hired her for the month of June 1970, and hosted Grace Kelly and Princess Alexandra of Kent, among others.