[citation needed] For several years, she attended Burnham Secondary Modern School near Slough under the name of Paula Sherrin.
[3] At the age of 18, after appearing in pornographic poses and after several rejections as a model,[3] Hamilton moved to Tokyo, Japan, and worked for 18 months.
[3] Returning to England, Hamilton was discovered by the photographer David Bailey, and as a result, became the main model of the Queen's couturier Sir Hardy Amies.
[3] Hamilton reached the zenith of her modelling career at the age of 27 when she appeared in an iconic 1987 television advert for the Volkswagen Golf.
[3] She is seen leaving her husband, posting her wedding ring back through the letterbox, throwing her pearl necklace and brooch towards a cat, and ditching her fur coat – but keeping the car keys.
[3] In the early 1990s, Hamilton participated in a television programme Back to the Present hosted by Eamonn Holmes and Esther McVey, where celebrities are regressed to 'uncover' their past lives.
In 2000, after the death of her friend Paula Yates from a drugs overdose, she left the UK and emigrated to New Zealand's south island, and started studying business at Christchurch Polytechnic.
[10] After naked pictures of her had appeared in Mayfair, she moved to London and for two years lived with a boyfriend, Andrew, and his parents in Rutland Gate, South Kensington.
[12] In the 1990s, Hamilton met Michael Ashcroft at the Savoy, when he offered her £200 for her charity Tusk Force if she would dance with him,[13] and they went on to have a long affair.