In The King of Clubs[]
In the short story The King of Clubs, Prince Paul of Maurania was a foreign prince who sought Poirot's help. He called on Poirot under the cover name of "Count Feodor" shortly after the death of Henry Reedburn. Paul was secretly engaged to the dancer Valerie Saintclair. He was concerned that Valerie might somehow be involved in Reedburn's demise.
Hastings observed that Prince Paul was a strange-looking youth. He was described as "tall, eager, with a weak chin". He had "the famous Mauranberg mouth, and the dark fiery eyes of a fanatic."
In The Murder of Roger Ackroyd[]
Prince Paul (renamed Prince Paul of Mauretania) was mentioned in a conversation between Dr Sheppard and his sister in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, as an example of a well-known man who asked Poirot's help, thus proving that the Belgian detective was popular among the "upper classes" of 1920s England.
Portrayals[]
Prince Paul was played by Jack Klaff in the film adaptation of The King of Clubs in Series 1 of ITV's Agatha Christie's Poirot. In the adaptation, Valerie Saintclair was not a dancer but a celebrity actress with Parade Studios which was owned by Henry Reedburn. Paul was one of the financial backers of a film she was making. He knew Poirot already because of an unspecified service which the detective had rendered to his family in the past. As such he insisted that Poirot drop all formality with him and address him as "Paul". He did not ned to use a cover name to approach Poirot.