That was two weeks after her husband's resignation as war minister following revelations of his affair with 19-year-old Christine Keeler, a topless showgirl and would-be model who had also been sharing her favours with a Soviet diplomat.
For many years they had no home of their own, staying in the spare rooms of various relatives, or as paying guests in lodging houses.
In Rome the girls look for men to marry.
Pictured: Sophie Cookson as Keeler 'Valerie didn't look at the doctor, she looked at me and let out a cry I will never, ever forget,' wrote Sir Anthony.
Donahue will remarry in 1979.
While the women in Sir Anthony's life included Grace Kelly later, Princess Grace of Monaco and actress Kay Kendall, who went on to marry the actor Rex Harrison, Valerie's wealthy paramours included a Marquess, a leading member of the Sainsbury grocery family and, of course, John Profumo.
Not quite the saintly wife she seemed: Valerie Hobson, aka Mrs Profumo, remained at her husband John's side throughout the infamous 1960s scandal that brought him down.
Two years later, the Profumos moved to a countryside retreat in Hertfordshire, where, according to their son David's memoirs, 'a shadow fell' on Valerie's spirits as her husband spent long hours in London, devoting himself to volunteering at Toynbee Hall, an East End charity for the homeless.