Close people to the woman who became the hottest thing on the internet after causing Eliot Spitzer to resign as Governor of New York yesterday spoke out on her behalf.

According to two of her friends, hip-hop artists Robert "Mysterious" Cummings and Freddie "Logan" Sagastume, the 22-year-old high-priced call-girl, identified as Ashley Alexandra Dupre, is "a strong, independent woman," People quoted them as saying.

Known to most people as "Kristen," Dupre has apparently led a double life for the past three years, as none of her friends knew about her "escort" activities, which Cummings called "shocking."

Dupé's mother, Carolyn Capalbo, 46, told The New York Times that her daughter "is a very bright girl who can handle someone like the governor," whereas her stepfather, Michael DiPietro (from whom she reportedly took her adopted name), declined comment.

Born Ashley Youmans, the young woman who later changed her name to Ashley Rae Maika DiPietro and goes by the stage name Ashley Alexandra Dupré, told the New York Times recently that she doesn't want to be thought of as "a monster."

According to an investigation, Dupre met with Spitzer on Feb. 13 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington for sex, a meet-up arranged through the international call-girl outfit called the Emperor's Club, where she was employed as a high-priced prostitute. She was paid $4,300 for the session, one of many that investigators said Spitzer had with women employed by the prostitution ring that operated in several cities worldwide.

"This has been a very difficult time. It is complicated," Dupre, who describes herself on her MySpace page as being "all about music", said.

She has not been charged and the lawyer appointed to represent her, Don D. Buchwald, told a magistrate judge in court on Monday that she had been subpoenaed to testify in a grand jury investigation. Asked to swear that she had accurately filled out and signed a financial affidavit, she responded affirmatively.

Spitzer, who is married with three daughters, emerged from his Fifth Avenue apartment to announce his resignation yesterday.

"I am deeply sorry that I did not live up to what was expected of me,” he told a press conference, with his wife, Silda, at his side.

"I look at my time as Governor with a sense of what might have been . . . There is much more to be done. I cannot allow my private failings to disrupt the people’s work. In the past few days I have begun to atone for my private failings with my wife, Silda, my children and my entire family. The remorse I feel will always be with me."