Christine Keeler, the woman that shook the British government

Christine Keeler (born February 22, 1942) was a British model and showgirl. Her involvement with a British government minister discredited the Conservative administration of Harold Macmillan in 1963 in what is known as the Profumo Affair. Image File history File links ChristineKeeler. ... Image File history File links ChristineKeeler. ... February 22 is the 53rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... A model is a person who acts as a human prop for purposes of art, fashion, advertising, pornography, etc. ... A Las Vegas showgirl, from the Folies Bergere. ... The Conservative Party is one of the two largest political parties in the United Kingdom and the most successful party in political history based on election victories. ... The Right Honourable Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC (10 February 1894–29 December 1986), nicknamed Supermac and Mac the Knife, was a British Conservative politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. ... The Profumo Affair was a political scandal of 1963 in the United Kingdom. ...

Born in Uxbridge, Middlesex, England, she was raised by her mother and stepfather in two converted railway carriages in the Berkshire village of Wraysbury. At age fifteen, she found work as a model at a dress shop in London's Soho quarter. At 17, she gave birth to a son after an affair with 'Jim' an African American sergeant from Laleham Air Force base. Uxbridge is a place in the London Borough of Hillingdon in west London. ... Middlesex is one of the 39 historic counties of England. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the United Kingdom (light green), with the Republic of Ireland (blue) to its west Languages None official English de facto Capital None official London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked... Berkshire (IPA: or  ; sometimes abbreviated to Berks) is a county in England and forms part of the South East England region. ... A village is a human residential settlement commonly found in rural areas. ... Wraysbury (previously Wyrardsbury) is a village in Berkshire, England. ... London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England and is the most populous city in the European Union. ... SoHo is a neighborhood in Manhattan that is bounded roughly by Houston Street on the north, Lafayette Street on the east, Canal Street on the south, and Sixth Avenue on the west. ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black), is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... This article is about the rank of sergeant. ...

She had discovered she was pregnant only after he had returned to the United States, and she tried to abort the baby herself with a knitting needle but failed. The child was born prematurely on 17 April 1959 and survived just six days. Bamboo knitting needles A knitting needle is a long stick or rod used as a tool in the manufacture of hand knitted fabric. ... April 17 is the 107th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (108th in leap years). ... 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

That summer Keeler left Wraysbury, staying briefly in Slough with a friend before heading for London. She initially worked as a waitress at a restaurant in Baker Street and there met Maureen O’Connor, a girl who worked at Murray’s Cabaret Club in Soho. She introduced Keeler to the owner, Percy Murray, who hired her almost immediately as a topless showgirl. While at Murray's she met Dr. Stephen Ward. Soon the two were living together with the outward appearance of being a couple, but, according to her, it was a platonic "brother and sister" relationship. Slough (pronounced ) is a town and unitary authority (Borough of Slough) in the county of Berkshire in the south of England. ... Dr Stephen Ward ( - 3 August 1963), the son of Canon Arthur Evelyn Ward, Canon of Rochester Cathedral, was a fashionable London osteopath and talented portrait artist. ...

The Profumo Affair

Main article: Profumo Affair

In July of 1961, Ward introduced her to John Profumo, the British Secretary of State for War, at a pool party at Cliveden, the Buckinghamshire mansion owned by Lord Astor. Profumo entered into an affair with Keeler, not suspecting that she was also sleeping with Yevgeny Ivanov, a naval attaché at the embassy of the Soviet Union. The Profumo Affair was a political scandal of 1963 in the United Kingdom. ... John Dennis Profumo, CBE (30 January 1915 – 10 March 2006), often called Jack Profumo, was a British politician and the central figure in the Profumo Affair of 1963, which caused severe damage to the Conservative government of Harold Macmillan and is held to have contributed to its defeat the following... The secretary of war in cabinet position was Henry Knox. ... Cliveden is a mansion in Berkshire (though until the county borders changed in 1974 it was in Buckinghamshire) with an intriguing history. ... Map of Bucks (1904) Buckinghamshire (abbreviated Bucks) is a county in South East England. ... Mansion near Almelo, The Netherlands A mansion is a large and stately dwelling house for the wealthy. ... William Waldorf Astor, (August 13, 1907 - March 7, 1966), was a businessman and politician and a member of the prominent Astor family. ... Captain Yevgeny Ivanov (died January 17, 1994) was a Soviet naval attaché at the Russian embassy in London in the late 1950s, and was also engaged in espionage. ... A military attaché is a military expert who is part of a diplomatic mission. ... A diplomatic mission is a group of people from one nation state present in another nation state to represent the sending state in the receiving State. ...

The affair was terminated by the government’s Cabinet Secretary, Sir Norman Brooke. Brook spoke to Profumo on the advice of Sir Roger Hollis, the head of MI5. On 9 August 1961 Profumo wrote to Keeler advising her he could no longer see her. In the British Government, the Cabinet Secretary, or more formally Secretary of the Cabinet, is the senior civil servant in charge of the Cabinet Office, a department that provides administrative support to the Prime Minister, the Cabinet, and the government as a whole. ... Sir Roger Hollis (1905 - 1973) journalist, and head of MI5. ... Current MI5 headquarters in Thames House, London The Security Service, usually called MI5, is the British counter-intelligence and security agency. ... August 9 is the 221st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (222nd in leap years), with 144 days remaining. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ...

Among Keeler's collection of lovers were two West Indians - Aloysius ‘Lucky’ Gordon and Johnny Edgecombe. Gordon, with a previous criminal record, was infatuated with Keeler. Keeler alleged that he assaulted her in the street and held her captive for two days at one point. She filed charges but was persuaded to drop them by Gordon's brother. The Caribbean or the West Indies is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. ...

Keeler eventually rejected Gordon's advances and bought a revolver to protect herself from him. Edgecombe was enlisted to act as her minder. On 27 October 1962 Edgecombe and Gordon were involved in a fracas at a Soho club and Edgecombe slit Gordon’s face with a knife. The wound needed seventeen stitches. October 27 is the 300th day of the year (301st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 65 days remaining. ... 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar). ...

Edgecombe went into hiding from the police. Keeler changed her address to hide from Gordon. Edgecombe contacted Keeler to request her help in finding a solicitor before the police found him. Keeler refused to help as he had taken a new lover in the meantime. She told him that she was not prepared to help him and intended to testify against him in court.

In the early afternoon of 14 December 1962, Edgecombe arrived at Ward’s Wimple Mews flat. Keeler, there visiting Mandy Rice-Davies who was living with Ward, refused to let him in. Edgecombe shot at the door with the revolver that had belonged to Keeler. The alarm was raised: Wimpole Mews was soon swarming with police and journalists. Edgecombe escaped in a taxi. He was arrested later at his Brentford flat. December 14 is the 348th day of the year (349th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar). ...

Keeler was imprisoned nine months for perjury in a related trial involving 'Lucky' Gordon. Stephen Ward was convicted of living on the earnings of prostitution, including earnings from Christine Keeler and her friend Mandy Rice-Davies; Ward committed suicide on the last day of his trial, before a verdict could be returned. Mandy Rice-Davies, born October 1, 1944, is famous mainly for her minor role in the Profumo affair which discredited the Conservative government of British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in 1963. ... Suicide (from Latin sui caedere, to kill oneself) is the act of willfully ending ones own life. ...

In 2001, already the author of several books on the affair, Keeler worked with editor Douglas Thompson to write her autobiography titled The Truth at Last: My Story. An Autobiography is an account of a persons life written by that person For music albums named Autobiography, see Autobiography (album) An autobiography (from the Greek auton, self, bios, life and graphein, write) is a biography written by the subject or composed conjointly with a collaborative writer (styled as...

In the 1989 film about the Profumo Affair entitled Scandal, actress Joanne Whalley portrayed Keeler. // Events Actress Kim Basinger and her brother Mick purchase Braselton, Georgia for $20 million. ... Scandal (1989) is a dramatic movie starring Joanne Whalley and John Hurt, written by Michael Thomas and directed by Michael Caton-Jones. ... Joanne Whalley (born 25 August 1964) is a British actress. ...

She is also the subject of songs by Phil Ochs & the Glaxo Babies entitled Christine Keeler, her name appears in the Porcupine Tree song Piano Lessons and in Post World War II Blues by Al Stewart. Phil Ochs in concert, May 25, 1973 in Ann Arbor, Michigan Philip David Ochs (December 19, 1940 – April 9, 1976) was a U.S. protest singer (or, as he preferred, a topical singer) popular during the 1960s His best known songs include Power and the Glory, There But for Fortune... Porcupine Tree is a British progressive rock band formed in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England. ...

The portrait

Lewis Morley's photoshoot was one of the most iconic of the 1960s

At the height of the Profumo Affair in 1963, Keeler sat for a portrait which became famous. The photoshoot with Lewis Morley was to promote a film The Keeler Affair that was never distributed. Keeler had unwisely signed a contract which required her to pose naked for publicity photos. Keeler was reluctant to continue, but the film producers insisted, so Morley persuaded Keeler to sit astride a bentwood chair such that whilst technically she would be naked, the back of the chair would obscure most of her body. Image File history File links Christine Keeler astride a copy of an Arne Jacobsen chair. ... Image File history File links Christine Keeler astride a copy of an Arne Jacobsen chair. ... A contact sheet from Morleys famous photoshoot with Christine Keeler. ... A contact sheet from Morleys famous photoshoot with Christine Keeler. ...

At the time, Morley and Keeler were already famous, but the photo propelled the Arne Jacobsen model 3107 chair to stardom. However, the actual chair used was one with a hand-hold aperture cut out of the back in order to avoid the legalities of copyright. The photograph has subsequently been much imitated and satirised, including versions by Morley himself. Radisson SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen, Denmark, as seen from the west. ...

Publications

Keeler's autobiography was published in 2001

• Sex Scandals by Christine Keeler and Robert Meadley, Xanadu Publications 1985 (ISBN 0947761039)
• Scandal by Christine Keeler, Xanadu Publications 1989 (Basis of the movie of the same name.)(ISBN 0947761756)
• The Businessperson's Guide to Intelligent Social Drinking by Richard Basini and Christine Keeler, Congdon & Weed 1989 (ISBN 0312920709)
• The Naked Spy by Christine Keeler, Ivanov Yevgeny and Sokolov Gennady, Blake Publishing 1992 (ISBN 1857820924)
• The Truth At Last: My Story by Christine Keeler with Douglas Thompson, Sidgwick & Jackson Ltd, 2001 (ISBN 0283072911)

This image is a book cover. ... This image is a book cover. ...

References

• Morley's recollection of the Keeler photoshoot from the V&A Museum.