Democratic Underground Latest Greatest Lobby Journals Search Options Help Login
Google

Profumo Dead; Liaison with Prostitute Nearly Brought Down Brit Government

Printer-friendly format Printer-friendly format
Printer-friendly format Email this thread to a friend
Printer-friendly format Bookmark this thread
This topic is archived.
Home » Discuss » Latest Breaking News Donate to DU
 
LiberalHeart Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-10-06 06:49 AM
Original message
Profumo Dead; Liaison with Prostitute Nearly Brought Down Brit Government
Profumo, who spent more than 40 years redeeming himself with charity work for London's poor, was Britain's secretary of state for war when he was involved with Christine Keeler in 1963. At the same time, she was seeing a Soviet naval attache and intelligence agent. Profumo first denied the affair, but after the publication of a letter he wrote her, he resigned on June 5, 1963.


Much more:
http://wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=4612814
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
Greeby Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-10-06 06:53 AM
Response to Original message
1. *sigh* When the worst thing a Secretary of War had to resign for
Was sharing a prostitute, you get some idea of how far this country's "leaders" have fallen
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
NYC Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-10-06 03:24 PM
Response to Reply #1
19. The problem was the sharing of secrets and confidential information
that came with the sharing of a prostitute.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
murielm99 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-10-06 06:56 AM
Response to Original message
2. I read something about Christine Keeler in a People
Magazine a few years ago.

She did not fare as well as Profumo. She lost her looks and lived in terrible poverty. It was very sad.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Greeby Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-10-06 07:17 AM
Response to Reply #2
6. I dunno, if I recall correctly
But she seemed to be doing pretty well when she was doing the rounds for her autobiography.

Mind you, this was 2001, and that feels like a thousand centuries ago
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
murielm99 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-10-06 07:38 AM
Response to Reply #6
8. It sure does feel like a thousand centuries ago!
The article I read was before 2001. I Googled Miss Keeler and you are correct. She seems to be doing well for herself.

The article may have been to drum up some publicity or sympathy. I remember quite clearly the pictures of her and her run-down living quarters.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
kskiska Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-10-06 07:06 AM
Response to Original message
3. I wonder how Mandy Rice-Davies made out
I remember that case very well. Even over here, it was huge - as big as Watergate. Headlines every day in the tabloids.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
LostinVA Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-10-06 07:11 AM
Response to Reply #3
4. I read something about her a few years ago -- quite well
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
LostinVA Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-10-06 07:12 AM
Response to Reply #4
5. And Stephen Ward -- he really WAS a "spy"
Edited on Fri Mar-10-06 07:12 AM by LostinVA
Ridiculed, called a liar, et.... and he was telling the truth the whole time...
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
NYC Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-10-06 03:26 PM
Response to Reply #5
20. And he tied into Anthony Blunt and Ruth Ellis.
Ruth Ellis was the last woman hanged in England. They made a movie about Ruth Ellis called Dance with a Stranger or something similar.

The Anthony Blunt (Keeper of the Queen's Pictures) story was also fascinating, and of course, involved a spy in Washington, D.C.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Lydia Leftcoast Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-10-06 03:36 PM
Response to Reply #5
21. And he died quite young, didn't he?
Like when the scandal was still fresh in people's minds or maybe even while it was still going on.

I was perhaps 12 to 13 years old at the time, so my memory is sketchy.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
LostinVA Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-10-06 06:19 PM
Response to Reply #21
24. Yeah -- he killed himself
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
murielm99 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-10-06 07:36 AM
Response to Reply #3
7. She is a grandmother and live in the U.S. nt
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
dryan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-10-06 08:16 AM
Response to Reply #7
9. Thaks for the trip...
down memory lane. I remember this case very well -- it was all over the papers. The movie about it that came out about 10 years ago didn't do the case justice.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
kskiska Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-10-06 09:42 AM
Response to Reply #3
15. Mandy pic
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
ProudToBeLiberal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-10-06 08:25 AM
Response to Original message
10. Christine Keeler is a beauty!!
No wonder the navy secretary fell for her :).







Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
muriel_volestrangler Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-10-06 08:32 AM
Response to Reply #10
12. To which you have to add the iconic image


One the the 'defining' sixties images.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Octafish Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-10-06 08:27 AM
Response to Original message
11. The Monica Lewinsky of her day.
Some things never change, like using people to make events go a certain way.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
0007 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-10-06 08:38 AM
Response to Original message
13. Christine Keeler was quite a lady. I remember that scandal
clearly.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
acmavm Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-10-06 09:07 AM
Response to Reply #13
14. So do I. And it was a tad more involved than the Monica
affair. There was some very real problems what with her involvement with the Russian agent.

Monica was just a chubby little strumpet who like powerful married men.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
0007 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-10-06 10:10 AM
Response to Reply #14
16. LOL!! Absolutely so comparison, and definitely more than a tad.
I was so pissed at Clinton for being so stupid I couldn't see straight.

In my opinion Christine wouldn't broke Bill down like a double barrel shot gun and put him in a corner and made a pet out of him.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
LostinVA Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-10-06 06:21 PM
Response to Reply #13
25. A good movie was mad about it -- decently accuare, "Scandal"
John Hurt, Joanne Walley, Bridget Fonda, and Sir Ian.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
onager Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-10-06 11:50 AM
Response to Original message
17. The movie about it contained one of the most erotic scenes ever...
Or maybe I'm just weird. No, I'm definitely weird, but anyhow...

For those who never saw it, the movie about the Profumo-Keeler scandal was entitled..."Scandal"! From 1989, with John Hurt as Stephen Ward, Ian McKellen as Profumo, and in one of her first major roles, Bridget Fonda as Mandy Rice-Davies.

Watch it and see how many parallels you can find with our current situation here in the U.S. Especially the wealthy, hypocritical Conservative politicians, with their famous marketing slogan: "You never had it so good!"

And the most erotic scene ever? Christine Keeler and Rice-Davies preparing for a night on the town. Fastening stockings to garter belts, adjusting bras, applying lipstick in EXTREME close-ups. While in the background, the soundtrack plays the great junk-rock instrumental Apache.

Excuse me, now I need some Private Time...
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
muriel_volestrangler Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-10-06 02:56 PM
Response to Reply #17
18. The movie was on TV here a few weeks ago
and I can indeed remember the scene.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
mitchum Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-10-06 05:30 PM
Response to Reply #17
23. You're not weird...
that IS a great scene :)
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Hand Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-10-06 03:43 PM
Response to Original message
22. I remember that whole scandal...
It was back in the relatively prudish early 1960s just on the cusp of the sexual revolution. The newspapers were hard pressed to explain the whole thing without actually mentioning taboo subjects such as S-E-X explicitly. I was only in my early teens and had a hell of a time figuring out what the problem was--the way the descrbed the goings on, it sounded like someone just went to the wrong garden party a few times!

On the other hand, a more mature schoolmate (female, by the way) explained it all in one joke: "Who's the world's worst carpenter? Christine Keeler--One screw and the whole cabinet fell apart!" :rofl:
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
blitzen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-10-06 10:26 PM
Response to Original message
26. I had a beer with his son once in London...
a nice guy who writes and edits books about flyfishing (which happens to by my passion as well)...I made a point of not mentioning a word about his dad.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
LiberalHeart Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-10-06 10:50 PM
Response to Reply #26
27. How old would the son have been when it happened? (EOM)
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
blitzen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-11-06 12:59 AM
Response to Reply #27
28. i think he was a young child....
when i met him, around 1990, he was in his early or mid 30s (just a guess)
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
DU AdBot (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view 
this author's profile Click to add 
this author to your buddy list Click to add 
this author to your Ignore list Fri May 10th 2024, 01:51 PM
Response to Original message
Advertisements [?]
 Top

Home » Discuss » Latest Breaking News Donate to DU

Powered by DCForum+ Version 1.1 Copyright 1997-2002 DCScripts.com
Software has been extensively modified by the DU administrators


Important Notices: By participating on this discussion board, visitors agree to abide by the rules outlined on our Rules page. Messages posted on the Democratic Underground Discussion Forums are the opinions of the individuals who post them, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Democratic Underground, LLC.

Home  |  Discussion Forums  |  Journals |  Store  |  Donate

About DU  |  Contact Us  |  Privacy Policy

Got a message for Democratic Underground? Click here to send us a message.

© 2001 - 2011 Democratic Underground, LLC