Christine Keeler obituary: The model whose Profumo affair helped bring down the Government Scandal shook the British establishment in 1963 - Independent

Christine Keeler obituary: The model whose Profumo affair helped bring down the Government

Scandal shook the British establishment in 1963

Marcus Williamson - 6/12/2017

'Christine Keeler was part of a world where her sexuality became a currency for rich and powerful men' Getty

Christine Keeler, who has died aged 75, was the model and dancer at the heart of the Profumo affair, which shook the British establishment in 1963, contributing to the downfall of the Harold Macmillan Government.

Keeler was born in Uxbridge in 1942 and raised in Berkshire by her mother and step-father. She left school at the age of 15, with no qualifications, and sought work as a dancer in Soho.

Aged 19, Keeler was performing at Murray’s Cabaret Club when she met Stephen Ward, an osteopath, artist and society figure. Ward in turn introduced her to John Profumo, the then-Secretary of State for War in the Conservative government of Harold Macmillan. The pair had a brief affair, lasting some three months. Profumo’s infidelity with Keeler, whom he later described as “a very pretty girl and very sweet”, would have remained undiscovered had it not been for what followed.

Model Christine Keeler at centre of Profumo Affair dies aged 75

Keeler met Aloysius “Lucky” Gordon, a jazz musician, in August 1961 in Notting Hill and the pair had become lovers. When, the following year, the shebeen owner Johnny Edgecombe moved in with her, a confrontation ensued, during which Edgecombe slashed Gordon’s face with a knife. In December 1962 the animosity escalated, Edgecombe fired a gun at the door of Stephen Ward’s home, where Keeler, the model Mandy Rice-Davies and Gordon were hiding. Edgecombe was arrested for possession of a firearm.

The ensuing trial exposed the world of Keeler, Rice-Davies and the involvement of establishment figures, including Lord Astor, who had hosted wild parties at Cliveden House. The investigation also revealed that Keeler had a brief affair with Yevgeny Ivanov, a Russian naval attaché and spy, creating concerns for national security. Profumo at first denied any sexual activity with Keeler, making a statement to that effect in the House of Commons on 22 March 1963.

Under pressure to reveal her side of the story, Keeler decided to tell all to the press. The News of the World’s front page bore the glaring headline “Confessions of Christine – By the girl who is rocking the Government” and recounted her lurid tales in a series of weekly episodes. Profumo resigned on 5 June.

Ward, who faced trial on charges of living off immoral earnings, died in an apparent suicide in August, following an overdose of barbiturates. His trial had in turn revealed that Keeler had lied in court. She was tried and convicted of perjury, serving six months of a nine month jail sentence.

Her life was immortalised in film and on stage

An investigation, chaired by Lord Denning, examined the affair and its repercussions for the Government. His report, published in September 1963, concluded that no security leaks had occurred. But by then Macmillan’s position was already compromised and he resigned the following month.

The affair went on to have a life of its own in film, three plays for the theatre, and in a new six-part BBC drama series, The Trial Of Christine Keeler, to be broadcast next year.

Executive producer Kate Triggs told The Independent: “In 1963 Britain changed irrevocably. Old certainties about class, race and sex exploded. And 19-year-old Christine Keeler was the flame that lit the touchpaper.

"Christine was not a show girl or a prostitute and she did no real modelling. She was a poor kid from a challenged emotional background with all the energy and force that life gave her.

"She was also part of a world where her sexuality became a currency for rich and powerful men.”