Mandy Rice-Davies: sex, society and wonderful photos
Mandy Rice-Davies: 21 October 1944 – 18 December 2014.
Mandy Rice-Davies was a central figure in the 1960s Profumo affair. Along with her flatmate Christine Keeler, the scandal brought Harold Macmillan’s government to the edge. It was the story that kickstarted the Swinging Sixties.
John Profumo was the War Minister. He’d been having an affair with Keeler who was also said to be having a relationship with Soviet defence attache Yevgeny Ivanov.
Rice-Davies testified at the high-profile trial of Stephen Ward, an osteopath who was charged with living off the immoral earnings of her and Keeler,. The pot boiled with tales of sex and secrets in the upper echelons of society. Ward was guilty. But he never served a prison sentence. He took an overdose the night before a guilty verdict, and died days later.
Rice-Davies was famous. And she’d became notorious for claiming to have had an affair with Lord Astor. He denied it. Stood in the witness box during the trial at the Old Bailey, she called the noble Lord a liar.
When told he had denied the affair, she replied: “Well he would, wouldn’t he?”
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*** FILE *** Christine Keeler, right, and Marylin ( Mandy ) Rice-Davies, left, two of the principal witnesses in the vice charges case against osteopath Dr. Stephen Ward, share a car as they drive through London, today, July 22, 1963, after attending the first day of Ward's trial. John Profumo, a former British Cabinet minister whose liaison with Keeler nearly brought down a government, died after suffering a stroke, an official said Friday. He was 91. 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. (AP-PHOTO/FILE)
Posted: 19th, December 2014 | In: Celebrities Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
