How the young priestess of love managed to deprive the UK of the government: Model Christine Keeler

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

This young beauty, who only dreamed of living in abundance, unexpectedly became a key figure in the nationwide spy scandal that broke out in Great Britain in the early 1960s. It was she who contributed to the collapse of the Conservative government of Harold Macmillan, but the details of this case will be hidden under the heading "Secret" for another quarter of a century. The very same Christine Keeler has long gone down in history.

Originally from childhood

She was born in Uxbridge in 1942, and in 1945 her father left his wife and daughter. The family lived very poorly even after Christine's mother got married a second time. In 1951, the girl was almost taken away by the guardianship authorities due to incredible exhaustion. The house was desperately short of money, and Christine was really starving.

At the age of 12, she was first abused. Her stepfather took advantage of the helplessness of his stepdaughter, and then even invited the girl to run with him. Christine learned to defend herself from her stepfather, but she could not avoid violence from other men. A teenage girl already tried to provide herself with food, looking after children in the families of friends, but the fathers of these children too often tried to win her favor by force.

She never finished school, going to London in 1957 in search of a better destiny. There she began to demonstrate clothes in one of the stores, intending to achieve much in the future. A year later, all Christine's dreams of a beautiful life almost collapsed: after one of the fleeting novels, the girl realized that she was carrying a child under her heart, whose birth was not at all part of her plans. She tried in vain to disrupt the unwanted pregnancy, but the baby was still born. True, he did not live even a week.

Fatal acquaintance

Christine Keeler was constantly looking for sources of income, hoping to someday become a model. She worked in different places, but the money was still desperately lacking. And only the acquaintance with the owner of the cabaret Percy Murray finally opened new horizons for the girl. Christine became a participant in a frank dance show, began performing in front of wealthy gentlemen and making very useful acquaintances.

She soon attracted the attention of the famous London socialite, osteopath and artist Stephen Ward. He was not only fond of painting and was engaged in the treatment of high-ranking patients, but also "contributed" to the acquaintance of young beauties with wealthy patrons who are ready to pay for love. Christine became one of Ward's protégés, and was also able to make friends with him so much that she considered him her brother. Keeler lived in Stephen's house and always returned under his wing after the end of the next romance.

Stephen Ward had many influential acquaintances who used his services, and therefore was not at all afraid of covering up his "dating house". In addition, there were persistent rumors about his cooperation with MI5 (British counterintelligence).

Among Ward's friends was Lord Astor, who was not only a regular customer, but, in fact, a business partner of Stephen. Lord used the services of the girls himself and invited them to his receptions held in Cleveland. Astor did not deny Ward the provision of the Spring Cottage located on the estate for pimping.

Spy scandal

A reception hosted by Lord Astor in July 1961 "coincidentally" coincided with a vacation at Ward's Spring Cottage with Christine Keeler and her friend. And the Minister of War, John Profumo, who was present at the reception, just as "accidentally" found himself at the pool, when a naked Christine was splashing in it.

Lord Astor and John Profumo enjoyed watching the 19-year-old beauty. The girl, on the other hand, took a towel lying nearby, which turned out to be too small to hide something, but allowed her to coquettishly cover herself or playfully move it from one part of the body to another. Soon, Christine had already gone sightseeing in Cleveland with John Profumo.

Evgeny Ivanov, who joined the company the next day, was far from an ordinary guest. The assistant to the USSR naval attaché worked for Soviet intelligence, as MI5 knew about, which was hatching plans to recruit Ivanov with the assistance of the same Ward.

The Assistant Attaché had a great time in the company of helpful people, and in the evening left for London, accompanied by the charming Christine. The girl subsequently claimed that she was in an intimate relationship with Yevgeny Ivanov, but he simply did not comment on his relationship with the girl. But Christine's romance with Profumo after a while will become public and will play a fatal role in the fate of the latter.

Their meetings continued for several months at Ward's house, and sometimes at John Profumo's family nest, when his wife and children were away. At that time, Stephen repeatedly, as if in jest, asked Christine to find out something from John, and sometimes sent notes through her to Yevgeny Ivanov.

This story could have remained unknown if Keeler's next boyfriend Lucky Gordon had not arranged a showdown with shooting and stabbing with another admirer of the beautiful Johnny Edgecomm directly at the house of Stephen Ward. The police had to sort out the incident, and the investigation eventually led to the disclosure of Christine's connection with Profumo.

The press, which has long been looking for incriminating evidence on John Profumo, who was running for the post of prime minister, has got a gorgeous piece of material. In Great Britain at that time, the topic of a military threat from the USSR was very relevant, the public was looking forward to materials about spies. Therefore, the Profumo case turned out to be very useful.

The Minister of War tried to disown the relationship with Christine Keeler, but the girl did not miss her chance to become famous and betrayed her former lover, having received a good fee from journalists for the details of the story. Profumo had to resign, and the government of Harold MacMillan, whose reputation had been tarnished by a spy scandal, lost the election miserably a year later.

Evgeny Ivanov, sensing the danger, managed to return to Moscow before the business gained momentum. Subsequently, he took up administrative work at the GRU. Dr. Ward was accused of pandering and Christina's testimony in defense of a friend could not change anything. The former clients did not dare to intercede for the friend, and as a result, Stephen Ward committed suicide even before the verdict in his case.

All materials of "Dea Profumo" were classified until 2046. These precautions are said to be due to the fact that disclosing the details could damage the reputation of some of the members of the royal family.

Christine could enjoy fame: her photographs were printed in newspapers and interviews were published, but her reputation was also damaged. In the eyes of fellow citizens, she looked like an accomplice of a Soviet spy and a girl of easy virtue. Subsequently, Keeler received good dividends from the sale of the details of the history known to her. She was married twice, gave birth to two sons, but after the second divorce, she gave her word never to marry again.

Christine Keeler has published six books of memoirs, providing herself with a decent income. She passed away from lung disease in 2017.

Christine Keeler was called the Mata Hari of the 1960s. But she was not at all like Margareta Zelle, better known as the dancer Mata Hari. During World War I she was engaged in espionage activities in favor of Germany, which is why a French court later sentenced her to death.