About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators . The first woman to have been the victim of hacking, in that her own diaries and photos were stolen and used against her. He was American airline executive William "Bill" Lyons, according to Duchess Margaret Campbell's ex-daughter-in-law. It comes just days after Foy spoke out about how she hates doing sex scenes, saying they make her feel 'exploited' and that they are the 'grimmest thing you can do'. According to The Grit in the Pearl, Ian and Margarets marriage spiraled into mutual infidelities. [She was] a passionate woman with her own morality, because anybody that doesnt give up their friends, that cuts a lot of ice with me.. Margaret had eight miscarriages and a stillborn child before managing to produce two children: one became the Duchess of Rutland and mother to the current duke, the other a sensible businessman. She tried the Law Lords, [which] decided that Ian is perfectly within his right to use as evidence against his wife material that he burgled from her house. The full depth of his cruelty comes as a shock, though. After the historic case she never remarried, and lost much of her fortune in later life. The judge did not release compromising images of her but did describe them in clear detail. Fairbanks Jr and Margaret both denied he was the Headless Man, but he was identified through his handwriting. The hill he is going to die on is putting the sexuality of women into a box marked disgusting. Hes the one who absolutely destroys her. Even her mother (Phoebe Nicholls) has nothing but contempt for her: My daughter, an adulteress, a round-heel the squalor of it.. She cannot have spoilt herself. She was briefly engaged to the Earl of Warwick, before marrying Charles Sweeny, a fellow wealthy American. Margaret Argyll, the only child of a self-made Scottish millionaire, was a society beauty who her husband alleged had slept with 88 men, including two cabinet ministers and three royals. After his death, George Whighams assets were less than had been assumed and the 18,000 a year income from the trust fund barely covered Margarets living expenses. [9][10], According to Lyndsy Spence, a biographer of the Duchess, the Duke of Argyll forged a deed of sale (sometimes called a deed of gift, thus offering various items from Inveraray Castle as security) before their marriage in exchange for her money used to restore his family home at Inveraray, and wiretapped her car. Everyone's got old and fat." Margaret went through a whirlwind of suitors. But why was this divorce case particularly scandalous? As such, Margaret developed a stammer for which she was treated unsuccessfully by Lionel Logue, King George VI's speech therapist. Lizzie May For Mailonline It goes all around the world. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. In 1990, three years before her death, Margaret reflected on the absurdly high highs and low lows of her life, in an interview quoted by The Telegraph. A POLAROID picture was one of the key pieces of evidence in the scandalous divorce of the Duke and Duchess of Argyll. Mr and Mrs Whigham believed relentless socialising was the best way to cure Margarets stammer, which they feared might turn her into a recluse. By the time her fall happens, there were plenty of people who were happy to facilitate that fall and make that fall a hell of a lot worse, says Phelps. The claim was watertight and Margaret knew she would be unsuccessful but wanted to give her rival a run for the money. But then ensued the reality of high life being sometimes incompatible with real life. The pictures had been discovered by her husband, who allegedly hired a locksmith to gain access to his wife's private papers. Then he attacks me. The first episode of the three-part series, which aired last night, showed Margaret (Foy) seducing a man at a dinner party before romping with her on-screen husband at his Scottish stately home and in a cleaning cupboard at her parents' property. Two big parties for me in three years with over 400 guests on each occasion. Bettany plays the duke with an absolute absence of sympathy. She was targeted by an impoverished duke who had inherited the dukedom of Argyll faute de mieux (he was the first cousin once removed of the 10th duke) and a castle in ruins the Gothic revival Inveraray. Her romances were legend. But that didn't stop the Duke and his guest from sleeping together. Pay the b-b-bills its what youre for.. With a rigid poise that mixes froideur with fear, Foy makes Margaret both defiant and pitiful. [28], The Duchess once told The New York Times: "I don't think anybody has real style or class any more. She was not born into the aristocracy, but she was the only child of one of the richest men of his day, George Whigham. Ian broke into into Margarets house and hired a locksmith to open a cabinet in which he found compromising photos. Hed pursued her relentlessly, knowing she was rich while his own estate was worth nothing. The German diplomat and brother of the Nazi scientist Werner von Braun, who invented the Nazis V-2 rocket, was another possible candidate for the 'headless man' in photo. She is wearing a triple string of pearls around her neck a piece of jewellery that will acquire extra significance later. For four decades, the money cascaded into the Whigham account year after year. Originally published in the January issue, on newsstands now. He claimed she had taken on an amazing 88 lovers, including cabinet ministers, Hollywood stars and royals, during their marriage. Ethel Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll ( ne Whigham, formerly Sweeny; 1 December 1912 - 25 July 1993) was a Scottish heiress, socialite, and aristocrat who was most famous for her 1951 marriage and much-publicised 1963 divorce from her second husband, Ian Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll. [25], Margaret had asked Charles Castle in 1974 to write her biography, but reneged. Her fathers generosity dried up as he stepped down from his chair at Celanese, and a new, younger second wife entered the picture. One of the explicit photographs presented in court was a Polaroid of the Duchess, wearing nothing but her signature triple-string of pearls, standing next to an unidentified man. [8], In 1943, Margaret had a near-fatal fall down a lift shaft. Long afterwards, it was claimed that there were actually two "headless men" in the photographs, Fairbanks and Sandys, the latter identified on the basis of the Duchess's statement that "the only Polaroid camera in the country at that time had been lent to the Ministry of Defence". Margaret carried on, though her final chapters were still quite sad. The duke named three suspects Sigismund von Braun, John Cohane and Peter Combe let alone the 88 possible lovers he cited in his petition. Having sunk much of her fortune into Inveraray, she was also broke. [21] In April 1988, on the evening after the Grand National, she appeared on a Channel 4 After Dark discussion about horse racing "so she said, to put the point of view of the horse", later walking out of the programme "because she was so very sleepy". Originally published by London County Council, London, 1980", "For sale: London residence where Duchess scandalised society", "Tony Wilson 'Britain's finest live presenter', "Duchess of Argyll's funeral demonstrates that feelings will not rest", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Margaret_Campbell,_Duchess_of_Argyll&oldid=1126443115, Pages containing links to subscription-only content, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from January 2022, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Her divorce from the Duke of Argyll was dramatised in the, This page was last edited on 9 December 2022, at 10:25. Home. The house was always packed with the most amusing people, sometimes 18 to dinner with another 10 joining afterwards, she told her biographer. Meanwhile nothing was said about his own affairs or his subsequent remarriage to Mathilda Mortimer, a rich American, just six weeks later. Shortly afterwards, she announced her engagement to Charles Guy Fulke Greville, 7th Earl of Warwick. If I can get a Lebanese, I am delighted, said Margaret. "For 50 years it has been safely, maybe too safely, kept . Glamorous top lawyer, 27, is arrested and charged with multi-million dollar fraud: Cops search her flamboyant Another close call! Read More: Is A Very British Scandal Based on a True Story? History Hit brings you the stories that shaped the world through our award winning podcast network and an online history channel. The identity of the "headless man" involved in the Duchess of Argyll sex photo scandal that shocked the British public in 1963 has been revealed. In several photos, Margaret was wearing only a string of her trademark pearls. In an age where aristocratic women were primarily simply required to be beautiful and wealthy, Margaret found herself with no shortage of suitors and was named debutante of the year in 1930. And thank God Ive had it., George Whigham made sure Margaret had a different couture dress for each event and was so tireless in promoting his daughter that he was accused of hiring press agents. Claire Foy is shockingly good for this role, the heiress without purpose, because we are so used to seeing her as Queen Elizabeth in The Crown. He was a fucking shocker when he came out.. she said. The ensuing divorce case was splashed across newspaper front pages. Margarets privacy had been violated and sexual desires condemned because she was a woman. What Was the Atlantic Wall and When Was It Built? When in 1933 Margaret, Duchess of Argyll, posed in her Norman Hartnell wedding dress, she needed a big room - her train and veil covered the entire floor and wisped on . I told the truth. But strip away the sense of duty and decency, and what you are left with is the Duchess of Argyll riches without real value, privilege without a raison detre. The mystery man in the explicit photo became known as the 'headless man' and his identity has been largely speculated. [18], The Duchess wrote a memoir, Forget Not (published by W. H. Allen Ltd in 1975) which was reviewed negatively for its name-dropping and air of entitlement. The lyrics were later anglicised for the British version of the song by P. G. Wodehouse, who changed two lines from "You're an O'Neill drama / You're Whistler's mama!" From her greed is good heyday to her post-divorce denouement cavorting with a series of freaky Italian lovers, it was Ivana, all along, who gilded the Trump name. Vile moment baby is given a vape to inhale by her laughing mum - who lashes out on Facebook slamming anyone who Ukraine 'hits major Russian air base in fresh strike' a day after kamikaze drone crashed down just 68 miles from 'I'm glad the contract expired': Heston Blumenthal's fury as Waitrose ends 12-year partnership with him 'after ISIS fanatic jailed over the gruesome beheading of two Scandinavian women hikers in Morocco that shocked the Police will quiz missing aristocrat and her boyfriend for another 36 hours to try and get answers on missing House votes to block 'woke' Biden plan pushing retirement planners to invest in ESG in 401ks. What Did People Wear in Medieval England? But the duke soon showed his true colours, with rumours of gambling and drug and alcohol addiction, as well as a vile temper. Her attitude to the sanctity of marriage was what moderns would call enlightened but which in plain language was wholly immoral.'. Margaret would realize her new husband, who was said to be a gambling and alcohol addict, was broke. Her Norman Hartnell wedding dress cemented her status as one of the most glamorous socialites of the era, with crowds reportedly gathering to catch a glimpse of it. Featherbrained. Margaret is played by Claire Foy (our young Queen in The Crown), with a script by Sarah Phelps. In an age before commercial air travel, life on board ocean liners was a social stratosphere within itself. She struck an archaic figure at these 1980s social events, being perfectly groomed and coiffed, bejewelled and couture-clad, with ramrod deportment, but in an era when informal post-hippie was the fashionable vibe. George Hay Whigham was a self-made millionaire: although his family was well-connected, they were not wealthy. Eight months after her wedding, the nation held its breath as she fought for her life, following a disastrous stillbirth. At the time of their first meeting, the Duke was still married to Louise Timpson. [27] It was reprinted in 1995 by Pan Books, and in 2021, to coincide with the TV series A Very British Scandal, by Swift Press. 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The first episode of A Very British Scandal took viewers by surprise as they watched The Crown's Claire Foy enjoy three sex scenes in the first 30 minutes of the first episode - with two different men. Margaret with her first husband, Charles Sweeny, on their wedding day at Brompton Oratory, 1933. 'How many women do you have?,' Foy replies. A POLAROID picture was one of the key pieces of evidence in the scandalous divorce of the Duke and Duchess of Argyll. The pictures were part of a legal case the duke drew up against the duchess as part of divorce proceedings, alongside a list of 88 men he accused her of having sex with behind his back. [2] Still, she observed in her memoirs, "[W]e continued to see each other constantly."[2]. That, and three strands of pearls, she reportedly said at the time. You dont attack if youre a judge. In 1977, speaking to Melvyn Bragg, she lamented, Ive had the most ghastly publicity in the world. Indeed, in the aftermath of the trial, Margaret was referred to in British papers and tabloids by a series of unbecoming sobriquets, like the Dirty Duchess and the Fellatio Duchess., During this time, Margaret became a grandmother, and [newspapers are reporting about these] Polaroid photographs of her with a mans dick in her mouth, continues Phelps. After ending a first marriage that yielded a son and daughter, she went on a dating streak that ended with a marriage to Ian Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyllsecuring her familys formal entry to aristocracy, and access to Inveraray, a proper castle in Scotland. As a divorce, she threw lavish parties whose success she attributed to the fact that she only invited beautiful women because she thought it restful for men to rest their gaze on them. It shows Margaret arriving atInveraray Castle in Scotland, the home of Ian Campbell, the Duke of Argyll. It was speculated that this "headless man" was the Minister of Defence Duncan Sandys (later Lord Duncan-Sandys, son-in-law of Winston Churchill), who offered to resign from the cabinet. To convey all that is an impossible task but Foy manages to hint at so much not the detail, but the substance. You do feel exploited when you are a woman and you are having to perform fake sex on screen. After that, life must have been hard, so very unglamorous and undeferential, and eventually she was reduced to one butler and one maid. He could have just given the judgment, I find in favor of the plaintiff. He also compared the handwriting on the photos with handwriting samples from the men, and did apparently determine who the man in question was, although his identity remains a secret. Ian Campbell, as he then was, needed cash. It was supposed to be a divorce hearing. 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