When A Very British Scandal premiereswith Claire Foy playing the fabulous socialite, and Paul Bettany playing Ian Campbellit will likely be the first time that modern American audiences learn of the ill-fated socialite. She was 35. The marriages meltdown was such a scorched-earth operation that Phelps says it could have easily carried an entire season of American Crime Story. There promises to be more raciness in the second episode, which airs tonight, with Claire Foy recreating the Duchess of Argyll's infamous naked Polaroid, in which she was pictured pleasuring a naked man, whose head was cropped out of the frame. The 26-year-old turned herself in this week following a search that captivated certain corners of New York. Debutantes were not expected to discuss the great issues of the day but merely to issue pleasant tinkling laughs while the man spoke. And what were the infamous Polaroid photos that proved so contentious? Her second husband - and the subject of the BBC's A Very British Scandal - was Ian Douglas Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll. 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!" Together they are absolutely the essential things in life.) She was also game to offer a hot-take dripping in condescension. He filed for divorce. 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. Margaret Sweeny, nee Whigham, photographed in 1935. "[17] Many of the men the Duchess was alleged to have slept with were homosexual; she was unwilling to divulge this as sexual acts between men were illegal in the United Kingdom at the time. 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. Sex is all she is good for. For four decades, the money cascaded into the Whigham account year after year. And it would be totally different., 2023 Cond Nast. The Headless Man in the salacious pictures of the duchess disclosed in the divorce case has never been definitively identified. Her first marriage to Sweeny ended after the war as first he and later she started various affairs. There were also photographs of the Duchess fellating a naked man whose face was not shown. But shes iconic, says Phelps, who is thrilled that U.S. viewers will learn of this unconventional woman when A Very British Scandal premieres. [20], In 1978, Margaret's debts forced her to move from Upper Grosvenor Street and relocate with her maid to a suite at the Grosvenor House Hotel. That word round-heel sums up the pious hypocrisy of the era. Scuba Certification; Private Scuba Lessons; Scuba Refresher for Certified Divers; Try Scuba Diving; Enriched Air Diver (Nitrox) 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. Get time period newsletters, special offers and weekly programme release emails. Pay the b-b-bills its what youre for.. Audiences never finds out the identity of this man, but in later scenes with a female friend, it is suggested that Margaret would regularly sleep with men she met the same evening. She wrote later in life: I had wealth, I had good looks. History Hit brings you the stories that shaped the world through our award winning podcast network and an online history channel. 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. And I have given up hopes of any improvement., Says Phelps, Shes sort of brilliant and tragic in a way, but also triumphant. Lauren Pazienza, Whose Shove Allegedly Killed a Beloved Manhattan Vocal Coach, Argues She Is Getting a Raw Deal. The case soon became a tabloid sensation, with Margaret dubbed the dirty duchess and the identity of the headless man in the Polaroid pictures being widely speculated on (Sir Winston Churchill's son-in-law, Duncan Sandys, was one of them, as it was reported only the Minister of Defence had access to a Polaroid camera). She was ordered to pay most of the 50,000 legal bill. After that, life must have been hard, so very unglamorous and undeferential, and eventually she was reduced to one butler and one maid. Central to the case was a set of blurry Polaroid snaps taken via the bathroom mirror of the duchess's Mayfair apartment of her wearing nothing but her signature triple string of pearls. Margaret Campbell, the famously beautiful Duchess of Argyll, had been a celebrity - and a source of scandal - from even before her debutante days. Margaret, 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. The financial circumstances of this one-time society darling were now much reduced; she had moved into an apartment in Grosvenor House from where, every night, she would still set out to West End parties to gallery openings, book launches and celebratory dinners. The headless man, or men, in the photographs were never identified. Viewers could have expected a fair few sex scenes in the series, after Foy said ahead of its launch that she finds filming them unpleasant, and that they make her feel 'exposed' and 'exploited'. Her lawyer argues shes being overcharged, and the case seems destined to become the latest front in the ongoing debate over criminal justice in the city. Later, when they met again, Ian had inherited the dukedom, but the eccentric 10th Duke, his late relation, had let things fall to wrack and ruin. 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. But Margarets reign as a femme fatale was to come to an end. According to Lord Wheatley, the judge on the case, he had the morals of a tomcat. 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 . Her first husband concurred that she was never the same after this fall. Historical Trips - Book your next historical adventure, 6 Secret Historic Gardens in the United Kingdom, Join Dan Snow for the Anniversary of the D-Day Landings, War of The Worlds: The Most Infamous Radio Broadcast in History, The King Revealed: 10 Fascinating Facts About Elvis Presley, 10 Facts About American Poet Robert Frost. He has no intention of entirely ditching his American second wife, Louise (Sophia Myles). Second World War veteran or not, he is without any redeeming grace or even charm. [12] He suspected the Duchess of infidelity and, while she was in New York, engaged a locksmith to break open a cupboard at their Mayfair home, 48 Upper Grosvenor Street.
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". Like everybody, Id do anything to have it all over again. Her attitude to the sanctity of marriage was what moderns would call enlightened but which in plain language was wholly immoral.'. It goes all around the world. polaroid the headless man picture duchess polaroid the headless man picture duchess (No Ratings Yet) . Argyll forged a deed of sale before their marriage to gain him access to some of Margarets money. Inside the sad decline of 'Fairy Floss Girl': How the racegoer who shot to fame when Kyle Sandilands gushed that Student who refused to enter arranged marriage was stabbed in the chest with a metal spike by her uncle and Theatre issues trigger warning for production which 'involves the handling of a cooked egg'. The mystery was only recently put to bed by Lady Colin Campbell, who disclosed in 2013 that the man was the American executive Bill Lyons. She is penniless, says Phelps. 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. It was a constant ball. She was not born into the aristocracy, but she was the only child of one of the richest men of his day, George Whigham. She was briefly engaged to the Earl of Warwick, before marrying Charles Sweeny, a fellow wealthy American. Argyll decided he wanted to divorce Margaret, accusing her of infidelity and providing photographic evidence, in the form of Polaroids, of her engaged in sexual acts with a series of anonymous, headless men, which he had stolen from a locked bureau in their house in Mayfair, London. Ian was charming, witty and aristocratic, and although he was married at the time to his second wife (he only married rich women), Margaret took him back to her flat and went to bed with him after the train arrived in London. I dont think anybody has real style or class any more, Margaret told The New York Times. [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.. 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. The number allegedly included cabinet members, Hollywood actors, and members of the royal family. He was a fucking shocker when he came out.. To find evidence of infidelity, he broke into Margaret's personal cupboard in their London house, where he found the infamous Polaroids along with letters and other private documents. Everywhere she turns, she just comes straight up against the thing of like, you have no recourse.. A Channel 4documentary in 2000 claimed that the Headless Man was in fact two different men Sandys and Fairbanks Jr but it seems this may be one secret Margaret carried with her to her grave. "For 50 years it has been safely, maybe too safely, kept . What do you make of your life? an interviewer asked her in 1990. But when her racy private photographs were stolen, scandal turned the public against her, In Queen Margrethe II of Denmarks last interview before her extensive surgery, she spoke of the royal title drama and Crown Prince Frederiks future on the throne, Crown Princess Mary carries out solo engagement on visit to India with Crown Prince Frederik, Dove / Daily Express / Getty Images / Hulton Archive, Bert Hardy / Picture Post / Hulton Archive / Getty Images. Now, the story - which involved illicit Polaroid pictures and a maelstrom of headlines - is the inspiration behind the BBC's latest drama series, In Queen Margrethe II of Denmarks last interview before her extensive surgery, she spoke of the royal title drama and Crown Prince Frederiks future on the throne, Crown Princess Mary carries out solo engagement on visit to India with Crown Prince Frederik. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. Just weeks after the divorce was finalized, with Margarets reputation ruined and her bank account drained, Ian went on to marry another wealthy woman and suffered a stroke in the South of France, before being transferred back to Scotland where he later died. Two big parties for me in three years with over 400 guests on each occasion. Margaret, Duchess of Argyll, died aged 80 in a nursing home in Pimlico, London, just a few days before the Major government decided to keep all the testimonies given to Lord Denning under wraps . I could ask whoever I wanted. George spent most of it on promoting the social rise of his beloved only child, always operating out of grand and luxurious accommodation on both sides of the Atlantic. Margaret, nicknamed "the dirty duchess" by the press, died in 1993 at age 80 in a nursing home after a long illness. 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. At the time of their first meeting, the Duke was still married to Louise Timpson. By Ian Tyas/Keystone Features/Getty Images. Her extravagant lifestyle and ill-considered investments left her largely penniless by the time she died. Born in 1912, she was still around in the early 1980s when our paths would sometimes cross in London. She described herself as "always vain". Born on 1 December 1912, Margaret Whigham was the only daughter of a Scottish businessman and millionaire, George Hay Whigham and his wife, Helen Mann Hannay. The ensuing divorce case was splashed across newspaper front pages. The duke began proceedings on grounds of infidelity. And although the Polaroid photographs by this time have all fadedtheres endless fakes. [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". I must have clutched at it, for it was later found that all my fingernails were torn off. The duchess and her daughter, Frances Sweeny, 1955. The legal bills cost her a fortune. Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll, at an event with her friend, Lady Edith Foxwell, in 1959. The first episode took place just 16 minutes into the first episode, between Margaret and an unnamed stranger she meets at a fun-filled dinner party. The identity of the Headless Man was never revealed during her lifetime. You feel exposed. [1] Her numerous early romances included an affair with Prince George, Duke of Kent. 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. Many have retrospectively described her as the first woman to be publicly slut-shamed, and whilst the term is somewhat anachronistic, it was certainly one of the first times a womans sexuality was quite so publicly, roundly and explicitly condemned. [4], On 21 February 1933, following her conversion to Roman Catholicism,[2] Margaret married Sweeny at the Brompton Oratory, London. You do feel exploited when you are a woman and you are having to perform fake sex on screen. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators . This is a morality tale. Crypto The mystery man in the explicit photo became known as the 'headless man&# Famed for her beauty, Margaret moved through the. Dozens of cuttings in the Daily Mail archives describe her appearance at every ball her dresses, her jewellery, the young men jostling around her. Margaret, meanwhile, allegedly attempted to forge letters claiming that Ians sons were illegitimate to discredit their rights of succession and likely so shed be entitled to Inveraray. Born on 1 December 1912, Margaret Whigham was the only daughter of a Scottish businessman and millionaire, George Hay Whigham and his wife, Helen Mann Hannay. It was evident from the beginning that the . In 1943, she fell nearly 40ft down a lift shaft, surviving but with a significant trauma to her head: many say the fall altered her personality, and that she was a different woman afterwards. But as Beyer would soon realize, Finchs past wasnt what she claimedand Beyers own difficult history was up for the taking. Although the identity of the 'headless man' may never be confirmed, a 2000 Channel 4 documentary revealed that two men are the most likely candidates. Looks and charm and money, of course were the main things, alongside social rank. Ian broke into into Margarets house and hired a locksmith to open a cabinet in which he found compromising photos. All rights reserved. Divorced from Sweeny when we first meet her in the late 1940s, she is plainly a racy celebrity, one who adores predatory male attention but lacks any instinct for self-preservation. [8] The Duchess herself forged letters to sow doubt about the fatherhood of Ian Campbell, the Marquess of Lorne, and Lord Colin Campbell, her husband's sons from his second marriage to Louise Timpson; and she even tried to acquire a newborn baby she could pass off as her husband's rightful heir. Unfortunately, I am only too aware that I am still the same gullible, impulsive, over-optimistic Dumb Bunny, Margaret is quoted as saying by The Telegraph. A wealthy heiress and one of the most colourful figures of the swinging sixties, Margaret, Duchess of Argyll, married the Duke of Argyll, her second husband, in 1951. There was no legal recourse. Her debutante years are 20 years behind her and belong to a different, pre-war world. Only time will tell exactly what was inside them that was deemed so sensitive. [8], In 1943, Margaret had a near-fatal fall down a lift shaft. She is wearing a triple string of pearls around her neck a piece of jewellery that will acquire extra significance later. Ian Campbell, as he then was, needed cash. She took pity on him and convinced her father to give him 100,000 to restore his family seat in Scotland, Inveraray Castle. [2] Still, she observed in her memoirs, "[W]e continued to see each other constantly."[2]. GameStop Moderna Pfizer Johnson & Johnson AstraZeneca Walgreens Best Buy Novavax SpaceX Tesla. Sex, secrets and suspicion the true story of a duchess publicly shamed in a high society divorce that gripped the nation. [2], In 1928 the future actor David Niven, then 18, had sex with 15-year-old Margaret during a holiday at Bembridge on the Isle of Wight. In those days, society men did not take personalities into consideration when choosing a wife. to "You're Mussolini / You're Mrs Sweeny". By Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images. [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. She was on the mailing list of every PR company since she was a duchess and it was known she would go to the opening of the proverbial envelope. Despite having a daughter, Frances, and a son, Brian, together, the couples relationship broke down after 14 years, with Margaret claiming all Charlie wanted in a spouse was a pretty brainless doll and they divorced in 1947. Image Credit: Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo. In 1943, she suffered a catastrophic fall that left her with 30 stitches and a broken vertebra, temporarily unable to walk. . One rumour suggests it was the former Minister of Defence, Duncan Sandys (who later became the son-in-law of Winston Churchill). The duke then signed a Deed of Gift offering various items as security for the money, and vowed to marry her when his own divorce had come through. She was taken into a London nursing home for a secret abortion. Vanity Fair may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. Blissful. During the divorce proceedings, the Duke produced various incriminating letters and photographs, which he took from the Duchess's Mayfair home. The movie star was named as Margarets lover, one of the 88 men on the list that the Duke produced in court. one of the most notorious, extraordinary and brutal legal cases of the 20th century. Sat 18 Dec 2021 02.00 EST. [26] He then published The Duchess Who Dared The Life of Margaret, Duchess of Argyll in 1994. He is still married, yet he has no qualms about asking her father (Richard McCabe) for her hand and a loan. The Duchess, Margaret Campbell, was a British socialite known for her lavish lifestyle and a string of high-profile affairs.