The Profumo scandal of the early 1960s rocked British politics, revealing a web of lies, betrayal, and cold war paranoia. At the heart of the scandal were John Profumo, the British Secretary of State for War, Christine Keeler, a young model/showgirl, and Yevgeny Ivanov, a Soviet naval attaché. Amid the fallout of the scandal, a key Royal Family member’s name also surfaced.
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Reportedly, Prince Philip - who passed away in 2021 at 99 - was allegedly linked to Christine Keeler and her friend Mandy Rice-Davies. This alleged connection was also touched upon in the Netflix series The Crown. It was later revealed that Prince Philip also wanted to sue Netflix.
What is the Profumo scandal?
The Profumo sex scandal was a big political unrest in the 1960s. It rocked the British establishment when the personal behaviour of married Secretary of State for War John Profumo impacted political careers and government stability. According to The Telegraph, Profumo had an affair with teenage showgirl Christine Keeler which became complicated.
It was revealed that Keeler was also involved with Yevgeny Ivanov, a Soviet naval attaché, in simpler terms - a Russian spy. All of this happened at the height of the Cold War when there was a lot of tension between the Western countries and the Soviet Union. People were worried that Keeler might have shared secrets between Profumo and Ivanov, which could have been a risk to national security. There were allegations that Ivanov had asked Keeler to ask the minister the date when the government of West Germany might receive US nuclear missiles, reports Mirror.
When Profumo’s affair gained traction in the media, he felt obliged to deny it in the House of Commons in March 1963, a lie which sealed his fate. He was famously caught out when proof of the affair emerged and he resigned the following June after accepting that he lied.
Profumo was introduced to Keeler by Stephen Ward, an osteopath, a fixer and an amateur artist, at a party at the Cliveden estate in 1961.
How is Prince Philip involved in the Profumo scandal?
During the scandal, there were rumours that Prince Philip had attended parties organised by Stephen Ward. MailOnline reveals that the Duke was ‘certainly’ in contact with Ward as he had been sketched by him on several occasions at Buckingham Palace.
In a new turn of events, a cable sent to the US embassy in London on June 20, 1963, has now been made available after a long-running Freedom of Information request. In the diplomatic cable, a US businessman Thomas Corbally gave an interview to the then-director of the FBI J Edgar Hoover over his connections with Ward.
In these newly released US Department of Justice files it has been written that the FBI was alerted to Prince Philip being personally involved with Keeler and Rice-Davies. The memo reads:
Corbally also stated there was a rumour Prince Philip may have been involved with these two girls.
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Sources Used
The Telegraph: Prince Philip named in secret FBI document about Profumo sex scandal
Mirror: Prince Philip named in FBI files about Profumo affair sex scandal involving Christine Keeler
MailOnline: Prince Philip WAS named in top-secret FBI documents about the Profumo affair in the early 1960s
