Upadek i godność - John Profumo

kezlok · 4 Maja 2009

John Profumo, British Minister Ruined by Sex Scandal, Dies

By ALAN COWELL

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Published: March 10, 2006

LONDON, March 10 — John Profumo, whose high-flying political career ended in a Cold War scandal of sex and espionage that gave way to a lifetime of atonement, died at around midnight Thursday, according to a statement issued today by London's Chelsea and Westminster hospital.

He was 91 and had suffered a stroke two days earlier.

For a land that has since become renowned for ministerial misbehavior, the 1963 imbroglio set a standard, and became known in newspaper headlines as the scandal of the century.

It helped bring down the Conservative government to which Mr. Profumo belonged and put an abrupt halt to political ambitions that, some believed, could have made him prime minister. The saga titillated millions of Britons with tales of misbehavior that had all the hallmarks of a salacious thriller — nobility and spies, call girls and country estates, sex and suicide, guns and lies.

Suave and debonair, married to a glamorous movie star, Valerie Hobson, Mr. Profumo seemed to be leading a gilded life.

But, after his fall, he withdrew permanently from public office, refused to discuss the scandal that ruined him as a politician and, instead, turned to charitable work among the poor in the hardscrabble East End of London. "Shortly after his resignation Profumo began to work as a volunteer cleaning toilets at Toynbee Hall, a charity based in the East End of London, and continued to work there for the rest of his life.[1]. He "had to be persuaded to lay down his mop and lend a hand running the place", eventually becoming Toynbee Hall's chief fundraiser, and used his political skills and contacts to raise large sums of money. All this work was done as a volunteer, since Profumo was able to live on his inherited wealth. His wife also devoted herself to charity until her death in 1998. In the eyes of most commentators, Profumo's charity work redeemed his reputation. The social reform campaigner Lord Longford said he "felt more admiration [for Profumo] than [for] all the men I've known in my lifetime" [

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Zaloguj się, aby zobaczyć treść (możliwe logowanie za pomocą ) " He achieved a degree of rehabilitation in 1975 when he was honored as a Commander, Order of the British Empire.

Unlike more modern politicians, he refrained from publishing memoirs or even rebutting allegations about his association with Christine Keeler, a prostitute he met at an upscale party.

"Since 1963, there have been unceasing publications, both written and spoken, relating to what you refer to in your letter as 'the Keeler interlude,' " he told a correspondent in 1995. "The majority of these have increasingly contained deeply distressing inaccuracies, so I have resolved to refrain from any sort of personal comment, and I propose to continue thus."

To the very end, though, he could not escape his past. In a banner headline today, The Evening Standard proclaimed: "Profumo the sex scandal minister is dead." It showed a large photograph of a seemingly-naked Ms. Keeler astride a chair — and a much smaller mug-shot of Mr. Profumo — both taken around the time of scandal.

"Profumo's fall marked the loss of innocence, the death of respect for the establishment and the explosion of sex into the very center of public life," The Evening Standard said.

But there was another side of the story: redemption. By working in the East End, washing dishes, tending alcoholics, Mr. Profumo's friends said, he paid his dues. Lord Deedes, a friend, told the BBC today: "He atoned for his mistakes and I think will, on death, receive his reward for that."

His wife, Ms. Hobson, stood by him throughout the scandal until her death in 1998.

Mr. Profumo was secretary of war in the government of Harold Macmillan in 1963 when rumors began to build of sexual romps among the nation's elite.

In March 1963, he went before Parliament to deny any "impropriety whatever" with Ms. Keeler. But just three months later, he was forced to resign as details of the relationship began to emerge and he admitted he had lied to Parliament.

Stephen Ward, an osteopath accused of running what the newspapers called a "top people's vice ring" was said to have introduced Mr. Profumo to Ms. Keeler in 1961 at a party at Cliveden, Lord Astor's country home in Berkshire. She was 19. He was 48. As the story went, he first caught sight of her climbing naked out of a swimming pool.

Some people thought the relationship might have remained secret, but it was much too explosive to stay hidden as rumors swirled.

Most dramatically, Ms. Keeler's other clients included Cmdr. Eugene Ivanov, the assistant naval attaché in the Soviet Embassy in London, whom she had also met through Mr. Ward. Government figures, and MI5, the domestic intelligence agency, feared a grave security breach.

Ms. Keeler sold her story to newspapers but, at first, they refrained from publishing the details.

A third figure in the plot was Johnny Edgecombe, described as a petty criminal who was also sleeping with Ms. Keeler. When he became jealous and fired seven shots outside Mr. Ward's home, where she was staying, the story broke, opening a floodgate of reports about sexual misbehavior in high places involving Ms. Keeler and a colleague, Mandy Rice-Davies. Mr. Ward later took his own life after being charged with living on immoral earnings.

The whole affair triggered such an array of stories and rumors that the government appointed Lord Denning, a senior judge, to conduct an inquiry. His report dismissed some of the juicier rumors — such as one relating to a cabinet minister appearing at an orgy wearing only a maid's frilly apron and a mask, as the Press Association reported today.

Within a year, the Conservative government had fallen. Years later, the events inspired a movie in 1989. It was called "Scandal" and starred Ian McKellen as Mr. Profumo.

John Dennis Profumo was born in 1915 to a wealthy, aristocratic Sardinian family that had emigrated to Britain 30 years earlier. He was educated at Harrow — one of the top private schools — and Oxford University.

In 1940, he became the youngest lawmaker in the House of Commons, representing Kettering in central England. He lost his seat after the Second World War, during which he achieved the rank of brigadier, but returned to Parliament in 1950 representing Stratford-upon-Avon.

He was appointed secretary of state for war in 1960, charged with promoting military recruitment after the draft was abolished.

After Mr. Profumo's death was announced today, Prime Minister Tony Blair said: "I think he will be remembered not just for the events that brought his political career to an end, but also he will be remembered with a lot of gratitude and respect for what he achieved in his later life," he said. "It must have been very difficult to do it, but he did do it. He and his family showed a lot of dignity and a lot of honor in the way they behaved."