The world might be worked up in a tizzy over the continued feud between Harry and Meghan and the rest of the royal family.
But when it comes to upper crusty public scandals, it’s nothing compared to the sensational 1963 divorce between Ian Campbell, Duke of Argyll and Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll, a ruinous affair that involved bribery, secret recordings and forgeries.
The most salacious accusations involved an illicit Polaroid photo of the Duchess in a most compromising position with a man that was definitely not her husband. There were also in her possession, photos of another man masturbating.
The Duchess’ reputation was dragged through the muddiest of mud while the identities of the men in the photographs remained secret until 2000 because it was agreed upon by those investigating to keep it under wraps. After all the parties had died, it was revealed to be Duncan Sandys, then a government cabinet minister, and screen legend Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
The explosive photos in question were discovered when the Duke hired a locksmith to break into his wife’s personal closet in search of evidence of infidelity. He accused his wife of sleeping with 88 men, leading the judge in the case to declare her “completely promiscuous” and “wholly immoral”.
It was the culmination of a life already tinged by notoriety — and her reputation never recovered from the divorce.
The Duchess was born in Scotland to a wealthy family. Her marriage to the Duke was her second, and she had previously been linked to a suite of high profile men, including David Niven, Prince Aly Khan and Prince George, Duke of Kent.
For women in 2021, there’s nothing threatening about female sexual desire, but during the Duchess’ time, scandalous is putting it mildly.
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The Duchess of Argyll’s crucifixion by the social, political and judicial establishment will be the subject of a new three-part TV miniseries, A Very British Scandal, starring The Crown star Claire Foy as the aristocrat renowned for her beauty, charm and wiles. WandaVision and A Knight’s Tale star Paul Bettany will play the Duke.
The series will start filming in the UK later this year and will premiere in Australia on Amazon Prime Video.
A Very British Scandal will aim to recast the scandal as a way to explore the misogyny of the era, an indictment of the attitudes that expected women to adhere to strict, moralistic standards as dictated by men.
The series is written by Sarah Phelps (Dublin Murders, And Then There Were None) and will be directed by Anne Sewitsky (Black Mirror, Castle Rock).
Phelps said in a statement: “Writing the story of Margaret life’s and the events leading up to and including her divorce from the Duke has been a passion project of mine since 1993 when I first heard her name and started learning about her.
“I felt very strongly that she’d been punished for being a woman, for being visible, for refusing to back down, be a good girl and go quietly. This drama is my tribute to her.”
Foy added: “I’m so excited to work with Anne, Sarah and Paul on this extraordinary project, and to explore through this story how often shame, judgment and controversy surrounds a woman’s sexuality.”
The series serves as something of a second season of A Very English Scandal, which featured Hugh Grant and Ben Whishaw in a dramatisation of the Jeremy Thorpe scandal.
Thorpe was a closeted gay politician whose affair with a young stable boy, Norman Josiffe, was exposed in a thorny set of events involving secret letters and a conspiracy of attempted murder.
That series, written by Russell T. Davies and directed by Stephen Frears, re-examined the Thorpe scandal in the context of homophobia in the 1960s and 1970s.
Now that A Very British Scandal is following A Very English Scandal, we want to put in an early suggestion that any potential third series should be titled A Very Commonwealth Scandal.
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2021-03-12 07:38:27Z
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