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The Profumo affair: Mandy Rice-Davies’ famed retort was a blow against deference The Profumo affair: Mandy Rice-Davies' famed retort was a blow against deference
(about 7 hours later)
What a joyless, prurient, repressed, class-ridden, snobbish, miserable, misogynist society Britain was when Mandy Rice-Davies was a teenager, at the dawn of the “Swinging Sixties”.What a joyless, prurient, repressed, class-ridden, snobbish, miserable, misogynist society Britain was when Mandy Rice-Davies was a teenager, at the dawn of the “Swinging Sixties”.
The so-called Profumo scandal of 1963 was barely a scandal at all. The lives of a few aimless individuals crossed, some couples had sex – although Jack Profumo and Christine Keeler never did – and some behaved badly.The so-called Profumo scandal of 1963 was barely a scandal at all. The lives of a few aimless individuals crossed, some couples had sex – although Jack Profumo and Christine Keeler never did – and some behaved badly.
Amid the cast of snobs, hypocrites and misfits involved, the young and slightly wild Mandy Rice-Davies came across as one of the more appealing characters in the drama.Amid the cast of snobs, hypocrites and misfits involved, the young and slightly wild Mandy Rice-Davies came across as one of the more appealing characters in the drama.
A war baby, she grew up in 1950s austerity, when nice girls were expected to wear white on their wedding day as a symbol of their carefully guarded virginity. Mary Whitehouse’s campaign to clean up TV was set up in 1964 in reaction to a BBC programme which discussed sex before marriage. She did not object to the topic being discussed, but was appalled that the programme had not been structured to convey the message that extramarital sex was wrong.A war baby, she grew up in 1950s austerity, when nice girls were expected to wear white on their wedding day as a symbol of their carefully guarded virginity. Mary Whitehouse’s campaign to clean up TV was set up in 1964 in reaction to a BBC programme which discussed sex before marriage. She did not object to the topic being discussed, but was appalled that the programme had not been structured to convey the message that extramarital sex was wrong.
So what was society to make of Mandy Rice-Davies, Christine Keeler and Stephen Ward, as their unconventional lifestyle was exposed to merciless publicity?So what was society to make of Mandy Rice-Davies, Christine Keeler and Stephen Ward, as their unconventional lifestyle was exposed to merciless publicity?
Rice-Davies was the 18-year-old daughter of a Solihull police officer. Keeler, 21, had a slightly more difficult background, and Stephen Ward was 40, unmarried, and with contacts in high society, including Profumo and the mega-rich Lord Astor, who owned the country house where Profumo saw Keeler swimming naked in the pool.Rice-Davies was the 18-year-old daughter of a Solihull police officer. Keeler, 21, had a slightly more difficult background, and Stephen Ward was 40, unmarried, and with contacts in high society, including Profumo and the mega-rich Lord Astor, who owned the country house where Profumo saw Keeler swimming naked in the pool.
Mandy Rice-Davies was a key figure in the Profumo Affair (PA) The fact that Ward kept an open house for unmarried women half his age was enough to invite suspicion, and there was worse. Both women knew more about sex than women of their age were supposed to know. They had both slept with the slum landlord Peter Rachman, who was dumpy, balding, middle-aged, ruthless and rich. One of these qualities had an obvious attraction to young women without great earning power who wanted to enjoy life in the capital.Mandy Rice-Davies was a key figure in the Profumo Affair (PA) The fact that Ward kept an open house for unmarried women half his age was enough to invite suspicion, and there was worse. Both women knew more about sex than women of their age were supposed to know. They had both slept with the slum landlord Peter Rachman, who was dumpy, balding, middle-aged, ruthless and rich. One of these qualities had an obvious attraction to young women without great earning power who wanted to enjoy life in the capital.
Add to the mix Keeler’s other sexual partners, and it was quickly concluded that the young women were prostitutes and Ward was their pimp. The police and the courts went after Ward, subjecting him to something close to a rigged trial and driving him to suicide.Add to the mix Keeler’s other sexual partners, and it was quickly concluded that the young women were prostitutes and Ward was their pimp. The police and the courts went after Ward, subjecting him to something close to a rigged trial and driving him to suicide.
The one bright moment of that trial was Rice-Davies’ feisty appearance on the witness stand. Interviewed about it years later, she said she was too angry to be cowed by the setting.The one bright moment of that trial was Rice-Davies’ feisty appearance on the witness stand. Interviewed about it years later, she said she was too angry to be cowed by the setting.
She knew that the trial was a travesty. Ward was a wealthy man: far from living off their earnings, he subsidised them. So when it was put to her that Lord Astor had denied having a sexual relationship with her, or even knowing her, she was seething as she replied: “He would, wouldn’t he?”She knew that the trial was a travesty. Ward was a wealthy man: far from living off their earnings, he subsidised them. So when it was put to her that Lord Astor had denied having a sexual relationship with her, or even knowing her, she was seething as she replied: “He would, wouldn’t he?”
That reply has entered folklore because it was such a shocking things to say – not because of the implication that a married man had had a liaison with a woman 35 years his junior, but because the remark so lacked respect.That reply has entered folklore because it was such a shocking things to say – not because of the implication that a married man had had a liaison with a woman 35 years his junior, but because the remark so lacked respect.
Women were expected to look up to men, and the lower orders to show respect for the aristocracy, but what she casually implied was that a Conservative peer and head of a renowned Anglo-American millionaire family was a liar. With that pithy phrase, Rice-Davies signalled that deference was on the way out.Women were expected to look up to men, and the lower orders to show respect for the aristocracy, but what she casually implied was that a Conservative peer and head of a renowned Anglo-American millionaire family was a liar. With that pithy phrase, Rice-Davies signalled that deference was on the way out.
The remaining 50 years of her life were, in her words a “slow descent into respectability.” The last of her three husbands, Ken Foreman, was chairman of Attwoods, the waste disposal group, when Denis Thatcher was a fellow director and a large share in the company was controlled by Michael Ashcroft.The remaining 50 years of her life were, in her words a “slow descent into respectability.” The last of her three husbands, Ken Foreman, was chairman of Attwoods, the waste disposal group, when Denis Thatcher was a fellow director and a large share in the company was controlled by Michael Ashcroft.
Mandy Rice-Davies – who went by her married name Marilyn Foreman – died on Thursday evening aged 70 after a short illness.Mandy Rice-Davies – who went by her married name Marilyn Foreman – died on Thursday evening aged 70 after a short illness.