So when the press got wind of the truly sordid details of the case, all bets were off. Naomi Gordon. Margaret's rumoured affair with the ex-press officer at the Savoy was named as one of the key affairs in the divorce proceedings. "When I contacted the son of Joe Thomas, the New York stockbroker she fell in love with after her marriage to Charles Sweeney broke down, he told me about the Polaroids he had found in his dads trunk. The mystery man in the explicit photo became known as the 'headless man' and his identity has been largely speculated. Except the way she did it was cringeworthy: Soon, Margaret was giving paid tours of her home at 48 Upper Grosvenor Street, AKA the home where her ex-husband had first found those infamous photographs. The photographs were taken on her newly-bought Polaroid camera, then commercially available in America in 1948, and the headless man (not so headless in additional snaps) had his own stash of . "It exploded in a way that now in present day, we seem to have forgotten about.". Although Catherine's successor Queen Anne Boleyn suffered an infamously dark fate, Aragon's own life was somehow even more tragic. Heated debate breaks out after woman claims wiping just with loo roll alone ISNT enough - so which side do you fall on? The Duke and Duchess of Argyll were so high-society that any split between them was going to be a matter of public interest. The mystery man in the explicit photo became known as the 'headless man' and his identity has been largely speculated. But according to Sweeny, the woman who returned was not the wife he had known before. BBC's A Very British Scandal writer says 'Dirty Duchess' was 'destroyed by sexual morals' Read More Related Articles. 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Wedding to American golfer Charles Sweeny in 1933, Being Presented at the third court of the season in 1934, Recuperating in Hove following a fall down a lift shaft in 1934, Marrying the Duke of Argyll at Caxton Hall in 1951, With Frances at a Lancaster House Party in 1955, With Frances at Queen Charlotte's Ball at The Grosvenor House in 1955, With the Duke of Argyll leaving the pier at Tobermory in 1956, With Frances at Beirut's St George's Hotel in 1958, Outside the law courts in the Strand before being sued for slander and libel by her former social secretary Yvonne MacPherson in 1960, With the Duke of Argyll at the family seat, Inveraray Castle, in 1960, At the premiere of Kings Of Kings in 1961, At Zia Foxwell and David Kruger's wedding in 1969, With her poodle Louis at her Mayfair apartment in 1985, At the opening night of Chess The Musical in 1986, At the Hairdresser of the Year party in 1986, At her Grosvenor House apartment with Louis in 1989, The society beauty found herself at the centre of a toxic divorce case in 1963, after it emerged that both she and her husband had conducted multiple extra-marital affairs. This is Foy as the Duchess, pearls included, of course: Campbells life was always a bit topsy-turvy, long before this sex scandal made her husbandless and penniless. In another revelation, the Channel 4 documentary looked at the rumour that the man was former Minister of Defence Duncan Sandys, who would later go on to be Winston Churchill's Son in Law. As she walked back down the aisle with her new husband, it may have seemed that Margaret was off toward happily ever after. Credit Solution Experts Incorporated offers quality business credit building services, which includes an easy step-by-step system designed for helping clients build their business credit effortlessly. The Duchess, Margaret Campbell, was a British socialite known for her lavish lifestyle and a string of high-profile affairs. The pearls provided a dead giveaway that it was indeed the Duchess who was giving oral sex to a faceless man in the controversial Polaroid. Rescuers located Margaret, and, miraculously, she was still alive. and Polaroid snaps showing Her Grace, clad only in a string of pearls . During one of her absences, the Duke broke into a locked cupboard and found her collection of pornographic photographs. There was the duchess, wearing only a string of pearls, pleasuring a standing man while on her knees. All that the duke could do at first was stare, inchoate with rage, at the evidence of his wifes infidelity. That May, she got word that her lover Glen Kidston had perished in a horrific plane crash. . We want our readers to trust us. In 1930, her parents presented her at court as a debutante, which was basically their way of saying she was ready to mingle with men and get married. Some peoples lives get strictly divided into before and afterbut nothing can hold a candle to what Margaret was about to experience. Sadly, thats not what happened, and Margaret may have been her own worst enemy. 1. The answer they narrowed it down to nearly broke the country. Campbell even had a crumbling abode, Inveraray Castle, to match his moodiness. There is still much speculation about who exactly the headless man was, but some historians believe we can put the answer to bed. In his court papers, Argyll accused Margaret of sleeping with no fewer than 88 men over the course of their marriage. Rebounding from a breakup is always risky, and Margaret was rebounding from a full-blown tragedy. Sandys's identity is "conclusively proved", the documentary makers believe, by the duchess's claim that the only Polaroid camera in the country at the time had been lent to the Ministry of Defence . All Rights Reserved. He has been granted day-release. Years later, I was using her phone when I made an utterly chilling discovery. And although her face was usually obscured, the duke could recognize her by one tell-tale sign: Her favorite necklace made up of three strings of pearls. The Duchess, Margaret Campbell, was a British socialite known for her lavish lifestyle and a string of high-profile affairs. According to the 2011 Bangladesh census, Chuadanga District had a population of 1,129,015, of which 564,819 were males and 564,196 females. . Both denied it, and the Duchess, who died penniless in 1993, never made their identity public. The first episode of A Very British Scandal took viewers by surprise as they watched The Crown's Claire Foy enjoy three sex scenes in the first 30 minutes of the first episode - with two different . The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. . But there were disturbing indications of what really happened. Years ago, if youll remember, Margarets first husband Charles Sweeny claimed that her fall down an elevator shaft had fundamentally changed her personality and turned her into a nymphomaniac. After discovering explicit Polaroid photos, the Duke used these as evidence in the court case, including one that showed the Duchess wearing nothing but a string of pearls, standing next to a naked man whose head had been cut out of the photo. Indeed, she was usually performing acts on men who were not the Duke of Argyll. Do you question the accuracy of a fact you just read? Distrusting the duchess, Campbell seized her private Polaroid photos from a locked cupboard in their Mayfair home. . During the divorce proceedings, he listed 88 men who he believed his wife had an affair with, including Hollywood actors, two government ministers and three British royals. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. But as soon as they were over their shock, Margarets parents knew exactly what they had to do. Margaret Campbells young life more than set her up for her raucous adulthood. However, both Douglas and Margaret denied that he was the headless man. The duchess, he declared, was "a highly sexed woman who ha. The Polaroid has since become known as 'the photo of the headless man', and the man's identity has long been the subject of speculation, with many books and programmes debating who he could have been. Margaret Campbell, born in 1912 to a Scottish millionaire, was a British socialite who frequented the 'best dressed' pages of many a magazine and was known . Oh, Peggy. The judge also called her a completely promiscuous woman whose sexual appetite could only be satisfied with a number of men. After all, the flyboy was already married and had a young toddler at home. ", 2020 THE SUN, US, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY | YOUR AD CHOICES | SITEMAP, The Duke and Duchess of Argyll at their wedding in 1951. And then he got cold, cruel revenge. In light of her husbands allegations and jaw-dropping evidence, Margaret couldnt just sit back and take it. Traumatic elevator accident or not, Margarets personality had always beenodd. Her father, in particular, was beside himself with rage. Inside, he discovered a cache of evidence of her infidelities, including Polaroid pictures of her with another man. The contents of her locked cupboard revealed the whole, sordid truth. One Polaroid image, in particular, taken in 1957, cast Margaret as an infamous trollop in the pages of the tabloids. where he found incriminating letters and 13 racy Polaroid photographs. Instead, she ran right towards him and her doom. Still, compared to the next part of Margarets life, these youthful indiscretions look like absolute childs play. The next years of Margarets life paved the way for the infamy she was about to achieve. According to Lord Wheatley, the judge on the case, he had the morals of a tomcat. She said: "There have been rumours over the years about who he was. 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. She was 35. 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. Speaking to the Daily Record, author Lyndsy Spence said that she had conducted extensive research into Margaret Campbell's life for her book The Grit in the Pearl: The Scandalous Life of Margaret, Duchess of Argyll, which included speaking to a relative of the businessman Joe Thomas. The beautiful girl entertained flirtationsand morefrom high-powered men like Prince Aly Khan and daring aviator Glen Kidston. Plus, there was another disconcerting sign: Margaret had a locked drawer in their home, and his dark fantasies about its contents drove him mad. 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. Well, guess what? Mum in hysterics over Hermes driver's proof of delivery photo & EVERY parent can relate, Im trolled by older women after having a surprise baby at 15 - but I got As at my GCSEs weeks later, Ive no regrets, I told my dad I was moving out so he converted the garage into a stylish mini apartment for me so I wouldnt leave, Youve been cleaning your contact lenses all wrong - the quick trick that will get your lenses clean in seconds. Claire Foy is resplendent in pearl necklaces, pillbox hats, fur shawls and satin evening gloves as she reenters the unforgiving world of aristocracy to play the Duchess of Argyll for BBC One's A Very British Scandal. With 88 possible lovers to choose from, the press had a field day hunting down who the man could be. While granting the divorce, the judge said of Margaret that she 'was a completely promiscuous woman whose sexual appetite could only be satisfied with a number of men. Until, that is, it blew up in her face. Her Norman Hartnell wedding dress cemented her status as one of the most glamorous socialites of the era, with crowds reportedly gathering to catch a glimpse of it. ; nyexaminerad lnespecialist ln; kallades en flygare webbkryss; lud zbunjen normalan 9; bands with moon in the name The most ruinous aspect of these photos wasnt Margarets undressed state. The Duke and Duchess of Argyll's infamous 1963 divorce captured the public's attention with its twists and scandalous revelations. In one infamous exchange, a partygoer of Margarets once picked up a cushion and said gleefully, What a fun party, Margaret, lets swap gossip. While the documentary suggested that both Duncan Sandys and Douglas Fairbank Jr could both possibly be the 'headless man', other sources have also speculated over the man's identity. "The dates matched too as Margaret was in New York in 1947 and 1948 and Polaroid brought out . There was also a polaroid of a man pleasuring himself, again headless. 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. Another, more salacious Polaroid released in 1963 proves quite the contrary. Still, dont let her party fouls fool you: When Margaret wasnt being dour, she was downright scandalous. The deb of the season became "the dirty Duchess." This spectacular (and spectacularly sexist) fall from grace is the subject of A Very British Scandal, the upcoming BBC drama starring Claire . Margarets family was eminently respectable, and they couldnt have a single whiff of their daughters so-called disgrace getting out. Making distraction rewarding since 2017. Dirty Duchess Who was Margaret Campbell, the Duchess of Argyll, and when is A Very British Scandal on TV? Following the scandal, he offered to resign from the cabinet but his resignation was declined. Paul Bettany and Claire Foy as the Duke and Duchess of Argyll, in the A Very British Scandal. The situation scandalised conservative British society, and the so-called Dirty Duchess never fully restored her reputation after being branded a nymphomaniac by the Duke. forever 'the Dirty Duchess' in the eyes of the public . "She. Incredibly, his identity was still a mystery after all this time, and journalists tried to guess who he might be. Yet the wedding was not to be, as she was soon swept off her feet by the wealthy American, Charles Sweeney, who instead became her first husband. As the most commanding mistress in the French court, she bettered the lives of many and became a beloved figure. There's a new period drama in theatres now, offering a w [imagesource:flickr] View our online Press Pack. Frustratingly enoughand key to everything that followedthe mens heads were often out of frame, making them impossible to identify. At the end of her rope, she came up with a diabolical plan. When we do, we depend on our loyal, helpful readers to point out how we can do better. Another, more salacious Polaroid released in 1963 proves quite the contrary. Subs offer. Yet those were only his picturesque qualities. Central to the evidence that damned Margaret was the Polaroid photos, obviously taken with her consent, with an unnamed lover who became known in the press as 'the headless man'. Phelps hopes her new screen version of the court battle between the 11th Duke of Argyll and his supposedly unstable, "Dirty Duchess" will do something to restore the reputation of his wife, played by Foy. When the dust cleared, luck prevailed. Rural population was 822858 (72.88%) and urban population was 306157 (27.12%). As the lyrics go: Youre Mussolini / Youre Mrs Sweeny. . It was the perfect recipe for disaster. At the age of 15, she became pregnant with the actor David Niven's child while on a holiday on the Isle of Wight, but the pregnancy was terminated. One man who kept popping up in Margarets history was the Minister of Defense for Britain, Duncan Sandys, who would also go on to become Winston Churchills son-in-law. After 33 stitches to her head and days spent recovering, doctors allowed Margaret to go home to her husband Charles Sweeny and their young family. . She claimed he had slept with her own stepmother, Jane Corby Whigham. In the late 80s, the Dirty Duchess found a new way to make some quick cash. Although the couple's personal relationship had ended long before the divorce, The Duke of Argyll was furious at the numerous affairs Margaret had during their marriage. The Dirty Duchess of Argyll was ahead of her time. Want to tell us to write facts on a topic? In 1947, just a bare four years after her traumatic accident, Sweeny and Margaret filed for divorce. It was a (failed) ploy to safeguard her own powerbut if you think that Margaret stopped there, youre extremely wrong. Thereafter, the Duke, who allegedly referred to her as S for Satan, looked for proof of her adultery and proceeded to divorce her, leaving her to fend for herself. In the photographs, the Duchess of Argyll was very much not alone. An inquiry has confirmed screen idol Douglas Fairbanks Jnr was the man seen with the duchess in an infamous series of four, sexually-explicit photos. She began appearing on television programs, making a cameo appearance on the talk show After Dark to discuss the Grand National horse race. She became known as the 'dirty duchess'. The Duchess refused to reveal who the man is, leaving the press to speculate about his identity. secret recording, bribery and an explicit Polaroid . And when it came to Kidston, she was particularly ruthless. . But there will be no press release or big [imagesource: Bleecker Street] Copyright 2023 by Factinate.com. The centre of the country's first major slut-shaming case, socialite Margaret, Duchess of Argyll . During the divorce process, the Duke produced a Polaroid photograph of the Duchess performing a sexual act on another unidentified man - nicknamed "the headless man" - that he had found . Lady Colin claims to have chosen to reveal the identity of the headless man to restore some measure of justice to . We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. But another Polaroid picture showed the duchess performing a similar sex act on a . Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll, remains fascinating among a certain set. Upon finding this evidence, the Duke of Argyll turned right around and started divorce proceedings against Margaret. Please reach out to us to let us know what youre interested in reading. Because Margarets private stash of photos was now public evidence, newspapers of the day got a full view of the single most infamous snap in Margarets collection: One where she was kneeling down in front of a headless man. The promised sight of Margaret in her Norman Hartnell wedding dress gummed up traffic in the surrounding area of Knightsbridge for three hours. "In 2013, Margarets stepdaughter-in-law Lady Colin Campbell claimed the duchess had told her it was American airline executive Bill Lyons but I think I have stumbled upon the most likely truth. She became a life-long patron of the designer, as well as Victor Stiebel and Angle Delanghe. In the spring of 1931, Margarets carefree life came to an abrupt halt. But these boys were just practice for the man she was about to meet. Unfortunately, when it came to Margaret, having so many romantic options always meant trouble. The new drama, starring Claire Foy and Paul Bettany as the Duke and Duchess of Argyll, looks at their relationship and high profile divorce, which accused Duchess of Argyll Margaret Campbell of having affairs with over 80 men. On our left in the image atop, is the Duchess of Argyll, Margaret Campbell. It was more than enough for the Duke of Argyll to file . By the time Margaret was 15 years old, she was an undeniable stunner. Another, racier Polaroid, showing the Duchess pleasuring a man, was also produced. Despite the tragedy, Margaret tried againeventually having two more children with Sweeny by 1940but her difficulties left lasting psychological scars. Together they are absolutely the essential things in life. Another, racier Polaroid, showing the Duchess pleasuring a man, was also produced. Margaret Campbell, the famously beautiful Duchess of Argyll, had been a celebrity - and a source of scandal - from even before her debutante days. One day, Margaret must have been feeling particularly insecure about her fertility issues. BBC One's follow up to the 2018 A Very English Scandal . Margarets dignity took a hit in her later years, but her personality seemed to curdle as well. If Margaret, Duchess of Argyll gets away with this, what will all women do?" Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll, at an event with her friend, Lady Edith Foxwell, in 1959. Lets just, Entrancing Facts About Madame de Pompadour, France's Most Powerful Mistress, Tragic Facts About Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIIIs First Wife, Scorned Facts About Farida, Egypts Rejected Queen, Infamous Facts About Edwina Mountbatten, The High-Society Rebel, No-Nonsense Facts About Sophia of Nassau, The Woman Behind The King. Famed for her charisma, beauty and style, the Duchess began spending time in London and New York without her husband and entertaining men including comedian Bob Hope and French singer Maurice Chevalier. Ian Duncan Campbell, the dashing Scottish peer known as the Duke of Argyll, sure fit the part: With a forbidding face and a brusque manner, Campbell seemed every bit a Byronic hero, and Margaret fell head over heels. . The couple married in 1951, but their marriage soon turned sour after the Duke accused Margaret of being unfaithful. Margarets reaction to all this, however, wasnt what you might expect. The Channel 4 documentary "proved" that Sandys is the 'headless man', based on a claim from Margaret that the only Polaroid camera in the country at the time had been lent to the Ministry of Defence. For other inquiries, Contact Us. She had only one option. He had claimed then that shed had 88 lovers over the course of their marriage, with a judge in the divorce proceedings adding that the Duchess had a sex perversion. . Duchess of Argyll divorce: What was the headless man Polaroid picture? For all that her name is synonymous with scandal, Margaret Campbell obsessed over class and often held court about the proper way to display yourself to the world. 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. 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). Dancy Mason is the Editor-in-Chief at Factinate. With this disappointment in her wake, Margaret turned to a desperate ploy. 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 Duchess and a very dirty divorce: The scandalous life of the Duchess of Argyle GRANTING the Duke of Argyll a divorce from his wife Margaret, the judge in the 1963 hearing painted a damning . "She. But it was here that tragedy struck. The case soon became very popular, with Margaret calling the 'dirty duchess' and the 'headless man' in the widely thought Polaroid images (Sir Winston Churchill . The reasons behind it were eye-opening. A series of Polaroid photographs were used as evidence in the bitter and acrimonious divorce case between the Duke and Duchess . . It is rumoured that she bedded some of the most powerful men in Britain, including the married Duke of Kent and the film star Cary Grant: During this time, Campbell was courted by American investment bankers and art dealers and memorably wrote that she learnt that it was key to go to bed early and often in a relationship. As she once summed up, referencing both her love of animals and her signature pearls, Always a poodle, only a poodle! Starting in the late 1950s, the Duke of Argyll had enough of waiting for his wife to get home. Our credibility is the turbo-charged engine of our success. Margaret Campbell Duchess of Argyll. But she would be remembered for just one thing: the so-called 'divorce of the century', which ended her marriage to the Duke of Argyll in . Then, in 1943, everything changed once moreand not for the better. While Margaret had been married once before when she met the Duke, Campbell had already gone through two wivesand his track record was far from reassuring. Factinate is a fact website that is dedicated to finding and sharing fun facts about science, history, animals, films, people, and much more. It was the last nail in the coffin of Margarets respectability: She was now a free woman, but her name was officially mud. Written by Sarah Phelps (The Pale Horse; Dublin Murders), A Very British Scandal focuses on the divorce of the Duke (Paul Bettany) and Duchess of Argyll (Claire Foy), one of the most notorious . In 1963, a judge dissolved the marriage of the aristocratic Duke and Duchess of Argyll, condemning the latter as a promiscuous woman with a "debased sexual appetite." Clearly, her second marriage was in deep troublebut no one had any idea what was really around the corner. Please let us know if a fact weve published is inaccurate (or even if you just suspect its inaccurate) by reaching out to us at contribute@factinate.com. Thus, the controversial Polaroid was unearthed, alongside another one with her standing naked (bar the pearl necklace) next to a man: In the court proceedings, Duncan Sandys, then Secretary of State for the Colonies and Winston Churchills son-in-law, was named as the man receiving oral sex, while film star Douglas Fairbanks Jr was named as the other man. Socialite Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll, was the talk of Britain in 1963. . Oh, and it was in Downton Abbey, too. Yet there was a far more likely culprit. 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. On the surface, it looked like she was on top of the world. You know, this despite the fact that Margaret had certainly been out among men for quite some time. At Factinate, were dedicated to getting things right. The winners of this [imagesource: Meta] In the documentary, the makers stated that Margaret said at the time that the only Polaroid camera in the country at the time had been lent to the Ministry of Defence - although the claims have never been confirmed. . In late 1933, Margaret was eight months pregnant and readying herself to give birth to a healthy child at last. To say this was opening a Pandoras box would be an understatement. 48 Upper Grosvenor Street was once dubbed by John Paul Getty as "Number One, London" and it was the Mayfair house where one of the most celebrated sex scandals of the Sixties took place. It only spiraled from there. 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. As she put it, All Charlie wanted in a wife was a pretty, brainless doll. Claire Foy is taking on the role of Margaret Campbell, and Paul Bettany is playing her vengeful husband in a show that will air on the BBC early next year. had ceased to be satisfied with normal relations and had started to indulge in disgusting sexual activities. The movie star was named as Margarets lover, one of the 88 men on the list that the Duke produced in court. . Published: December 26, 2021 at 8:05 am. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material, visit our Syndication site. 12 years later, the duke sued for divorce, accusing Margaret of infidelity and producing evidence, in the form of Polaroid photographs of Margaret engaged in sexual acts, to prove it. On December 21 1960, the New York Daily News informed readers the Duchess of Argyll would soon jet home to London. Marrying Ian Campbell was like signing a deal with the Devil, and the Duke made sure Margaret knew it before the ink on their marriage contract was even dry. with the Duchess portrayed by Clare Foy. Seems pretty conclusive. Soon after disentangling herself from these lovers, Margaret met the man who would ruin her life. The couple divorced in 1947, and she went on to become engaged again to Lehman Brothers banker Joseph Thomas, although they never married. A POLAROID picture was one of the key pieces of evidence in the scandalous divorce of the Duke and Duchess of Argyll.

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