"She. Her second husband - and the subject of the BBC's A Very British Scandal - was Ian Douglas Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll. 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. In his court papers, Argyll accused Margaret of sleeping with no fewer than 88 men over the course of their marriage. The Duchess, born Margaret Whigham, married Ian Campbell, Duke of Argyll in 1951, and it was the couple's divorce trial that has gone down in history. To say everyone is no exaggeration, either. By Hayley Maitland. So when Margaret started staying out extra late and getting more distant, the Duke committed a creepy breach of trust. 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. More than that, Margaret was having further difficulty giving him a child, which didnt help matters. Thats when she crossed a line she could never come back from. Im a cleaning whizz - three common products you need to ditch to save cash Factinate is a fact website that is dedicated to finding and sharing fun facts about science, history, animals, films, people, and much more. Were always looking for your input! Margaret Campbell (ne Whigham) was born to a Scottish millionaire George Hay Whigham on 1 December 1912 and was enjoyed a privileged upbringing, spending much of . 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 for her vibrant, confident personality . 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On brand for a high-class woman, and Margaret even quipped she was there to, "put the point of view of the horse". Lyons was a "scion of a wealthy family" and was the duchess's lover for six years. Best known for the explicit Polaroid . In several photos, Margaret was wearing only a string of her trademark pearls. While in the nursing home bathroom one day, Margaret had a severe fall that broke her neck. 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. 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. Naked polaroid photos of her performing oral sex on a "Headless Man" (ie a man . 1. It only spiraled from there. 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. I tried to get my ex-wife served with divorce papers. . In the late 80s, the Dirty Duchess found a new way to make some quick cash. She became a life-long patron of the designer, as well as Victor Stiebel and Angle Delanghe. I have a lot of guides you can check out if you really want to get into the weeds, but here's a quick run-down on what's out there: Polaroid has started making cameras and film once more, and some of the new film is compatible with vintage Polaroid cameras. 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. 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. BBC One's follow up to the 2018 A Very English Scandal . To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. 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. Subs offer. . Years later, I was using her phone when I made an utterly chilling discovery. 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. Margarets reply was cutting. Clearly, her second marriage was in deep troublebut no one had any idea what was really around the corner. It was the last nail in the coffin of Margarets respectability: She was now a free woman, but her name was officially mud. According to Lord Wheatley, the judge on the case, he had the morals of a tomcat. Her attitude to the sanctity of marriage was what moderns would call enlightened but which in plain language was wholly immoral.'. 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. Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll, remains fascinating among a certain set. Not so in 1963: Margaret was dubbed the "Dirty Duchess" by the tabloids and received a scathing rebuke from the judge, who said "her attitude to the sanctity of marriage was what moderns would . "The dates matched too as Margaret was in New York in 1947 and 1948 and Polaroid brought out their first camera in 1948.". For further details of our complaints policy and to make a complaint please click this link: thesun.co.uk/editorial-complaints/, The Duke and Duchess of Argyll at their wedding in 1951. Now, the story - which involved illicit Polaroid pictures and a maelstrom of headlines - is the inspiration behind the BBC's latest drama series, Joy for Pippa and James Matthews as their seven-month-old daughter is christened at village church, Earl Spencer shares touching childhood photo of his late mother from his personal archives, Prince and Princess of Wales host Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway at Windsor Castle. The most extensive damage, however, was somewhere no one could yet see. So one day while she was away in New York and he had ample time to sit and get more paranoid, he called up a locksmith and asked him to break into it. She was going to take the child in and somehow pass him off as her own, therefore making him the true legitimate heir of the duke. The Duchess of Argyll spent a fortune restoring Inveraray Castle in western Scotland, now full of secret doors, ancient weapons and priceless artwork. 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. Upon seeing the presented evidence in court, the judge, Lord Wheatley, said: There is enough in her own admissions and proven facts to establish that by 1960 she was a completely promiscuous woman whose sexual appetite could only be satisfied with a number of men. 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. 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. It was a (failed) ploy to safeguard her own powerbut if you think that Margaret stopped there, youre extremely wrong. Another, racier Polaroid, showing the Duchess pleasuring a man, was also produced. Instead, she accused him of a heinous act. 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 . Over the four years that Margaret and her duke were facing off against each other in court, the press speculated wildly about all of Margarets sins, dubbing her The Dirty Duchess. 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. Well, guess what? with the Duchess portrayed by Clare Foy. Something went wrong, please try again later. On the surface, it looked like she was on top of the world. . But there was more hope to lose. Friends claimed that, of all the people in her life except family, Margaret only trusted her pets. In 2000, a Channel 4 documentary sought to discover who the man really was, with two names in particular raised as possible candidates. An Exclusive First Look at Claire Foy in A Very British Scandal. Your suggestions can be as general or specific as you like, from Life to Compact Cars and Trucks to A Subspecies of Capybara Called Hydrochoerus Isthmius. Well get our writers on it because we want to create articles on the topics youre interested in. For more of the latest showbiz news from Daily Star, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here. One of the men accused of being one of Margaret's lovers, and named on a list that the Duke of Argyll produced in court, was the Hollywood actor Douglas Fairbank Jr. 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. One rumour suggests it was the former Minister of Defence, Duncan Sandys (who later became the son-in-law of Winston Churchill). Traumatic elevator accident or not, Margarets personality had always beenodd. He had Margarets car wiretapped so he could know where she was at all times. Reportedly, the duchess began taking aim at the dukes sons from his previous marriage, even going so far as to forge letters that claimed the boys were illegitimate. According to them, the man is almost certainly Hollywood actor Douglas Fairbanks Jra married man, at the time. It was something much worse. One of the explicit photographs presented in court was a Polaroid of the Duchess, wearing nothing but her signature triple-string of pearls, standing next to an unidentified man. Margaret was utterly devastatedbut she didnt deal with her grief in the best of ways. One of the images featured his wife naked but for a string of pearls, performing . Margaret Campbell often visited New York during separations from her husband. . Getty Images. Incredibly, his identity was still a mystery after all this time, and journalists tried to guess who he might be. She was widely regarded as one of the most beautiful young women in the UK at the time, and her sexual adventures became the stuff of great gossip. For Margarets secrets, it was the apocalypse. He had much darker ones, too. Mid-way through the After Dark broadcast, Margaret had to bail out of her commitment and walk off stage because, as she claimed, she was so very sleepy. "It exploded in a way that now in present day, we seem to have forgotten about.". 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. Inside, he discovered a cache of evidence of her infidelities, including Polaroid pictures of her with another man. had ceased to be satisfied with normal relations and had started to indulge in disgusting sexual activities. The star of The Crown plays one of Britain's most scandalous aristocrats - Margaret Campbell, the so-called "Dirty Duchess". The Duchess refused to reveal who the man is, leaving the press to speculate about his identity. At the end of her rope, she came up with a diabolical plan. As Margaret recalled, doctors thought she must have grabbed onto the elevator cablethis is what likely saved her lifebecause her fingernails were torn and bloody. She suffered neglect from her mother, as well as a teen pregnancy that could have ruined her long before she became an eligible debutante. The mystery man in the explicit photo became known as the 'headless man' and his identity has been largely speculated. Unlike like her shocking accident in the elevator, this time Margaret was far too frail to survive. Which, sure, is certainly understandable. As someone who self-identified as always vain, Margaret always cared much more about her beauty than anything else. There was also a polaroid of a man pleasuring himself, again headless. Duchess of Argyll divorce: What was the headless man Polaroid picture? Both of them, though, show her wearing her iconic three-string pearls, jewellery that she had inherited from her grandmother. 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 . When the dust cleared, luck prevailed. The centre of the country's first major slut-shaming case, socialite Margaret, Duchess of Argyll . One day, Margaret must have been feeling particularly insecure about her fertility issues. American businessman John Cohane was names as another one of Margaret's lovers. Historys most fascinating stories and darkest secrets, delivered to your inbox daily. At Factinate, were dedicated to getting things right. 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. . But another Polaroid picture showed the duchess performing a similar sex act on a . In it, among other things, was a set of extremely damning and risqu polaroid photographs. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. The Duchess, Margaret Campbell, was a British socialite known for her lavish lifestyle and a string of high-profile affairs. ", 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. Catherine of Aragon is now infamous as King Henry VIIIs rejected queenbut few people know her even darker history. This laser focus on how she looked and not how she acted got her into big trouble. She had only one option. When the Duke realized what he was looking at, nothing was the same ever again. 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. Although Margarets experiences with Niven were her first time with a man, one time in her case was very much enough. The Duchess refused to reveal who the man is, leaving the press to speculate about his identity. Who was the Duchess of Argyll? Yet far from empathy, this led her to acts of cruelty; a maid of hers once said she treated her dogs better than she did her staff. After all, the Duchess had one enormous skeleton in her closet. There was the duchess, wearing only a string of pearls, pleasuring a standing man while on her knees. Around this time, Margarets behavior behind the scenes sent tongues wagging. In fact, during this time she desperately tried to get people to sell her an entire baby boy. The dirty tricks begin to rain down: Margaret tries to prove that Ian's two sons, born from a first marriage, are illegitimate. One rumour suggests it was the former Minister of Defence, Duncan Sandys (who later became the son-in-law of Winston Churchill). The Crown star will take on Margaret Campbell, the duchess, opposite Paul Bettany's Ian Campbell, Duke of Argyll . 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. . "You get to see behind it and ask the questions such as what may actually had gone on at the time and how it affected the individuals.". 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 . She also almost died during a horrific accident while visiting her chiropodist, in which she fell down a lift shaft. "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 story of the Dirty Duchess' pearl necklace in Claire Foy's new divorce drama. 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 . But there were disturbing indications of what really happened. "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. During the divorce proceedings, the Duke produced various incriminating letters and photographs, which he took from the Duchess's Mayfair home. The mystery man in the explicit photo became known as the 'headless man' and his identity has been largely speculated. Margaret Campbells young life more than set her up for her raucous adulthood. In short, Margaret should have run away. . Margarets family was eminently respectable, and they couldnt have a single whiff of their daughters so-called disgrace getting out. forever 'the Dirty Duchess' in the eyes of the public . With this disappointment in her wake, Margaret turned to a desperate ploy. For what its worth, yes, Margaret was very aware of the homage to her and mentioned it in her memoirs. But the writer also believes that crucial facts about the duchess's adventurous sex life are still judged too sensitive to reveal. The case left Margaret vilified by the press in a pre-sexual revolution Britain and branded the "Dirty Duchess," while her former husband, who was also accused of adultery, escaped similar . a self-confessed wolf. After completing her education in New York, she moved back to the UK, where her beauty and status as an heiress made her much in-demand on the social scene. Madame de Pompadour was the alluring chief mistress of King Louis XV, but few people know her dark historyor the chilling secret shared by her and Louis. Starting in the late 1950s, the Duke of Argyll had enough of waiting for his wife to get home. He was a notorious drinker and gambler, and was hooked on prescription medications to boot. 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. Upon finding this evidence, the Duke of Argyll turned right around and started divorce proceedings against Margaret. Following the scandal, he offered to resign from the cabinet but his resignation was declined. Following Kidstons passing, she got hastily engaged to Charles Greville, the uber-wealthy Earl of Warwickand accepted the proposal of another man, the publishing scion Max Aiken, near-simultaneously. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. In fact, in the summer of 1928, Margaret caught the eye of an older boy: The 18-year-old David Niven, who later became a Hollywood actor. Sadly, thats not what happened, and Margaret may have been her own worst enemy. Some peoples lives get strictly divided into before and afterbut nothing can hold a candle to what Margaret was about to experience. But according to Sweeny, the woman who returned was not the wife he had known before. But in the months that followed, he truly exacted his pound of flesh. 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. 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. Thanks for your time! David Niven met Margaret while the two of them were on holiday on the Isle of Wight. The Duke and Duchess of Argyll were so high-society that any split between them was going to be a matter of public interest. Margaret's rumoured affair with the ex-press officer at the Savoy was named as one of the key affairs in the divorce proceedings. "Thats interesting in itself as these things that seem so serious at the time, on the front of the newspapers, and no one really remembers it at all," said Claire. Frustratingly enoughand key to everything that followedthe mens heads were often out of frame, making them impossible to identify. had ceased to be satisfied with normal relations and had started to indulge in disgusting sexual activities. . Another, more salacious Polaroid released in 1963 proves quite the contrary. Obviously, Margaret had to choose just one manbut she threw a cruel curveball at her lovers. Talking about the series, actress Claire Foy who plays Margaret Campbell said: "The premise is that it is an untold story of something that was a scandal. In a move he had likely pulled before, Campbell began siphoning off the money Margaret brought into the union to restore his ancestral seat at Inveraray Castle. 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. because the Ministry of Defence had the only Polaroid camera in Britain at the time. 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. Another, more salacious Polaroid released in 1963 proves quite the contrary. In the late 80s, the Dirty Duchess found a new way to make some quick cash. Join thousands of others and start your morning with our Fact Of The Day newsletter. A photo of a 'headless' man was one of the key pieces of evidence used in the divorce case of the Duke and Duchess of Argyll, which is due to be dramatised in the new BBC mini series A Very British Scandal. 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. Image: Amazon Prime Video. She began appearing on television programs, making a cameo appearance on the talk show After Dark to discuss the Grand National horse race. It wasnt meant to be; she had a stillborn little girl instead. But further investigations only proved more incriminating for Margaret. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. Rescuers located Margaret, and, miraculously, she was still alive. These matched the ones Ian Campbell held up in court. We want our readers to trust us. And when it came to Kidston, she was particularly ruthless. 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. Her father, in particular, was beside himself with rage. Margaret, Duchess of Argyll, died aged 80 in a nursing home in Pimlico, London, just a few days before the Major government decided to keep all the testimonies given to Lord Denning under wraps . Married in 1951, Margaret was at the height of her fame as a glamorous and stylish socialite, and had even been name-dropped in Cole Porter's song, You're the Top. She began appearing on television programs, making a cameo appearance on the talk show After Dark to discuss the Grand National horse race. After the historic case she never remarried, and lost much of her fortune in later life. Which is exactly how Margaret ended up jumping into bed with Davidand suffering horrible consequences. Her last shred of dignity went soon after. She was known as the Dirty Duchess after her split from the 11th Duke of Argyll led to a bitter and scandalous divorce. secret recording, bribery and an explicit Polaroid . The mystery man in the explicit photo became known as the 'headless man' and his identity has been largely speculated. The divorce case gripped the nation and became major tabloid fodder, especially as the private photographs became admissible as court reporting. and Polaroid snaps showing Her Grace, clad only in a string of pearls . He has been granted day-release. She claimed he had slept with her own stepmother, Jane Corby Whigham. Not that men didnt try: By the end of the season, the court named her their debutante of the year and Margaret had her pick of suitors, any of whom would eat out of the palm of her hand if shed asked. The legacy of Margaret, Duchess of Argyll is tainted by scandal. The future Duchess of Argyll was born Ethel Margaret Whigham on December 1, 1912, in Scotland to a millionaire father. This means that we may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. Distrusting the duchess, Campbell seized her private Polaroid photos from a locked cupboard in their Mayfair home.
