Editing Profumo affair (section)

===Retribution===
Gordon's trial for the attack on Keeler began on the day Profumo's resignation was made public. He maintained that his innocence would be established by two witnesses who, the police told the court, could not be found. On 7 June, principally on the evidence of Keeler, Gordon was found guilty and sentenced to three years' imprisonment.<ref>Irving et al, p. 148</ref> The following day, Ward was arrested and charged with immorality offences.<ref>Irving, p. 149</ref>

On 9 June, freed from Profumo's libel threats, the ''News of the World'' published "The Confessions of Christine", an account which helped to fashion the public image of Ward as a [[sexual predator]] and probable tool of the Soviets.<ref name="Robertson52">Robertson, pp. 52–55</ref> The ''Sunday Mirror'' (formerly the ''Sunday Pictorial'') printed Profumo's "Darling" letter.<ref>Young, pp. 28–29</ref>

{{Quote box|width=250px|bgcolor=#E0E6F8|align=left|quote=I myself feel that the time will come very soon when my right hon. Friend [the prime minister] ought to make way for a much younger colleague. I feel that that ought to happen&nbsp;... perhaps some of the words of Browning might be appropriate in his poem on "The Lost Leader", in which he wrote:
<poem>"Let him never come back to us!
There would be doubt, hesitation and pain.
Forced praise on our part—the glimmer of twilight,
Never glad confident morning again!"</poem>|salign = left |source= Nigel Birch, House of Commons, 17 June 1963<ref name= Hansard/> }}

In advance of the House of Commons debate on Profumo's resignation, due 17 June, David Watt in ''[[The Spectator]]'' defined Macmillan's position as "an intolerable dilemma from which he can only escape by being proved either ludicrously naïve or incompetent or deceitful—or all three".<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Watt |first=David |date=13 June 1963 |title=The Price of Profumo |url=http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/14th-june-1963/4/political-commentary |magazine=The Spectator |page=4 |access-date=22 June 2016}}</ref> Meanwhile, the press speculated about possible Cabinet resignations, and several ministers felt it necessary to demonstrate their loyalty to the prime minister.<ref>Young, pp. 32–33</ref> In a [[BBC]] interview on 13 June [[Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone|Lord Hailsham of St Marylebone]], holder of several ministerial offices, denounced Profumo in a manner which, according to ''[[The Observer]]'', "had to be seen to be believed".<ref>{{cite news |last=Richardson |first=Maurice |author-link=Maurice Richardson |date=16 June 1963 |title=Lord Hailsham Hits His Wicket |page=25 |newspaper=The Observer}}</ref>{{#tag:ref|Hailsham's performance was generally condemned by opponents and colleagues.<ref>Levin, p. 65</ref> In the subsequent Commons debate he was described by Wigg as "a lying humbug" (Davenport-Hines wrongly ascribes this comment to [[Reginald Paget, Baron Paget of Northampton|Reginald Paget]]).<ref name= Hansard>{{cite web|publisher= Hansard online|title= Security (Mr Profumo's Resignation)|url= https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1963/jun/17/security-mr-profumos-resignation#S5CV0679P0_19630617_HOC_296|volume= 679|pages= cols. 34–176 |date= 17 June 1963|work= [[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]]|access-date= 22 June 2016}}</ref><ref>Davenport-Hines, p. 301</ref>|group= n}} Hailsham said that "a great party is not to be brought down because of a squalid affair between a woman of easy virtue and a proven liar".<ref>Young, p. 34</ref>

In the debate, Wilson concentrated almost exclusively on the extent to which Macmillan and his colleagues had been dilatory in not identifying a clear security risk arising from Profumo's association with Ward and his circle.<ref>Young, pp. 42–46</ref> Macmillan responded that he should not be held culpable for believing a colleague who had repeatedly asserted his innocence. He mentioned the false allegations against Galbraith, and the failure of the security services to share their detailed information with him.<ref>Young, pp. 50–52</ref> In the general debate the sexual aspects of the scandal were fully discussed; [[Nigel Birch, Baron Rhyl|Nigel Birch]], the Conservative MP for [[West Flintshire (UK Parliament constituency)|West Flintshire]], referred to Keeler as a "professional prostitute" and asked rhetorically: "What are whores about?"<ref name="KK195">Knightley and Kennedy, p. 195</ref> Keeler was otherwise branded a "tart" and a "poor little slut".{{#tag:ref|The "poor little slut" comment was made by [[Ben Parkin]], the Labour MP for [[Paddington North (UK Parliament constituency)|Paddington North]], in a speech that was generally sympathetic to Keeler and "the many other women like her", and condemned the "Pharisaical denunciations" of other members.<ref name= Hansard/><ref>Young, pp. 61–62</ref>|group= n}} Ward was vilified throughout as a likely Soviet agent; one Conservative referred to "the [[treason]] of Dr Ward".<ref name="Robertson52" /> Most Conservatives, whatever their reservations, were supportive of Macmillan, with only Birch suggesting that he should consider retirement.<ref name="KK195" /> In the subsequent vote on the government's handling of the affair, 27 Conservatives abstained, reducing the government's majority to 69. Most newspapers considered the extent of the defection significant, and several forecast that Macmillan would soon resign.<ref>Knightley and Kennedy, p. 196</ref><ref>Irving et al, pp. 175–76</ref>

After the parliamentary debate, newspapers published further sensational stories, hinting at widespread immorality within Britain's governing class. A story emanating from Rice-Davies concerned a naked masked man, who acted as a waiter at sex parties; rumours suggested that he was a cabinet minister, or possibly a member of the Royal Family.<ref>Parris, p. 168</ref> [[Malcolm Muggeridge]] in the ''Sunday Mirror'' wrote of "The Slow, Sure Death of the Upper Classes".<ref>Davenport-Hines, pp. 306–08</ref><ref name="Muggeridge">{{cite news |last=Muggeridge |first=Malcolm |author-link=Malcolm Muggeridge |date=23 June 1963 |title=The Slow, Sure Death of the Upper Classes |page=7 |newspaper=Sunday Mirror}}</ref>{{#tag:ref|Muggeridge wrote: "The Upper Classes have always been given to lying, fornication, corrupt practices and, doubtless as a result of the public school system, sodomy".<ref name= Muggeridge/>|group= n}} On 21 June Macmillan instructed Lord Denning, the [[Master of the Rolls]], to investigate and report on the growing range of rumours.<ref>Denning, p. 1</ref> Ward's committal proceedings began a week later, at Marylebone [[Magistrates' court (England and Wales)|magistrates' court]], where the Crown's evidence was fully reported in the press.<ref>Robertson, pp. 55–64</ref> Ward was committed for trial on charges of "living off the earnings of prostitution" and "procuration of girl under twenty-one", and released on bail.<ref>Summers and Dorril, p. 281</ref>

With the Ward case now ''[[sub judice]]'', the press pursued related stories. ''[[The Sunday People|The People]]'' reported that [[Scotland Yard]] had begun an inquiry, in parallel with Denning's, into "homosexual practices as well as sexual laxity" among civil servants, military officers and MPs.<ref>Davenport-Hines, p. 311</ref> On 24 June the ''Daily Mirror'', under a banner heading "Prince Philip and the Profumo Scandal", dismissed what it termed the "foul rumour" that the prince had been involved in the affair, without disclosing the nature of the rumour.<ref>Parris, p. 169</ref><ref>Davenport-Hines, p. 344</ref>

Ward's trial began at the [[Old Bailey]] on 28 July. He was charged with living off the earnings of Keeler, Rice-Davies and two other prostitutes, and with procuring women under 21 to have sex with other persons.<ref>Irving, pp. 193–94</ref> The thrust of the [[prosecution]]'s case related to Keeler and Rice-Davies, and turned on whether the small contributions to household expenses or loan repayments they had given to Ward while living with him amounted to his living off their prostitution. Ward's approximate income at the time, from his practice and from his portraiture, had been around £5,500 a year, a substantial sum at that time.<ref>Robertson, pp. 80–81</ref> In his speeches and examination of witnesses, the prosecuting counsel [[Mervyn Griffith-Jones]] portrayed Ward as representing "the very depths of lechery and depravity".<ref>Davenport-Hines, p. 324</ref> The judge, [[Archie Marshall (politician)|Sir Archie Marshall]], was equally hostile, drawing particular attention to the fact that none of Ward's supposed society friends had been prepared to speak up for him.<ref>Knightley and Kennedy, p. 243</ref> Towards the end of the trial, news came that Gordon's conviction for assault had been overturned; Marshall did not disclose to the jury that Gordon's witnesses had turned up and testified that Keeler, a key prosecution witness against Ward, had given false evidence at Gordon's trial.<ref>Robertson, pp. 92–95 and 101</ref>

After listening to Marshall's damning summing-up, on the evening of 30 July Ward took an overdose of sleeping tablets and was taken to hospital. On the next day, he was found guilty ''[[Trial in absentia|in absentia]]'' on the charges relating to Keeler and Rice-Davies, and acquitted on the other counts. Sentence was postponed until Ward was fit to appear, but on 3 August he died without regaining consciousness.<ref>Knightley and Kennedy, pp. 243–47</ref> On 9 August, a [[coroner's jury]] ruled Ward's death as suicide by [[barbiturate]] poisoning,<ref>Knightley and Kennedy, p. 247</ref> though some biographers consider the possibility that he was murdered.{{#tag:ref|In the 1989 edition of their book ''Honeytrap'', Summers and Dorril add a postscript that provides extra details of Ward's last hours, his movements and his visitors. The postscript includes details of an interview with "a former [[MI6]] operative" who asserted that Ward had been murdered by an agent working on behalf of MI6. The main motive for the killing was, supposedly, Ward's continuing ability to embarrass the government and the Royal Family. There is no direct evidence to support this story. The reporter [[Tom Mangold]], one of the last to see Ward alive, dismisses the murder theory, while allowing that there are unexplained circumstances relating to Ward's death.<ref>Summers and Dorril, pp. 316–23</ref><ref>{{cite news|last= Tweedie|first= Neil|title= The Profumo Affair: 'It was decided that Stephen Ward had to die'|url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/10488686/The-Profumo-Affair-It-was-decided-that-Stephen-Ward-had-to-die.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/10488686/The-Profumo-Affair-It-was-decided-that-Stephen-Ward-had-to-die.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|newspaper= The Daily Telegraph|date= 2 December 1913|access-date= 22 June 2016}}{{cbignore}}</ref> |group= n}}