Editing Profumo affair (section)

==Developing scandal==
===Gordon and Edgecombe===
[[File:Wimpole Mews - geograph.org.uk - 606645.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Wimpole Mews. No. 17 is the flat-roofed, brick-faced house, just visible on the right.]]
In October 1961 Keeler accompanied Ward to [[Notting Hill]], then a run-down district of London replete with West Indian music clubs and [[cannabis]] dealers.<ref name="DH250" /><ref>Robertson, p. 27</ref> At the Rio Café they encountered [[Lucky Gordon|Aloysius "Lucky" Gordon]], a Jamaican jazz singer with a history of violence and petty crime. Gordon and Keeler embarked on an affair which, in her own accounts, was marked by equal measures of violence and tenderness on his part.<ref>Knightley and Kennedy, pp. 100–01</ref> Gordon became very possessive, jealous of Keeler's other social contacts. He began confronting her friends and often telephoned her at unsocial hours. In November Keeler left Wimpole Mews and moved to a flat in [[Dolphin Square]], overlooking the Thames at [[Pimlico]], where she entertained friends. When Gordon continued to harass Keeler he was arrested by the police and charged with assault. Keeler later agreed to drop the charge.<ref>Knightley and Kennedy, p. 102</ref><ref>Summers and Dorril, pp. 69–70</ref>

In July 1962 the first inklings of a possible Profumo-Keeler-Ivanov triangle had been hinted at, in coded terms, in the gossip column of the society magazine ''[[Queen (magazine)|Queen]]''. Under the heading, "Sentences I'd like to hear the end of" appeared the wording: "...&nbsp;called in MI5 because every time the chauffeur-driven [[ZiL|Zils]] drew up at her ''front'' door, out of her ''back'' door into a chauffeur-driven [[Humber Limited|Humber]] slipped..."<ref name="Young9">Young, p. 9, quoting from ''Queen''</ref> Keeler was then in New York City with Rice-Davies, in an abortive attempt to launch their modelling careers there.<ref>Knightley and Kennedy, pp. 103–04</ref>{{#tag:ref|A year later, at the height of the scandal, this visit was investigated by the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]], in connection with rumours that Keeler had slept with US President [[John F. Kennedy]].<ref>Knightley and Kennedy, pp. 206–07</ref>|group= n}} On her return to London in September 1962, to counter Gordon's threats, Keeler met and formed a relationship with [[Johnny Edgecombe]], an ex-merchant seaman from Antigua, with whom she lived for a while in [[Brentford]], just west of London.<ref name="DH258">Davenport-Hines, p. 258</ref> Edgecombe became similarly possessive himself after he and Gordon clashed violently on 27 October 1962, when Edgecombe slashed his rival's face with a knife.<ref>Knightley and Kennedy, p. 117</ref> Keeler broke up with Edgecombe shortly afterwards because of his domineering behaviour.<ref name="DH258" />

On the afternoon of 14 December 1962, Keeler and Rice-Davies were together at Ward's house at 17 Wimpole Mews when Edgecombe arrived, demanding to see Keeler. When he was not allowed in, he fired several shots at the front door. Shortly afterwards, Edgecombe was arrested and charged with [[attempted murder]] and other offences.<ref>Robertson, pp. 29–30</ref> In brief press accounts, Keeler was described as "a free-lance model" and "Miss Marilyn Davies" as "an actress".<ref>Knightley and Kennedy, p. 121</ref> In the wake of the incident, Keeler began to talk indiscreetly about Ward, Profumo, Ivanov and the Edgecombe shooting. Among those to whom she told her story was [[John Lewis (British politician)|John Lewis]], a former [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|MP]] whom she had met by chance in a night club. Lewis, a long-standing enemy of Ward, passed the information to Wigg, his one-time parliamentary colleague, who began his own investigation.<ref>Irving et al, pp. 76–78</ref>

===Mounting pressures===
On 22 January 1963 the Soviet government, sensing a possible scandal, recalled Ivanov.<ref>Knightley and Kennedy, p. 128</ref> Aware of increasing public interest, Keeler attempted to sell her story to the national newspapers.<ref name="DH262">Davenport-Hines, pp. 262–63</ref> The Radcliffe tribunal's ongoing inquiry into press behaviour during the Vassall case was making newspapers nervous,<ref>Young, p. 10</ref> and only two showed interest in Keeler's story: the ''[[Sunday Mirror|Sunday Pictorial]]'' and the ''[[News of the World]]''. As the latter would not join an auction, Keeler accepted the ''Pictorial''{{'}}s offer of a £200 down payment and a further £800 when the story was published.<ref>Denning, pp. 21–23</ref> The ''Pictorial'' retained a copy of the "Darling" letter. Meanwhile, the ''News of the World'' alerted Ward and Astor—whose names had been mentioned by Keeler—and they in turn informed Profumo.<ref name="DH262" /> When Profumo's lawyers tried to persuade Keeler not to publish, the compensation she demanded was so large that they considered charges of [[extortion]].<ref name="Robertson34">Robertson, pp. 34–35</ref> Ward informed the ''Pictorial'' that Keeler's story was largely false and threatened to sue if it was printed, whereupon the paper withdrew its offer, although Keeler kept the £200.<ref name="DH262" />

Keeler then gave details of her affair with Profumo to a police officer, who did not pass on this information to MI5 or the legal authorities.<ref name="Robertson34" /><ref name="Parris159">Parris, p. 159</ref> By this time, many of Profumo's political colleagues had heard rumours of his entanglement, and of the existence of a potentially incriminating letter. Nevertheless, his denials were accepted by the government's principal law officers and the Conservative [[Chief Whip]], although with some private scepticism.<ref>Davenport-Hines, pp. 264–67</ref> Macmillan, mindful of the injustice done to Galbraith on the basis of rumours, was determined to support his minister and took no action.<ref name="Parris159" />{{#tag:ref|On 4 March a fairly explicit summary of the allegations surrounding Profumo was published by [[Andrew Roth]] in his newsletter ''Westminster Confidential'', but Profumo was advised by his lawyers not to sue, since the circulation of the sheet was insignificant.<ref>Davenport-Hines, pp. 268–69</ref><ref>Parris, p. 160</ref>|group= n}}

Edgecombe's trial began on 14 March but Keeler, one of [[the Crown]]'s key witnesses, was missing. She had, without informing the court, gone to [[Francoist Spain|Spain]], although at this stage her whereabouts were unknown. Her unexplained absence caused a press sensation.<ref name="Knightley149">Knightley and Kennedy, pp. 149–50</ref> Every newspaper knew the rumours linking Keeler with Profumo, but refrained from reporting any direct connection; in the wake of the Radcliffe inquiry they were, in Wigg's later words, "willing to wound but afraid to strike".<ref name="Y14">Young, pp. 14–15</ref> They could only hint, by front-page juxtapositions of stories and photographs, that Profumo might be connected to Keeler's disappearance.<ref>Irving et al, p. 90</ref> Despite Keeler's absence the judge proceeded with the case; Edgecombe was found guilty on a lesser charge of possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life, and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment.<ref name="Knightley149" /> A few days after the trial, on 21 March, the satirical magazine ''[[Private Eye]]'' printed the most detailed summary so far of the rumours, with the main characters lightly disguised: "Mr James Montesi", "Miss Gaye Funloving", "Dr Spook" and "Vladimir Bolokhov".<ref name="Y14" />

===Personal statement===
{{Quote box
| width = 250px
| bgcolor = #E0E6F8
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| quote = The trouble is I am 21&nbsp;... I have lived in the West End of London and frequently been to parties with well-known people present. Presumably if I had been 52 and a housewife from [[Surbiton]] there would have been none of this trouble.
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| source = Christine Keeler, press interview 25 March 1963<ref name= DH276/>
}}

The newly elected leader of the opposition Labour Party, [[Harold Wilson]], was initially advised by his colleagues to have nothing to do with Wigg's private [[Information|dossier]] on the Profumo rumours.<ref>Davenport-Hines, p. 271</ref> On 21 March, with the press furore over the "missing witness" at its height, the party changed its stance. During a [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] debate, Wigg used [[Parliamentary privilege in the United Kingdom|parliamentary privilege]] to ask the [[Home Secretary]] to categorically deny the truth of rumours connecting "a minister" to Keeler, Rice-Davies and the Edgecombe shooting.<ref>{{cite web |date=21 March 1963 |title=Journalists (Imprisonment) |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1963/mar/21/journalists-imprisonment#S5CV0674P0_19630321_HOC_512 |access-date=22 June 2016 |publisher=Hansard online |pages=col. 723–25 |work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]] |volume=674}}</ref> He did not name Profumo, who was not in the House.<ref name="Irving100">Irving et al, pp 100–01</ref> Later in the debate [[Barbara Castle]], the Labour MP for [[Blackburn (UK Parliament constituency)|Blackburn]], referred to the "missing witness" and hinted at a possible [[perverting the course of justice|perversion of justice]].<ref name="Irving100" /><ref>{{cite web |date=21 March 1963 |title=Journalists (Imprisonment) |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1963/mar/21/journalists-imprisonment#S5CV0674P0_19630321_HOC_512 |access-date=22 June 2016 |publisher=Hansard online |pages=col. 737–40 |work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]] |volume=674}}</ref> The Home Secretary, [[Henry Brooke, Baron Brooke of Cumnor|Henry Brooke]], refused to comment, adding that Wigg and Castle should "seek other means of making these insinuations if they are prepared to substantiate them".<ref>{{cite web |date=22 March 1963 |title=Journalists (Imprisonment) |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1963/mar/21/journalists-imprisonment#S5CV0674P0_19630321_HOC_512 |access-date=22 June 2016 |publisher=Hansard online |pages=col. 758 |work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]] |volume=674}}</ref>

At the conclusion of the debate, the government's law officers and Chief Whip agreed that Profumo should assert his innocence in a personal statement to the House. Such statements are, by long-standing tradition, made on the particular honour of the member and are accepted by the House without question.<ref name="Y17">Young, p. 17</ref> In the early hours of 22 March Profumo and his lawyers met with ministers and together agreed on an appropriate wording. Later that morning Profumo made his statement to a crowded House. He acknowledged friendships with Keeler and Ward, the former of whom, he said, he had last seen in December 1961. He had met "a Mr Ivanov" twice, also in 1961. He stated: "There was no impropriety whatsoever in my acquaintanceship with Miss Keeler", and added: "I shall not hesitate to issue writs for [[libel]] and [[slander]] if scandalous allegations are made or repeated outside the House."<ref>{{cite web |date=22 March 1963 |title=Personal statement |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1963/mar/22/personal-statement#S5CV0674P0_19630322_HOC_7 |access-date=22 June 2016 |publisher=Hansard online |pages=col. 809 |work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]] |volume=674}}</ref> That afternoon, Profumo was photographed at [[Sandown Park Racecourse]] in the company of the [[Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother|Queen Mother]].<ref name="DH276">Davenport-Hines, pp. 276–77</ref>

While the matter was officially considered closed,<ref name="DH276" /> many individual MPs had doubts, although none openly expressed disbelief at this stage. Wigg later said that he left the House that morning "with black rage in my heart because I knew what the facts were. I knew the truth."<ref>Irving et al, p. 109</ref> Most newspapers were editorially non-committal; only ''[[The Guardian]]'', under the headline "Mr Profumo clears the air", stated openly that the statement should be taken at its face value.<ref>Young, pp. 18–19</ref><ref>Irving, p. 111</ref> Within a few days press attention was distracted by the re-emergence of Keeler in [[Madrid]]. She expressed astonishment at the fuss her absence had caused, adding that her friendship with Profumo and his wife was entirely innocent and that she had many friends in important positions.<ref name="DH276" /> Keeler claimed that she had not deliberately missed the Edgecombe trial but had been confused about the date. She was required to forfeit her [[recognizance]] of £40, but no other action was taken against her.<ref>Young, pp. 20–21</ref>