FBI Named British Royal in Massive Sex and Spying Scandal Documents

Nothing has been proved

Prince Philip’s name appeared in top-secret FBI documents about one of the greatest British sex scandals of all time: the so-called Profumo affair, according to the Mail on Sunday.

The documents relay that the FBI had heard a rumor that Philip—Queen Elizabeth II’s husband—was “involved” with two women at the center of the early 1960s scandal which eventually led to the downfall of a government.

The scandal concerned Britain’s married Secretary of State for War John Profumo’s five-month affair with model Christine Keeler, at the same time as she was seeing Russian naval attaché Eugene Ivanov. The Profumo scandal is base camp for the modern sex scandal, sensationally entwining a presiding government and spying and sex in early-swinging 60s London.

At the later trial of osteopath Stephen Ward, who had introduced Keeler to the two men, Keeler’s friend Mandy Rice-Davies famously replied—when asked why Lord Astor had denied having an affair with her—“Well, he would, wouldn’t he?” (If you haven’t seen the brilliant 1989 movie, Scandal, directed by Michael Caton-Jones, do so right away; and listen to Dusty Springfield’s Reputation album made in collaboration with the Pet Shop Boys featuring songs like the movie’s theme song, “Nothing Has Been Proved,” and “In Private.”)

The FBI heard that Philip had links to both Keeler and Rice-Davies, according to the report. Thomas Corbally, a U.S. businessman involved in industrial espionage, made the claim about Philip, the Mail reports, citing a memo written by J. Edgar Hoover, then director of the FBI: “Corbally also stated there was a rumor Prince Philip may have been involved with these two girls.”

What else if anything the FBI files say about Philip is unknown, but an episode of The Crown ponders if a man photographed with his back to the camera in a party photograph was the Duke of Edinburgh. In The Crown the queen is seen being told that Ward had drawn Philip, and that Philip had been a frequent guest at Ward’s gatherings. As Clive Irving wrote for The Daily Beast in 2018, the reality of this portrait is far less spicy as implied by The Crown, and Philip’s place in this intriguing demi-monde remains hard to decipher—even if MI5 was keen to keep his name out of the story.

Ward was also a member of the notorious Thursday Club, which Philip cofounded with Lieutenant Commander Michael Parker, described by Miles Kington in a 1996 Independent article “as the gang of cronies that the Duke of Edinburgh used to gather round him in the 1950s to have a bit of fun away from his serious life at Buckingham Palace.”

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The Crown episode uses “Mystery Man” as its title, with the double-meaning of both the unknown identity of the man in the photograph and Queen Elizabeth realizing, at least when it comes to private matters, she doesn’t know who her husband actually is. In a crackling confrontation between the two Philip (Matt Smith) vehemently denies wrongdoing, even as the queen (Claire Foy) says, “Half the time I don’t know where you are, or what you’re doing.”

Ward committed suicide a few days before a guilty verdict—on two counts of living off the earnings of prostitution—was announced. (Corbally said he didn’t believe the charges against Ward, who—as time went on—began to be seen as a convenient scapegoat for the misdeeds of the titled and powerful.)

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As The Crown shows, this was also the era when nascent satire of the rich and powerful was beginning to be popularized by shows like Beyond the Fringe. The scandal also helped lead to the downfall of the then-Tory government led by Harold Macmillan, with Harold Wilson’s Labour party triumphant in the 1964 general election.

What Philip did or didn’t do, and whether he was the “Mystery Man,” has never been conclusively established. The Tory party, on the other hand, has remained resolutely devoted to producing sleazy scandal after sleazy scandal ever since.

King Charles’ big break

King Charles will spend an “extended” summer at Balmoral, the Mail on Sunday reports. Last year Charles returned to London much earlier than his mother typically would. The late Queen Elizabeth would spend three months at the family’s hunting-shooting-fishing Scottish holiday retreat.

But this year, as he continues to receive treatment for cancer, Charles is going to enjoy a longer stay, aides tell the paper—noting Charles’ busy schedule of recent weeks, which in the last few days has included visiting the Channel Islands with Queen Camilla, attending the State Opening of Parliament (where he may or may not have gotten into a flap over his robes) and met world leaders at Blenheim Palace. The next big question—which royals will and won’t spend time at Balmoral—is unknown.

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The Mail says that on the first Saturday of August, Charles will attend the Mey Highland Games in John o’Groats (the northern-most tip of the Scottish mainland), with Charles and Camilla likely to stay at the Queen Mother’s former Scottish bolthole, the Castle of Mey. Then they will return to either Balmoral or Birkhall, Charles’ own Scottish pad nearby. Charles and Camilla will also attend the annual Braemar Gathering—where all manner of comically macho, huff-puffing games, like tossing the caber and throwing the hammer, are played.

Happy birthday!

Prince William and Princess Kate led the merry chorus—“Wishing Her Majesty a very Happy Birthday”—for Queen Camilla’s 77^th birthday on July 17.

The Royal Family account also set out the birthday candles.

All this in an eventful week, including an alarming moment when Charles and Camilla were rushed from an event over fears around a possible rooftop sniper.

This week in royal history

More birthday celebrations tomorrow, Monday, as Prince George turns 11. Most recently seen with dad Prince William in Germany for England’s European Cup final soccer match against Spain, the second in line to the throne was born on July 22, 2013. On July 23, 1986, Prince Andrew married Sarah Ferguson.

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Unanswered questions

With New Zealand now definitely off the itinerary, how are palace planners scheduling King Charles’ trip to the southern hemisphere in the Fall? After her much-applauded visit to Wimbledon for the men’s singles final last Sunday, will Princess Kate—like her father-in-law, also receiving treatment for cancer—be seen out and about again soon?