The claim was watertight and Margaret knew she would be unsuccessful but wanted to give her rival a run for the money. I feel a bit ashamed because until I started looking into her life I had written off Margaret, Duchess of Argyll as no more than a joke figure. At the time of their first meeting, the Duke was still married to Louise Timpson. Her extravagant lifestyle and ill-considered investments left her largely penniless by the time she died. Margaret Argyll never learnt to boil a kettle and never once made her own bed. Sample Page; ; The target of an impoverished duke, Margaret, Duchess of Argyll loved the company of men. [27] It was reprinted in 1995 by Pan Books, and in 2021, to coincide with the TV series A Very British Scandal, by Swift Press. And what were the infamous Polaroid photos that proved so contentious? Margaret would realize her new husband, who was said to be a gambling and alcohol addict, was broke. Crypto . [8], The Duchess never revealed the identity of the "headless man", and Fairbanks always denied the allegation. Having sunk much of her fortune into Inveraray, she was also broke. Most famous of said scandals was the infamous divorce case bought by Ian Douglas Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll. [She was] a passionate woman with her own morality, because anybody that doesnt give up their friends, that cuts a lot of ice with me.. The full depth of his cruelty comes as a shock, though. But then ensued the reality of high life being sometimes incompatible with real life. Fashion designers and socialites clamoured around the duchess. 'How many women do you have?,' Foy replies. The top was what I was supposed to be. [15] She dropped her case the day of the hearing due to lack of a witness, and later had to pay a judgment of 25,000 to her stepmother, who sued her for libel, slander, and conspiracy to suborn perjury. [1], Ethel Margaret Whigham was the only child of Helen Mann Hannay and George Hay Whigham. Claire Foy is shockingly good for this role, the heiress without purpose, because we are so used to seeing her as Queen Elizabeth in The Crown. He spent the entire war pretty much in a prisoner of war camp, a death camp. Margaret did not mention the episode in her 1975 memoirs, but she continued to adore Niven until the day he died. Like everybody, Id do anything to have it all over again. Margaret went through a whirlwind of suitors. Another quote gives an insight into her personality: "Always a poodle, only a poodle! Argyll decided he wanted to divorce Margaret, accusing her of infidelity and providing photographic evidence, in the form of Polaroids, of her engaged in sexual acts with a series of anonymous, headless men, which he had stolen from a locked bureau in their house in Mayfair, London. [11], Within a few years, the marriage was falling apart. Fairbanks Jr and Margaret both denied he was the Headless Man, but he was identified through his handwriting. The marriages meltdown was such a scorched-earth operation that Phelps says it could have easily carried an entire season of American Crime Story. Everybody knows what the photograph depicts. One of the . You do feel exploited when you are a woman and you are having to perform fake sex on screen. Margaret Campbell in 1972. The duchess and her daughter, Frances Sweeny, 1955. "All hell broke loose," remembered her family cook, Elizabeth Duckworth. The number allegedly included cabinet members, Hollywood actors, and members of the royal family. 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. Foy plays her in later life, both glamorous and sordid, in A Very British Scandal (BBC1). Despite having a daughter, Frances, and a son, Brian, together, the couples relationship broke down after 14 years, with Margaret claiming all Charlie wanted in a spouse was a pretty brainless doll and they divorced in 1947. By Ian Tyas/Keystone Features/Getty Images. The mystery man in the explicit photo became known as the 'headless man&# In 1930, as 17-year-old debutante Margaret Whigham entering London society, she was regarded as the most beautiful woman in England. The marriage did not last long before fractures began to form, and the duke, suspicious that his wife had been unfaithful, hired a locksmith to break into her private drawers while she was away in New York. [2] Still, she observed in her memoirs, "[W]e continued to see each other constantly."[2]. For four decades, the money cascaded into the Whigham account year after year. She fell in love at first sight with Prince Aly Khan; they got engaged but her parents refused to let her marry him because of his religion. In an age where aristocratic women were primarily simply required to be beautiful and wealthy, Margaret found herself with no shortage of suitors and was named debutante of the year in 1930. She was brave in the war and did not complain about falling 40 feet down a lift shaft when she went to visit her chiropodist on Bond Street. Buy now for 16.99 at books.telegraph.co.uk or call 0844 . He could have just given the judgment, I find in favor of the plaintiff. It took the judge more than three hours to read out his damning judgment at the end of one of the longest, most expensive and toxic divorce cases of the 20th century . Admirers lined the route from Hyde Park Corner to their wedding at Brompton Oratory in 1933 and traffic in Knightsbridge came to a halt for three hours; 2,000 invited guests were joined by 2,000 gatecrashers. As indisputable proof of the duchesss misadventure, however, the Polaroids were the clincher. She tried the Law Lords, [which] decided that Ian is perfectly within his right to use as evidence against his wife material that he burgled from her house. one of the most notorious, extraordinary and brutal legal cases of the 20th century. Not a serious thought in my head. With her fortune diminished, she opened her London house at 48 Upper Grosvenor Street, which had been decorated for her parents in 1935 by Syrie Maugham,[19] for paid tours. [28], The Duchess once told The New York Times: "I don't think anybody has real style or class any more. Her first husband concurred that she was never the same after this fall. [1] However, the wedding did not take place because she preferred Charles Francis Sweeny (1910-1993), an American businessman and amateur golfer from a wealthy Pennsylvania family. Home. You can't help but feel exploited. Blissful. Central to the case was a set of blurry Polaroid snaps taken via the bathroom mirror of the duchess's Mayfair apartment of her wearing nothing but her signature triple string of pearls. The only women who had glamorous lives were film stars, princesses or members of the aristocracy. She was briefly engaged to the Earl of Warwick, before marrying Charles Sweeny, a fellow wealthy American. 25 Feb/23. Read More: Is A Very British Scandal Based on a True Story? She was on the mailing list of every PR company since she was a duchess and it was known she would go to the opening of the proverbial envelope. I must have clutched at it, for it was later found that all my fingernails were torn off. After a teen dalliance with actor David Niven, she dated Pakistani diplomat Aly Khan, millionaire aviator Glen Kidston, publishing heir Max Aitken, and Prince George, Duke of Kent, before settling down for the first of two marriages. It seems Margarets nouveau riche status had always bothered Londons old-money scene, even as Margarets parents spent plenty of cash funding her societal risepaying over 40,000 pounds for her coming-out party. About Us; Staff; Camps; Scuba. Now there may be a showdown brewing over billions of dollars in kids fare. If you know a couple, one of whom is a bore, dont invite either of them, she advised. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. Foy plays the flamboyantly promiscuous Margaret, Duchess of Argyll who was branded a nymphomaniac by her husband Ian Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll (played by Paul Bettany) in their toxic. Vanity Fair may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. She was bad and childish in the way she tried to demonise others to get her own way but she holds an important place in social history. When American-raised heiress Margaret was 14, her father George would drive from their Ascot home to Eton, to round up good-looking boys for her tennis parties. Those scenes are filmed tastefully, or at least without too much emphasis on exploitation. A series of Polaroid photographs were used as evidence in the bitter and acrimonious divorce case between the Duke and Duchess of Argyll in 1963. According to The Grit in the Pearl, Ian and Margarets marriage spiraled into mutual infidelities. (One series) Women who had watched proceedings from the gallery wrote in support of Margaret. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. The Duke was known to be addicted to alcohol, gambling and prescription drugs, and was described as physically violent and emotionally abusive by his first two wives, whose money he tried to use to maintain Inveraray Castle. She cannot have spoilt herself. By the time her fall happens, there were plenty of people who were happy to facilitate that fall and make that fall a hell of a lot worse, says Phelps. Whilst there may well have been an attraction between them, Margarets money was a key factor in the decision to marry: the Dukes ancestral home, Inveraray Castle, was crumbling and badly needed an injection of cash. . 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. During the divorce proceedings, the Duke produced various incriminating letters and photographs, which he took from the Duchess's Mayfair home. Sex is all she is good for. [23], Margaret's children later placed her in a nursing home in Pimlico, London. As a young woman, her beauty was renowned in society and she was courted by princes and millionaires, welcoming playwright Noel Coward, actor Cary Grant and oil tycoon J Paul Getty, among others, to her Mayfair home. The photo, in which the man was only captured from the neck down, became knows as the 'headless man' Polaroid. had ceased to be satisfied with normal relations and had started to indulge in disgusting sexual activities. Historical Trips - Book your next historical adventure, 6 Secret Historic Gardens in the United Kingdom, Join Dan Snow for the Anniversary of the D-Day Landings, War of The Worlds: The Most Infamous Radio Broadcast in History, The King Revealed: 10 Fascinating Facts About Elvis Presley, 10 Facts About American Poet Robert Frost. It was speculated that this "headless man" was the Minister of Defence Duncan Sandys (later Lord Duncan-Sandys, son-in-law of Winston Churchill), who offered to resign from the cabinet. 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. Campbell expects his new duchess to underwrite the castle restorations, for the benefit of his sons with Oui-Oui. [21] In April 1988, on the evening after the Grand National, she appeared on a Channel 4 After Dark discussion about horse racing "so she said, to put the point of view of the horse", later walking out of the programme "because she was so very sleepy". The daughter of a textile millionaire, she dazzled with her beauty (green eyes, fair skin, red lipstick), devil-may-care social strategy (she double-booked men for the evening), and nouveau riche accoutrement (she was chauffeured to and from school in a Rolls-Royce, skied at St. Moritz, and wore gowns from Norman Hartnell). On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. He is still married, yet he has no qualms about asking her father (Richard McCabe) for her hand and a loan. She died aged 80 in 1993. Life was apparently roses all the way. But if there was one thing Margaret learned over the decades and her various scandals, it was that she could not and would not ever change. The evidence discovered resulted in the 1963 divorce case,[13] in which the Duke accused his wife of infidelity and included a set of Polaroid photographs of the Duchess naked, save for her signature three-strand pearl necklace, in the company of another man. As a divorce, she threw lavish parties whose success she attributed to the fact that she only invited beautiful women because she thought it restful for men to rest their gaze on them. The financial circumstances of this one-time society darling were now much reduced; she had moved into an apartment in Grosvenor House from where, every night, she would still set out to West End parties to gallery openings, book launches and celebratory dinners. American businessman John Cohane was names as another one of Margaret's lovers. 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 1963. Argyll forged a deed of sale before their marriage to gain him access to some of Margarets money. That word round-heel sums up the pious hypocrisy of the era. 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. 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