Oh, Peggy. She suffered neglect from her mother, as well as a teen pregnancy that could have ruined her long before she became an eligible debutante. Please submit feedback to contribute@factinate.com. Margaret, Duchess of Argyll. Best known for the explicit Polaroid . The mystery man in the explicit photo became known as the 'headless man' and his identity has been largely speculated. . As a testament to just how popular Margaret was during her day, one version of the Cole Porter song Youre the Top mentions her by nameat least by the name she had in her first marriage. The Duchess refused to reveal who the man is, leaving the press to speculate about his identity. Cracks in this life of leisure, however, quickly began to appear. 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. 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. The Duchess of Argyll spent a fortune restoring Inveraray Castle in western Scotland, now full of secret doors, ancient weapons and priceless artwork. The couple divorced in 1947, and she went on to become engaged again to Lehman Brothers banker Joseph Thomas, although they never married. During her marriage to Sweeney, she had three children, one who was a stillborn girl, as well as a son Brian and a daughter Frances (who went on to marry the Duke of Rutland), and she also suffered eight miscarriages. 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 learned the hard way that money cant buy you happinessbut she sure did try. (Image credit: BBC) In 1963 the Duke initiated divorce proceedings after discovering a selection of nude polaroid pictures of his wife upon breaking into a locked cupboard whilst she was away . To describe this series of Polaroids in any way decent enough to publish is a Herculean effort. As Margaret later related, I apparently fell on to my knees and cracked the back of my head against the wall. But in the months that followed, he truly exacted his pound of flesh. There is still much speculation about who exactly the headless man was, but some historians believe we can put the answer to bed. Following the scandal, he offered to resign from the cabinet but his resignation was declined. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material, visit our Syndication site. But according to Sweeny, the woman who returned was not the wife he had known before. Copyright 2023 by Factinate.com. found Polaroid photos of the duchess performing sex acts on a man whose face wasn't in the frame. After all, the Duchess had one enormous skeleton in her closet. 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 situation scandalised conservative British society, and the so-called Dirty Duchess never fully restored her reputation after being branded a nymphomaniac by the Duke. So when Margaret started staying out extra late and getting more distant, the Duke committed a creepy breach of trust. When the dust cleared, luck prevailed. The judge also called her a completely promiscuous woman whose sexual appetite could only be satisfied with a number of men. The most extensive damage, however, was somewhere no one could yet see. Socialite Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll, was the talk of Britain in 1963. . The Duke and Duchess of Argyll at their wedding in 1951 Credit: Getty. The new drama, starring Claire Foy and Paul Bettany as the Duke and Duchess of Argyll, looks at their relationship and high profile divorce, which accused Duchess of Argyll Margaret Campbell of having affairs with over 80 men. Unlike like her shocking accident in the elevator, this time Margaret was far too frail to survive. With their parents and chaperones otherwise occupied with their own vacation, the teenagers managed to find ample time to, er, explore their personal landscapes. At the end of her rope, she came up with a diabolical plan. "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. Famed for her charisma, beauty and style, the Duchess began spending time in London and New York without her husband and entertaining men including comedian Bob Hope and French singer Maurice Chevalier. 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Then again, right around this time, Margaret went off the deep end herself. 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. Instead, they humiliated her. Instead, she ran right towards him and her doom. In the early days of Margarets married life, she happily anticipated bouncing babies and domestic bliss. She was infamous among the high-society set before she even married the Duke of Argyllbut after their incredibly messy divorce, she became one of the most notorious women in England. Margaret Campbell, the famously beautiful Duchess of Argyll, had been a celebrity - and a source of scandal - from even before her debutante days. So when Wheatley eventually granted the divorce, he did it with biting cruelty, sneering that she was a completely promiscuous woman and wholly immoral in his final judgment. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. With this, the flood gates openedbut Margaret had her own stunning revelation waiting in the wings. 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. forever 'the Dirty Duchess' in the eyes of the public . As she walked back down the aisle with her new husband, it may have seemed that Margaret was off toward happily ever after. "The dates matched too as Margaret was in New York in 1947 and 1948 and Polaroid brought out . The Duke of Argyll had always been suspicious that his wife had a roaming eyespoiler: he wasnt wrongbut hed never quite been able to prove it. 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 . Well, guess what? The Duke and Duchess of Argyll's infamous 1963 divorce captured the public's attention with its twists and scandalous revelations. "She. But further investigations only proved more incriminating for Margaret. The Duchess refused to reveal who the man is, leaving the press to speculate about his identity. The Duke and Duchess of Argyll were so high-society that any split between them was going to be a matter of public interest. Thats when she crossed a line she could never come back from. He had been flying through a dust storm when his entire plane broke apart beneath him, sending him to his end. . She told her parents all about her romp with Niven, as well as the scandalous results. Within just a few months of marrying the Duke of Argyll, Margaret had already realized shed made a mistake. On our left in the image atop, is the Duchess of Argyll, Margaret Campbell. Rural population was 822858 (72.88%) and urban population was 306157 (27.12%). The photos were part of a lawsuit filed by the Duke against the duchess as part of a divorce proceedings, and a list of 88 men accused of having sex with her in the backyard. Her father, in particular, was beside himself with rage. Instead, Margaret had become erratic and impulsive with, most alarmingly, nymphomaniac tendencies. 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 . It was a (failed) ploy to safeguard her own powerbut if you think that Margaret stopped there, youre extremely wrong. When she was in her late 20s, Margaret was visiting her doctor on Bond Street when she fell a whopping 40 feet down an elevator shaft in a freak accident. 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. He had much darker ones, too. Margaret's rumoured affair with the ex-press officer at the Savoy was named as one of the key affairs in the divorce proceedings. A POLAROID picture was one of the key pieces of evidence in the scandalous divorce of the Duke and Duchess of Argyll. One rumour suggests it was the former Minister of Defence, Duncan Sandys (who later became the son-in-law of Winston Churchill). 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. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. 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. a self-confessed wolf. He has been granted day-release. 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. 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 actually used her upcoming nuptials to cause even more drama. The case soon became a tabloid sensation, with Margaret dubbed the dirty duchess and the identity of the headless man in the Polaroid pictures being widely speculated on (Sir Winston Churchill's son-in-law, Duncan Sandys, was one of them, as it was reported only the Minister of Defence had access to a Polaroid camera). dirty celebrity royals You probably know all about the Duchess of Argyll, but I didn't. . 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 . 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. On brand for a high-class woman, and Margaret even quipped she was there to, put the point of view of the horse. 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. Another, racier Polaroid, showing the Duchess pleasuring a man, was also produced. Around this time, Margarets behavior behind the scenes sent tongues wagging. 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. . As one maid who worked for the family put it, all hell broke loose at that point. 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. Her second husband - and the subject of the BBC's A Very British Scandal - was Ian Douglas Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll. But behind the scenes, she was already living a horror story. The answer they narrowed it down to nearly broke the country. Frustratingly enoughand key to everything that followedthe mens heads were often out of frame, making them impossible to identify. The movie star was named as Margarets lover, one of the 88 men on the list that the Duke produced in court. Margarets reaction to all this, however, wasnt what you might expect. Instead of going for either Greville or Aiken, she dumped them both and went with another man entirely: The businessman and avid golfer Charles Sweeny. But dont take this to mean Margaret was settling down. New BBC mini series A Very British Scandal stars The Crown's Claire Foy and Marvel actor Paul Bettany as Margaret and Ian Campbell, the Duke and Duchess of Argyll, Sign up for the Daily Star TV newsletter for the biggest TV news. Because Margarets private stash of photos was now public evidence, newspapers of the day got a full view of the single most infamous snap in Margarets collection: One where she was kneeling down in front of a headless man. "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. She is remembered as a nymphomaniac socialite who disgraced the Establishment when her diaries and sexually explicit Polaroids were . 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 . 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. ; nyexaminerad lnespecialist ln; kallades en flygare webbkryss; lud zbunjen normalan 9; bands with moon in the name Both of them, though, show her wearing her iconic three-string pearls, jewellery that she had inherited from her grandmother. During one of her absences, the Duke broke into a locked cupboard and found her collection of pornographic photographs. Want to tell us to write facts on a topic? He had Margarets car wiretapped so he could know where she was at all times. 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. In 1963, a judge dissolved the marriage of the aristocratic Duke and Duchess of Argyll, condemning the latter as a promiscuous woman with a "debased sexual appetite." For Margarets secrets, it was the apocalypse. 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. Duchess of Argyll divorce: What was the headless man Polaroid picture? 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. After all, some of the photographs depicted intensely intimate positions, with Margaret completely undressed. Still, that wasnt quite enough for him. She said: "There have been rumours over the years about who he was. had ceased to be satisfied with normal relations and had started to indulge in disgusting sexual activities. Opposition parties tore into the ruling ANC's 'energy plans' [imagesource: Staffan Widstrand / World Nature Photography Awards] I let my sugar babies go through my dead wife's wardrobe - they love it and I find the experience 'therapeutic'. Jane Beadon (stepmother) Ethel Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll ( ne Whigham, formerly Sweeny; 1 December 1912 - 25 July 1993) was a Scottish heiress, socialite, and aristocrat who was most famous for her 1951 marriage and much-publicised 1963 divorce from her second husband, Ian Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll. While the documentary suggested that both Duncan Sandys and Douglas Fairbank Jr could both possibly be the 'headless man', other sources have also speculated over the man's identity. The divorce case gripped the nation and became major tabloid fodder, especially as the private photographs became admissible as court reporting. Thanks for your help! 1928 was a terrifying time to be an unwed mother, so Margaret took drastic action. And then he got cold, cruel revenge. 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. Actually, thats putting it kindly. Indeed, she was usually performing acts on men who were not the Duke of Argyll. 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. While in the nursing home bathroom one day, Margaret had a severe fall that broke her neck. Were always looking for your input! On the surface, it looked like she was on top of the world. ", 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. When we do, we depend on our loyal, helpful readers to point out how we can do better. So when the press got wind of the truly sordid details of the case, all bets were off. The headless man was notorious because he appeared in two Polaroid photographs that had featured as evidence in . 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. Amazon has even produced a series in 2022, A Very British Scandal, based on her electrifying court battle with her husbandin it, Claire Foy plays Margaret, while Paul Bettany plays Ian Campbell, the Duke of Argyll. Royal Family's thoughts . But there was more hope to lose. The photo, in which the man was only captured from the neck down, became knows as the 'headless man' Polaroid. For what its worth, yes, Margaret was very aware of the homage to her and mentioned it in her memoirs. Margaret Campbell Duchess of Argyll. . Credit Solution Experts Incorporated offers quality business credit building services, which includes an easy step-by-step system designed for helping clients build their business credit effortlessly. The case soon became a tabloid sensation, with Margaret dubbed the 'dirty duchess' and the identity of the 'headless man' in the Polaroid pictures being widely speculated on (Sir Winston Churchill's son-in-law, Duncan Sandys, was one of them, as it was reported only the Minister of Defence had access to a Polaroid camera). The legacy of Margaret, Duchess of Argyll is tainted by scandal. Something went wrong, please try again later. She looked the woman up and down then drawled, Its not that sort of party. Inside, he discovered a cache of evidence of her infidelities, including Polaroid pictures of her with another man. Friends claimed that, of all the people in her life except family, Margaret only trusted her pets. Making distraction rewarding since 2017. In 2000, a Channel 4 documentary sought to discover who the man really was, with two names in particular raised as possible candidates. The best revenge might be living well, but that doesn't mean we can always turn the other cheek. 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. Thing is, that wasnt even the most scandalous part. . She began appearing on television programs, making a cameo appearance on the talk show After Dark to discuss the Grand National horse race. Another, more salacious Polaroid released in 1963 proves quite the contrary. There's something about the family structure that encourages secrets. Marrying Ian Campbell was like signing a deal with the Devil, and the Duke made sure Margaret knew it before the ink on their marriage contract was even dry. Starting in the late 1950s, the Duke of Argyll had enough of waiting for his wife to get home. But none of her liaisons stuck until she met Ian Douglas Campbell, the 11th Duke of Argyll, who was allegedly bewitched by her and according to some of the harsher critics of their union the money she brought to the marriage. She died aged 80 in 1993. But, no. Both of them, though, show her wearing her iconic three-string pearls, jewellery that she had inherited from her grandmother. Although Catherine's successor Queen Anne Boleyn suffered an infamously dark fate, Aragon's own life was somehow even more tragic. In their efforts to guess at the man, they dug up even more dirt on the duchess. And once she was finally free, Margaret let loose. The Dirty Duchess of Argyll was ahead of her time. "The dates matched too as Margaret was in New York in 1947 and 1948 and Polaroid brought out their first camera in 1948.". The star of The Crown plays one of Britain's most scandalous aristocrats - Margaret Campbell, the so-called "Dirty Duchess". 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. That, and three strands of pearls! Margaret had only grown more beautiful as the years passed, and when she made her debut she was almost too gorgeous to look at. 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 . Yet the wedding was not to be, as she was soon swept off her feet by the wealthy American, Charles Sweeney, who instead became her first husband. Joe Thomas was a New York stockbroker who Margaret was reported to have fallen in love with after the breakdown of her first marriage to Charles Sweeney, and it is claimed that he might be the man in the famous Polaroid photo. We want our readers to trust us. She never did shake off the "Dirty Duchess'" nickname, though. By the time Margaret was 15 years old, she was an undeniable stunner. The first episode of A Very British Scandal took viewers by surprise as they watched The Crown's Claire Foy enjoy three sex scenes in the first 30 minutes of the first episode - with two different . 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 . 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.
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