BBC One's follow up to the 2018 A Very English Scandal . To say this was opening a Pandoras box would be an understatement. 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. Ian owed a lot of money due to his own gambling addiction and he calculated that Margaret's father might help him out financially. Orca Spotted Caring For Baby Pilot Whale. In the 1930s, the Duchess was one of the most photographed women in the world and a style icon for millions; by the 1960s she had gained notoriety and the moniker "the Dirty Duchess" through a series of high-profile marriages, divorces, infidelities, sexual escapades, and extravagant living habits. Margaret had only grown more beautiful as the years passed, and when she made her debut she was almost too gorgeous to look at. He was a notorious drinker and gambler, and was hooked on prescription medications to boot. The mystery man in the explicit photo became known as the 'headless man&# Copyright 2023 by Factinate.com. 1928 was a terrifying time to be an unwed mother, so Margaret took drastic action. 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. There is still much speculation about who exactly the headless man was, but some historians believe we can put the answer to bed. She passed on July 25, 1993. In short, Margaret should have run away. A decline that would end in a shocking incident. We want our readers to trust us. Still, Margaret dove in headfirst anyway, solidifying her reputation as something of a Helen of Troy. Somehow, Margaret simply couldnt make her bank account match her extravagant tastes, and she eventually had to move out of her notorious home, swapping it first for the Grosvenor House Hotel and then, at the urging of her children and her first husband Charles Sweeny, a meager apartment building. The Duke and Duchess of Argyll were so high-society that any split between them was going to be a matter of public interest. 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. 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. She is remembered as a nymphomaniac socialite who disgraced the Establishment when her diaries and sexually explicit Polaroids were . 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. She got supremely unlucky and, months later, discovered her pregnancy. 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. She began appearing on television programs, making a cameo appearance on the talk show After Dark to discuss the Grand National horse race. Margarets dignity took a hit in her later years, but her personality seemed to curdle as well. 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. During the divorce process, the Duke produced a Polaroid photograph of the Duchess performing a sexual act on another unidentified man - nicknamed "the headless man" - that he had found . She died aged 80 in 1993. On 22 March 1951, Margaret, 38 at the time, married Ian Douglas Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll. Following the scandal, he offered to resign from the cabinet but his resignation was declined. She was 35. Clearly, her second marriage was in deep troublebut no one had any idea what was really around the corner. Phelps hopes her new screen version of the court battle between the 11th Duke of Argyll and his supposedly unstable, "Dirty Duchess" will do something to restore the reputation of his wife, played by Foy. She also almost died during a horrific accident while visiting her chiropodist, in which she fell down a lift shaft. After discovering explicit Polaroid photos, the Duke used these as evidence in the court case, including one that showed the Duchess wearing nothing but a string of pearls, standing next to a naked man whose head had been cut out of the photo. She looks like a family woman, sitting alongside her husband, the Duke of Argyll and children, but thats only one picture. Oh, Peggy. A POLAROID picture was one of the key pieces of evidence in the scandalous divorce of the Duke and Duchess of Argyll. All Rights Reserved. The one surprising thing you're doing wrong when brushing your hair - and it's all about the time you comb it, A very surprising baby name has risen hugely in popularity - and we bet your nan has a friend called this. 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. The movie star was named as Margarets lover, one of the 88 men on the list that the Duke produced in court. because the Ministry of Defence had the only Polaroid camera in Britain at the time. Margaret Campbell Duchess of Argyll. One of the men accused of being one of Margaret's lovers, and named on a list that the Duke of Argyll produced in court, was the Hollywood actor Douglas Fairbank Jr. Another, racier Polaroid, showing the Duchess pleasuring a man, was also produced. Campbell even had a crumbling abode, Inveraray Castle, to match his moodiness. While Margaret may have been less than a perfect wife, she later blamed the split on Sweenys controlling nature. The 2000 documentary by Channel 4 named Secret History: The Duchess and the Headless Man, pointed to two men (one in the 'headless' polaroid and another in a similar snap where a sex act was . Yet far from empathy, this led her to acts of cruelty; a maid of hers once said she treated her dogs better than she did her staff. Born on 1 December 1912, Margaret Whigham was the only daughter of a Scottish businessman and millionaire, George Hay Whigham and his wife, Helen Mann Hannay. And then he got cold, cruel revenge. The photograph had been revealed by her then-husband, the 11th Duke of Argyll, as evidence of her adultery and sexual nature, reports The Telegraph. As Margaret later related, I apparently fell on to my knees and cracked the back of my head against the wall. Accordingly, they packed her up and sent her to a London nursing home, where attendants performed a very hush-hush operation to terminate. There was also a polaroid of a man pleasuring himself, again headless. During the divorce proceedings, the Duke produced various incriminating letters and photographs, which he took from the Duchess's Mayfair home. She became a life-long patron of the designer, as well as Victor Stiebel and Angle Delanghe. While in the nursing home bathroom one day, Margaret had a severe fall that broke her neck. Making distraction rewarding since 2017. She looked the woman up and down then drawled, Its not that sort of party. Margarets family was eminently respectable, and they couldnt have a single whiff of their daughters so-called disgrace getting out. a self-confessed wolf. 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Even so, it paid off in a big way. He has been granted day-release. Another, more salacious Polaroid released in 1963 proves quite the contrary. And when she did finally become pregnant for more than a handful of months, it somehow got worse. Historys most fascinating stories and darkest secrets, delivered to your inbox daily. But behind the scenes, she was already living a horror story. 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 . When it comes to British scandals, theres no better place to start than the Dirty Duchess, Margaret Campbell. 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. As she put it, All Charlie wanted in a wife was a pretty, brainless doll. Until, that is, it blew up in her face. It has been put on the market by its current Saudi Arabian owners, Teacher sacked for her raunchy online snaps launches own escort and dating service, EXCLUSIVE: Sarah Juree was fired from teaching after her adult content was exposed but now pursues OnlyFans full-time. As the lyrics go: Youre Mussolini / Youre Mrs Sweeny. An inquiry has confirmed screen idol Douglas Fairbanks Jnr was the man seen with the duchess in an infamous series of four, sexually-explicit photos. . But there were disturbing indications of what really happened. For other inquiries, Contact Us. 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. Please submit feedback to contribute@factinate.com. Margaret was utterly devastatedbut she didnt deal with her grief in the best of ways. Then, looking at the cushion, And its not that sort of cushion. "The dates matched too as Margaret was in New York in 1947 and 1948 and Polaroid brought out their first camera in 1948.". Although the couple's personal relationship had ended long before the divorce, The Duke of Argyll was furious at the numerous affairs Margaret had during their marriage. Want to tell us to write facts on a topic? Fairbanks Jr and Margaret both denied he was the Headless Man, but he was identified through his handwriting. The couple divorced in 1947, and she went on to become engaged again to Lehman Brothers banker Joseph Thomas, although they never married. Duchess of Argyll divorce: What was the headless man Polaroid picture? The movie star was named as Margarets lover, one of the 88 men on the list that the Duke produced in court.