Getty<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll (born Margaret Whigham)\u00a0was a socialite and heiress, the only child of a\u00a0Scottish millionaire who made his fortune in synthetic fabrics.<\/p>\n
In 1930, Margaret was named \u201cdebutante of the year\u201d when she debuted in London society at the age of 17, before marrying American businessman Charles Sweeny three years later (she would later claim that her wedding dress, which featured a 28-foot train, was the inspiration behind Princess Elizabeth\u2019s own wedding dress). The couple had three children.<\/p>\n
The Sweenys divorced in 1947, and several years later Margaret married Ian Douglas Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll, on 22nd March 1951, becoming his third wife.<\/p>\n
However, the marriage proved an unhappy one, with alleged infidelities on both sides. When the Duchess visited New York, he reportedly hired a private detective to masquerade as her chauffeur. Additionally, he hired a locksmith to break into a locked cupboard at their Mayfair house, and the cupboard\u2019s contents would become the subject of the divorce case.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a press event attended by RadioTimes.com<\/a>, Claire Foy said: \u201cI think what\u2019s interesting about the end of their relationship is it plays out in the public domain. The end of their relationship is not those two in a room being able to look each other in the eye and go, \u2018At one point we loved each other. What happened?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just messy and so underhand and cruel, and the only way she could reach him was via the newspapers, and that\u2019s how they basically communicated, it felt like.\u201d<\/p>\n
What happened during the divorce of the Duke and Duchess of Argyll?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
$\""A\"$ <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
BBC \/ Blueprint Pictures<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
In 1963, the divorce between the 11th Duke and Duchess of Argyll made headlines across the globe after Ian Douglas Campbell accused his wife Margaret of having affairs with 88 different men.<\/p>\n
The key evidence provided at the March 1963 trial was a set of Polaroid photographs \u2013 obtained without Margaret\u2019s consent \u2013 which showed her naked (except for, famously, a pearl necklace) and performing fellatio on an unidentifiable man whose head was cut off by the camera: the \u201cheadless man\u201d, as the press dubbed him.<\/p>\n
(In order to prove that he was not in fact the headless man himself, the Duke apparently visited a doctor to prove his \u201clesser dimensions\u201d than the man in the photograph.)<\/p>\n
In the press, Margaret was slut-shamed, and became known variously as the \u201cDirty Duchess\u201d, the \u201cFellatio Duchess\u201d, and \u201cThe Blowjob Duchess\u201d.<\/p>\n
In addition to the photographs, the Duke provided a list of the 88 men who the Duchess had allegedly been unfaithful with. She refused to challenge the list (some of the men apparently listed were gay, at a time when homosexuality was still illegal, and Margaret refused to out her friends and endanger them).<\/p>\n
The judge who presided over the divorce trial concluded that Margaret was a \u201ccompletely promiscuous woman whose sexual appetite could only be satisfied with a number of men\u201d, and that her \u201cattitude to the sanctity of marriage was what moderns would call \u2018enlightened\u2019 but which in plain language was wholly immoral\u201d.<\/p>\n
Who was the \u201cheadless man\u201d?<\/strong><\/h2>\n $\""A\"$ <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n
Margaret never identified \u201cthe headless man\u201d pictured in the cache of Polaroids, but his true identity was a source of endless speculation in the press.<\/p>\n
On 20th June 1963, Duncan Sandys \u2013 the then-Minister of Defence and son-in-law of Winston Churchill \u2013 admitted during a cabinet meeting that he was rumoured to be the \u201cheadless man\u201d.<\/p>\n
He offered to hand in his resignation, but was persuaded not to. The cache of photographs later became the subject of a government investigation.<\/p>\n
Decades later, Channel 4 documentary Secret History: The Duchess and the Headless Man claimed that the \u201cheadless man\u201d from the four photographs was in fact two separate men: Sandys, and Douglas Fairbanks Jr, the Hollywood actor.<\/p>\n
A Very British Scandal will premiere at 9pm on Boxing Day on BBC One, with all three episodes available as a boxset on BBC iPlayer from that time. The series also continues across the following two nights on BBC One.<\/strong>\n
While you wait, take a look at our other\u00a0Drama<\/a>\u00a0coverage, or find out what else to watch with our\u00a0 TV Guide<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n
This year\u2019s\u00a0Radio Times Christmas double issue<\/a>\u00a0is on sale now, featuring two weeks of TV, film and radio listings, reviews, features and interviews with the stars.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/section><\/body><\/html>\n
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