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John Profumo MP in 1962

The Profumo Affair was a political scandal from 1963 in the United Kingdom that is named after the then-Secretary of State for War, John Profumo. The Profumo Affair developed after Profumo had a brief relationship with a showgirl named Christine Keeler and then lied in the House of Commons when he was questioned about it. The scandal forced Profumo to resign and severely damaged the reputation of Prime Minister Harold MacMillan's government. MacMillan himself would resign a few months later due to ill-health.

In the early 1960s Profumo was the Secretary of State for War, a respected, high-ranking position in Harold Macmillan's Conservative government, and was married to actress Valerie Hobson. In 1961 Profumo met Christine Keeler, a London showgirl, at a house party at Cliveden, the Buckinghamshire mansion owned by Lord Astor. (Many years later he would claim, in discussion with his son, David, that he had met Keeler previously at a night club in London called Murray's and "probably had a drink with her".^[1]) The Cliveden party had been organized by the fashionable osteopath, Dr Stephen Ward. Profumo's wife was among those present. The relationship with Keeler lasted only a few weeks before Profumo ended it. However, rumours about the affair became public in 1962, as did the fact that Keeler had also had a relationship with Yevgeny "Eugene" Ivanov, a senior naval attaché at the Soviet embassy in London. With Profumo's position in the government and with the Cold War in full swing at the time, the potential effect on national security was severe and this, along with the adulterous nature of the relationship, quickly elevated the affair into a public scandal.

Christine Keeler - the iconic Lewis Morley image, taken in May 1963, became an instant national talking point when a stolen copy was published by the Sunday Mirror, adding yet more fuel to the fire under Profumo. As the scandal intensified, it was endlessly republished.^[2]

In March 1963, Profumo stated to the House of Commons that there was "no impropriety whatever" in his relationship with Keeler and that he would issue writs for libel and slander if the allegations were repeated outside the House.1 (Within the House, such allegations are protected by parliamentary privilege.) However, in June, Profumo confessed that he had misled the House and lied in his testimony and on June 5, he resigned his cabinet position, as well as his Privy Council and parliamentary membership. Lord Denning released the government's official report on September 25, 1963 and one month later, Prime Minister Harold Macmillan resigned on the grounds of ill-health, which had apparently been exacerbated by the scandal. He was replaced by the Foreign Secretary, the Earl of Home, who renounced his title to become Sir Alec Douglas-Home.

Stephen Ward was prosecuted for living on the immoral earnings of prostitution and he committed suicide in August. Keeler was found guilty on unrelated perjury charges and she was sentenced to nine months in prison. Profumo died on March 9, 2006.

Some of the events of the Profumo Affair are depicted in the 1989 film Scandal, starring John Hurt, Joanne Whalley, Bridget Fonda, and Leslie Phillips.

The affair is central to the hit song, Nothing Has Been Proved, performed by Dusty Springfield, and written by Pet Shop Boys. It is also referenced in the Billy Joel song We Didn't Start the Fire with the line "British politician sex."

• Mandy Rice-Davies
• Christine Keeler
• John Profumo
• Stephen Ward

• Official page for 'A Model Girl' musical
• You Tube video of Dusty Springfield singing "Nothing has Been Proved"

• Alan Cowell (March 10, 2006). "John Profumo, British Minister Ruined by Sex Scandal, Dies". New York Times.
• Derek Brown (April 10, 2001). "1963: The Profumo scandal". Manchester Guardian.
• Tim Coates, Ed. (2001). "1963: John Profumo and Christine Keeler". Stationery Office Books.
• BBC (June 5, 1963). "Profumo resigns over sex scandal". British Broadcasting Corporation.
• Lewis Morley (1963). "Christine Keeler astride a copy of an Arne Jacobsen chair". Victoria and Albert Museum.