The late Prince Philip cheated on his wife all the time. But it was a different time. I’m not making excuses or anything, but it was truly a different time and QEII and Philip had an arrangement. I don’t doubt that they loved each other dearly, but they had different interests and they found stimulation in completely different ways. Philip was a very curious man and he liked to meet all kinds of different people. Back in the 1960s, he hung out with all kinds of seedy types, aristocrats, drug dealers, artists, bohemians, and politicians. This was featured on The Crown as well – there were definitely questions, at the time, about whether Philip had been intimately involved in what was known as the Profumo Affair. Christine Keeler, John Profumo, sex parties, hookers, scandals, etc. There was a ton of overlap between Philip’s circle of friends and the Profumo Affair participants. Well, now the Mail says that the FBI was even aware of Philip’s alleged connections to some of those people.
His role in one of the most notorious scandals of the 20th century has long been a source of speculation. Now the Mail on Sunday can reveal that Prince Philip was named in top-secret FBI documents about the Profumo affair in the early 1960s. The papers show the FBI had been told the Duke of Edinburgh was personally ‘involved’ with Christine Keeler and Mandy Rice-Davies, the two women at the centre of the sex scandal that brought down the government.
Files from the US Department of Justice show the crucial memo was written by J Edgar Hoover, then director of the FBI – and it can be revealed after a five-year quest by the MoS seeking relevant documents under American freedom of information laws.
At the heart of the scandal was the married secretary of state for war John Profumo, who had denied in the Commons in March 1963 that he had a sexual relationship with teenage showgirl Keeler. He was forced to resign months later when proof of the affair became public. The scandal had national security implications because Keeler was also sleeping with Russian military attache Yevgeny Ivanov.
In the fallout, well-connected osteopath Stephen Ward, who had introduced Keeler to Profumo at a party, was charged with living off the immoral earnings of Keeler and her friend Rice-Davies. He took a fatal overdose and died three days after he was convicted.
In the newly disclosed document, Thomas Corbally, a US businessman involved in industrial espionage, who agreed to be interviewed by the FBI about his friendship with Ward, makes the claim about Philip. A cable sent by Hoover to the US embassy in London on June 20, 1963 reads: ‘Corbally also stated there was a rumour Prince Philip may have been involved with these two girls.’
Philip’s links to the Profumo affair formed a key storyline in the Netflix series The Crown. Sir Anthony Blunt, the Queen’s curator of art later disclosed to be a Soviety spy, warns Philip that he will expose his relationship with Ward when the Duke tackles him over his treachery. In his evidence to the FBI, Corbally said he did not believe the charges against Ward.
Is this even a low-stakes conspiracy at this point, given that Philip has passed? Like, he was absolutely involved with that whole circle. He knew Stephen Ward and I’m sure Philip had partied with Christine Keeler and everyone else in that group. The scandal, to me, is that it was all so thoroughly hushed up, and that Ward mysteriously and conveniently died when he did. The coverup is what implies Philip’s deeper involvement. As do some other stories.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, IMAGO/United Archives / WHA / Avalon, UPPA/Photoshot / Avalon, John Shelley Collection / Avalon, STARSTOCK/Photoshot / Avalon.
- Royal Children with their ponies. Queen Elizabeth, Duke of Edinburgh and their children Prince Charles and Princess Anne exercise their ponies in the grounds of Balmoral. Prince Charles holds William and Princess Anne holds Greensleeves 14th September 1955,Image: 503045811, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Topfoto Archive / Avalon
- Christine Keeler.,Image: 503895229, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: STARSTOCK/Photoshot / Avalon
- The Duke of Edinburgh sports lapel badges during his tour of the Olympic Village, Helsinki, Finland 28th July 1952,Image: 504238761, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: UPPA/Photoshot / Avalon
- Princess Elizabeth after marrying Philip, 20th November 1947. On the balcony at Buckingham Palace. Later to become Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. Date: 20.11.1947.,Image: 505583641, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Royalty / Avalon
- Queen Elizabeth II Archive John Shelley Collection Sri Lanka Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh,Image: 534805064, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Photoshot – sales@photoshot.com London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: John Shelley Collection / Avalon
- Princess Elizabeth Later Queen Elizabeth II and The Duke of Edinburgh visit Paris, 1948, Copyright: xUnitedxArchivesx/xWorldxHistoryxArchivex WHA_094_0044 ACHTUNG AUFNAHMEDATUM GESCHÄTZT,Image: 844945682, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: imago is entitled to issue a simple usage license at the time of provision. Personality and trademark rights as well as copyright laws regarding art-works shown must be observed. Commercial use at your own risk., Model Release: no, Credit line: IMAGO/United Archives / WHA / Avalon
It’s the “well, duh” piece of news of the week.
Right? I’m pretty sure Peter Morgan didn’t make up that storyline out of thin air…he probably received quite the thorough briefing off the record…
Prince Philip, known philanderer. What I really want to see are his UFO archives.
@Megan
You and me both. Apparently he was quite curious and involved with UFO research. I had heard years back that he had an extensive library regarding the phenomenon.
Wasn’t it well known that Philip, not unlike JFK, never met a skirt he didn’t want to bang?
QE2 did her touch and go, too… especially in the Commonwealths.
That’s all I’m going to say.
Nooooo…all the tea, please!
Like father like son?
That family is rotten from the very top to the bottom.
Exactly what I was going to say..also it’s suspicious that people always die very conveniently when the Royal perversions are at risk of being exposed🤨.. makes you wonder if their own children are/were protected from these people that have been so welcomed by the BRF.
Prince Phillip has been described in several family member biographies as being connected to MI5/MI6 and in charge of ‘handling’ any problems presenting the royal family. Whoever holds any power, uses it!
They joke amongst themselves about the Pervy sickness of their Royal ancestors to justify what they do today.
I had NO IDEA that Wallace Simpson and that escaped King were so awful. It’s like they can’t escape drowning in the evil around them so they join them.
This guy who went rags to riches did a Vogue interview once saying when he got rich he eventually came to the honest realization that all rich people are morally corrupt and he did not want to be like them hence creating his struggle with being rich and always being surrounded by pure evil.
Guess it’s true money is power and both belong in the hands of everyone or no one.
Ahhhhh, that’s what we’ve got going here. Can’t/won’t write about William? Go after the dead guy, who can’t speak up for himself.
Oops, I guess ‘like father, like son’ refers to Andrew, but he’s irrelevant; covering up William’s peccadilloes gets more energy.
Ha. Fair enough. Like father like…sons and grandsons…
So the Andrew apple didn’t fall far from the tree?
and here there were people who still believed that Andy was Porchie’s sprog…
I mean they had an arrangement, because what else? QE2 was gonna divorce his cheating ass? Even when you are the Queen, the monarchy is for men to enjoy and its power for men to abuse. Even for last years of his life, he had a much younger “companion” that took care of him.
Well, there have also been rumors about QEII and Porchy(?) and Andrew parentage. I think QEII was a straight arrow but the women can play around as much as the men if they want, looking at Princess Margaret.
Baseless rumours. Andrew was conceived after Philip came home from 6 months at sea on naval missions. Porchie was a dear and trustworthy friend of the Queen’s for decades but he did NOT father Andrew.
Call me old fashion, but I simply don’t buy the “different times” excuse for infidelity. On the one hand, they want to exclaim that we are more libertine today, but yet they got away with all kinds of mischief back in the day. If Phillip’s behavior can be excused, because “different times”, no wonder Andrew felt his relationship with Epstein was no problem. BTW, isn’t that the same excuse Harvey Weinstein adopted? No wonder the tabloids and some in the public have such a hard time accepting Harry’s fidelity to Meghan. Royal men are supposed to have “arrangements” with their wives, you know, separate bedrooms, and even separate homes.
I think what is meant by different times is that she was not going to divorce him. They had an arrangement. For the good of the monarchy Elizabeth had to be scandal free as much as possible.
Different times is valid. Look at King Edward abdicating to marry a divorcee and Charles divorcing Diana and marrying his long time mistress, by the time of the marriage both were divorcees’. Elizabeth did what she wanted, she was a strait arrow and didn’t want a divorce, but I have no doubt that if she wanted one she would have found a way to divorce.
Love how the Mail refers to her as “teenage show girl” instead of human trafficking victim… 🙄
Yeah, this girl had no agency.
The FBI “heard”. No proof then. I “hear” lots of things as well but only believe when I have proof.
Hoover saw conspiracies everywhere. He’s not the most reliable narrator.
That struck me, as well. J Edgar is the guy who went after Elvis. And John Lennon! And spent his entire adult life hating himself & his sexuality.
Well if you look at it….their lives are super boring. Especially for a man like Philip. It had to be miserable to go from being a soldier to a house husband. He was looking for something “exciting” to do. But it does answer the question of why they seem to support Andy…… Its a family tradition… Apparently.
People always want to throw a pity party for Phillip because he had to give up his naval career when Elizabeth became queen. Maybe it was earlier than he anticipated, but he should have known when they married what the deal was. He was a dog.
The Philip/Ward/Profumo story was by far my favorite episode of The Crown. I do wonder why the Fail is putting this out now, because I haven’t seen much of this elsewhere. I like to think something about this is why no one can see Philip’s will for 100 years.
Prince Phillip barely bothered to conceal his conquests but I don’t think Elizabeth was pining for him.
Her relationship with Porchy makes me believe she was pursuing her own interests as well, but had to be more discreet as a woman.
It’s the hypocrisy that is so objectionable. The royals pretend for the public and the cameras that they are the very model of propriety. When an interloper does something that doesn’t accord with the royal view of protocol, then they throw a fit. I’ve got a busy day ahead of me, so I don’t have eight hours to spend listing examples.
When one of their OWN goes off-script, does something illegal, unethical or improper, well that’s a private matter, and everyone should just shut up and move along because there’s nothing to see.
Betty Windsor was the biggest hypocrite of them all, but Phil Battenburg was a close second.
Why is the DF (MoS) FOIA-ing the DOJ about Prince Philip???? Did they give up on Harry & his Visa application?
I was in 6th or 7th grade when the scandal broke out. I followed the coverage in the pictorial Life magazine with its pictures of Christine keeler Mandy rice Davis, John Profumo and Stephen Ward. Years later the movie Scandal depicted the whole affair. Bridget Fonda has a very funny scene as Mandy rice Davis. Profumo did charity work there after and received a CBE from Queen Elizabeth. Ward presumably died by suicide and Keeler serve time in prison for perjury. Yep all tied up with a bow