Profumo sex scandal icon Christine Keeler could finally get justice 60 years on
Christine Keeler’s son last night said he believes justice for his mum is finally in sight, as the 60th anniversary of her being jailed for lying in court approaches.
Seymour Platt hopes it could be just weeks before the Criminal Case Review Commission refers her conviction to the Court of Appeal, after a long battle. The 51-year-old said a 200-page dossier will overturn the conviction and she will be posthumously cleared.
Christine, who died in 2017 aged 75, was 19 when she had an affair with war minister John Profumo and helped topple the Tory Government in the most infamous political sex scandal ever. Christine was jailed for nine months in December 1963 in an unrelated court case, but her family claim the conviction was designed to discredit her over the Profumo scandal.
Christine Keeler was at the centre of the Profumo affair (Getty Images)Christine had been attacked by stalker Aloysius “Lucky” Gordon in April that year. But he successfully appealed after it was found she had told jurors two witnesses to the assault were not there. Seymour’s legal team, led by -world-renowned human rights barrister Felicity Gerry, insist the lie was irrelevant as Gordon’s trial had been told “there was no doubt the assault took place” and Christine lived her life in fear of him.
She had also allegedly been put under pressure by the two witnesses, who later admitted they had seen the attack. Seymour, who has vowed to clear Christine’s name, said: “It’s wrong that she went to prison, she was exploited and abused by powerful men. I want to fulfil a promise to tell the truth about her life.”
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Seymour Platt (S Meddle/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)After her affair with Profumo and Soviet attache Yevgeny Ivanov at the height of the Cold War, Christine was branded a- -“prostitute” by the press and a “harlot” by the then-PM Harold Wilson. She was the only person connected to the scandal jailed.
The Mirror can reveal CCRC staff have been combing archives from Christine’s barrister Lord Jeremy Hutchinson, who pleaded with the judge not to jail her. And they are quizzing eminent KCs connected to the case and who may hold vital clues. Seymour, who now lives in Longford, Ireland, with wife Lorraine, 49, and their daughter, Daisy, 15, added: “It would be very easy for them to dismiss it but they are asking all the right questions. That information will be handed to a commissioner.
Iconic image of Christine (Copyright © Lewis Morley Archive/Seymour Platt)
Christine with historian Patrick Wright in 1999 (BBC)“My mum’s story is just so sad. She shouldn’t have gone to prison and if she shouldn’t have gone to prison, she wasn’t a liar. If she wasn’t a liar, then the story of the Profumo affair that she told can’t just be dismissed. All the men around her in 1963 thought she was their property.
"They all acted with dishonour. She was exploited. I don’t think I felt the pain of her being gone until I read the -document we compiled to clear her name. For my mother’s name to be cleared would mean I’d done what she asked me to do.
Seymour with mum Christine in 2002“And it would mean that -Christine Keeler wasn’t a liar. It would show a woman was beaten up in the street and she went to prison. That’s wrong. She was accused of being a prostitute. It was ridiculous. Why was she broke? Where was the money? We went into real poverty because it was impossible for her to earn money or get a job, she felt vulnerable.
“The Profumo scandal played a part in my mum’s conviction, she was a pariah at the time. My mum wrote in her will that she wanted me to tell the truth about her life. There have been some fantastic serendipitous stories that we got. Someone contacted me and said they went to a car boot sale and found a scrap book from 1963 with -newspaper articles in it on my mum.
“Some of those were used in the pardon application. She was under such threat from Gordon that she had to lie about the two witnesses. She feared he would kill her next time. She was left with a terrible choice. She served time for that.”
Christine with Mandy Rice-Davies outside the Old Bailey (PA)Christine was a dancer in Soho, Central London, when she met osteopath Stephen Ward. She was introduced to the highlife. In July 1961 Ward took her to a -gathering at Cliveden House, Bucks, where she caught Profumo’s attention by swimming naked.
Their romance was brief but her affair with Russian diplomat Yevgeny Ivanov sparked fears of a Cold War security leak. She claimed to have helped Ward pass secrets to the Russians. Profumo, married to actress Valerie Hobson, desperately tried to cover his tracks and told -Parliament in March 1963 there was no “impropriety”.
But he confessed he had been lying and quit. Within months PM Harold MacMillan also resigned, officially due to ill health. Ward took an overdose as he stood trial for pimping Christine and her friend, Mandy Rice-Davis. Christine married James Levermore in 1965 and had a son, James, but the marriage broke down.
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Mirror report on Profumo affair (Daily Mirror)
John Profumo in 1963 (PA)In 1971 she wed Anthony Platt and Seymour was born that December. The couple separated. Christine raised her second son, who is writing a book about his mum’s story, alone. She died of chronic -obstructive pulmonary disease at the Princess Royal University Hospital, in -Farnborough, South London.
Her story was turned into the hit BBC drama The Trial of Christine Keeler, which had millions of viewers. The CCRC said: “We have received an application from Mr Platt for a review of his mother’s conviction. “The case is currently under review. No final decision has yet been reached on the application and no date has been set for any decision to be issued.” Seymour’s campaign website is christine-keeler.co.uk.
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