I liked TV script of my grandmother’s ‘sex scandal’ so much I let the BBC film it in my castle
EXCLUSIVE: As dramatisation of ‘Dirty Duchess’ divorce premieres on TV tonight, Duke gives his seal of approval
IT has been billed as a Christmas must-see and promises to lift the lid on one of the most scandalous divorces in the history of the British aristocracy. The explosive separation of ‘Dirty Duchess’ Margaret from the 11th Duke of Argyll dominated the headlines in the 1960s and is dramatised in the BBC’s A Very British Scandal tonight.
Controversial beauty Margaret became the most pilloried woman in the country after her highly public divorce saw her accused of entertaining 88 lovers and, most notoriously, taking explicit photographs of herself and a mysterious man in flagrante.
Famously, the judge in the divorce case described her as ‘a completely promiscuous woman whose sexual appetite could only be satisfied with a number of men’. Tonight, the prime-time BBC show promises to address every detail of the sensational tale that sent shockwaves through the nation.
But as families gather around their televisions to watch the much-anticipated programme, they will be joined by some rather unlikely viewers: the Argylls themselves.
Last night, Margaret’s grandson, the 13th Duke of Argyll, Torquhil Campbell, told how he too was looking forward to the show.
The Duke, who was born in 1968, five years after his grandparents’ separation, said he would be watching the drama at the family seat, Inveraray Castle, a home much loved by the former Duchess.
He added that he had given it his seal of approval by granting the crew access to the stately home.
He said: ‘When the court case happened, the judge and everyone else gave their opinion which was appropriate then, but the interpretation we have today, and for the programme, is a sort of modern interpretation. The way we think and the way we do things has changed.’
Asked whether he was concerned he would see a little too much of his dear grandmother, given the salacious nature of the rumours about her, he said: ‘No, not at all, it’s all history, it’s a true interpretation of the facts.’
He confirmed he would be watching from the private flat above Inveraray Castle which he shares with his wife, chocolate heiress Eleanor Cadbury, and their children, Archie, Rory and Charlotte.
The Duke also revealed that he allowed the BBC to film at the family pile in Argyll, situated on the shores of Loch Fyne, to aid historical accuracy.
He said: ‘It was great. That gives the programme some authenticity, and we were very pleased to be able to help and to be part of it.’
The programme, in the vein of the BBC’s award-winning A Very English Scandal, about Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe’s gay affair, is expected to show Margaret in a distinctly more favourable light than gossip at the time afforded her. Born on her parents’ estate near Newton Mearns, Renfrewshire, in 1912, Margaret – the daughter of multi-millionaire George Whigham – was immensely privileged but is said to have struggled in her personal life, always falling for the wrong men.
There was no shortage of eligible bachelors who, upon admiring her model looks on the pages of society magazines, hoped to beguile her with their charms – and fortunes. But by the age of 37, she was still yet to find the right match.
By then, she had experienced a teenage pregnancy, an abortion, three engagements, a marriage, had two children by American businessman Charles Sweeny and finalised a divorced.
In 1949, however, she felt her luck was to change.
On a train to Paris, she met the heir to the dukedom of Argyll, Ian Campbell, who had a Scottish ‘wildness’ which she loved. But after they married in 1951, the relationship soured as Campbell, who had inherited the dukedom along with the dilapidated Inveraray Castle in 1949, revealed his true temper, gambling, and drug and alcohol addictions.
At one point, Margaret was barred from the castle, despite her family paying £100,000 towards renovating it.
She was behind the opening of the castle to the public in 1953, a key revenue source for the Duke and Duchess of Argyll to this day. Yet in
It gives the programme authenticity. We were pleased to be part of it
What public opinion was then and now are totally different
efforts to discredit her during divorce proceedings, all that was forgotten. She found herself at the centre of a moral outcry after a Polaroid of her wearing only a string of pearls and engaged in a sex act with a man – whose head could not be seen – was revealed.
During the case, she was also accused of sleeping with 88 men, despite many being just friends.
For actress Claire Foy, who plays Margaret in the drama, the Duchess was one of the first victims of ‘slutshaming’, the concept of women being shamed for their overt sexuality.
In a trailer for the programme, Foy’s character says: ‘I meet men. I dine with men. It doesn’t follow I have affairs with every man I meet.’ Although, she adds about sex: ‘I like it very much and I’m extremely good at it.’ Paul Bettany plays the Duke.
Reflecting on the public perception of his grandparents’ toxic 1963 divorce hearing, the Duke of Argyll said: ‘In terms of the interpretation, it’s a tricky one. What was interpreted when the court
case happened was what public opinion was then, and the interpretation of the programme is what public opinion is today, so they’re two totally different things really. I’ll certainly be watching it.’
ROMEO Beckham’s model girlfriend Mia Regan has become the latest female celebrity to ditch the razor. The 19-year-old, right, proudly showed off her armpit hair on a video shared on Instagram, and joins Julia Roberts, Madonna and her daughter Lourdes who have also let nature take its course.
I suspect freshfaced Romeo, also 19, is rather envious…