BBC's A Very British Scandal writer says 'Dirty Duchess' was 'destroyed by sexual morals' Read More Related Articles. From that point on, nothing would be the same again. Rural population was 822858 (72.88%) and urban population was 306157 (27.12%). Catherine of Aragon is now infamous as King Henry VIIIs rejected queenbut few people know her even darker history. While granting the divorce, the judge said of Margaret that she 'was a completely promiscuous woman whose sexual appetite could only be satisfied with a number of men. She began appearing on television programs, making a cameo appearance on the talk show After Dark to discuss the Grand National horse race. Her last shred of dignity went soon after. Sadly, thats not what happened, and Margaret may have been her own worst enemy. He had much darker ones, too. Allegedly, she once invited a 17-year-old boy into Inveraray Castle for a bath and a drink, and then took off her clothes and climbed in with him. Your suggestions can be as general or specific as you like, from Life to Compact Cars and Trucks to A Subspecies of Capybara Called Hydrochoerus Isthmius. Well get our writers on it because we want to create articles on the topics youre interested in. [imagesource:wikicommons] The German diplomat and brother of the Nazi scientist Werner von Braun, who invented the Nazis V-2 rocket, was another possible candidate for the 'headless man' in photo. As a teenager, Margaret had gotten pregnant all too easily, but when she tried to have children with Sweeny it resulted in a heartbreaking eight miscarriages. Madame de Pompadour didn't just share King Louis XV's bed, she also shared his power. But another Polaroid picture showed the duchess performing a similar sex act on a . Were always looking for your input! The 2000 documentary by Channel 4 named Secret History: The Duchess and the Headless Man, pointed to two men (one in the 'headless' polaroid and another in a similar snap where a sex act was . She looks like a family woman, sitting alongside her husband, the Duke of Argyll and children, but thats only one picture. Do you question the accuracy of a fact you just read? So when Wheatley eventually granted the divorce, he did it with biting cruelty, sneering that she was a completely promiscuous woman and wholly immoral in his final judgment. It was the perfect recipe for disaster. It was a (failed) ploy to safeguard her own powerbut if you think that Margaret stopped there, youre extremely wrong. The pearls provided a dead giveaway that it was indeed the Duchess who was giving oral sex to a faceless man in the controversial Polaroid. The situation scandalised conservative British society, and the so-called Dirty Duchess never fully restored her reputation after being branded a nymphomaniac by the Duke. American businessman John Cohane was names as another one of Margaret's lovers. Just two years after this episode, Margaret pulled a fast one on society. Husbands hiding things from wives, mothers from children, and generation from generation. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material, visit our Syndication site. Paul Bettany and Claire Foy as the Duke and Duchess of Argyll, in the A Very British Scandal. Over the four years that Margaret and her duke were facing off against each other in court, the press speculated wildly about all of Margarets sins, dubbing her The Dirty Duchess. She began appearing on television programs, making a cameo appearance on the talk show After Dark to discuss the Grand National horse race. According to them, the man is almost certainly Hollywood actor Douglas Fairbanks Jra married man, at the time. The movie star was named as Margarets lover, one of the 88 men on the list that the Duke produced in court. . Whether or not Sandys was the headless man, he was certainly a lover of Margarets, and offered his resignation when the scandal broke. More than that, all of his wives claimed he had mistreated them during their marriage. Unlike like her shocking accident in the elevator, this time Margaret was far too frail to survive. After discovering explicit Polaroid photos, the Duke used these as evidence in the court case, including one that showed the Duchess wearing nothing but a string of pearls, standing next to a naked man whose head had been cut out of the photo. Catherine of Aragon was King Henry VIIIs first wife and longest-lasting Queen of England. As Margaret later related, I apparently fell on to my knees and cracked the back of my head against the wall. The duchess, he declared, was "a highly sexed woman who ha. . Friends claimed that, of all the people in her life except family, Margaret only trusted her pets. But these boys were just practice for the man she was about to meet. Subs offer. We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. Her plan? She was 35. She said: "There have been rumours over the years about who he was. More than that, Margaret was having further difficulty giving him a child, which didnt help matters. Margaret, the Duchess of Argyll on the June 1969 cover of Tatler. "She. It was a public egg on her face and did nothing to bolster her reliabilitynot to mention she had to pay her stepmother huge damages. With their parents and chaperones otherwise occupied with their own vacation, the teenagers managed to find ample time to, er, explore their personal landscapes. You'll be able to select any high-quality seats under your price range and selection, whereas buying tickets. Please submit feedback to contribute@factinate.com. Naked polaroid photos of her performing oral sex on a "Headless Man" (ie a man . Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Margaret may have been one of the most beautiful women of her generation, but to the Duke, she was just another wife he could intimidate, push around, and demean. Then, in 1943, everything changed once moreand not for the better. . After all, the flyboy was already married and had a young toddler at home. The Duchess of Argyll spent a fortune restoring Inveraray Castle in western Scotland, now full of secret doors, ancient weapons and priceless artwork. Our credibility is the turbo-charged engine of our success. But further investigations only proved more incriminating for Margaret. For the beautiful daughter of a millionaire, it spelled instant infamy and would likely damage her reputation forever if it got out to her peers. On the surface, it looked like she was on top of the world. He was a notorious drinker and gambler, and was hooked on prescription medications to boot. According to Lord Wheatley, the judge on the case, he had the morals of a tomcat. Margaret learned the hard way that money cant buy you happinessbut she sure did try. But dont take this to mean Margaret was settling down. Margarets dignity took a hit in her later years, but her personality seemed to curdle as well. With this, the flood gates openedbut Margaret had her own stunning revelation waiting in the wings. But none of her liaisons stuck until she met Ian Douglas Campbell, the 11th Duke of Argyll, who was allegedly bewitched by her and according to some of the harsher critics of their union the money she brought to the marriage. 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A POLAROID picture was one of the key pieces of evidence in the scandalous divorce of the Duke and Duchess of Argyll. To say everyone is no exaggeration, either. Written by Sarah Phelps (The Pale Horse; Dublin Murders), A Very British Scandal focuses on the divorce of the Duke (Paul Bettany) and Duchess of Argyll (Claire Foy), one of the most notorious . Well, karma comes for us all, and it was coming for Margaret. Actually, thats putting it kindly. and Polaroid snaps showing Her Grace, clad only in a string of pearls . The Peerage, Pearls, and Polaroids, Oh My! The mystery man in the explicit photo became known as the 'headless man' and his identity has been largely speculated. Her lovers reportedly included comedy giant Bob Hope, French . It was more than enough for the Duke of Argyll to file . But there were disturbing indications of what really happened. This laser focus on how she looked and not how she acted got her into big trouble. had ceased to be satisfied with normal relations and had started to indulge in disgusting sexual activities. There is still much speculation about who exactly the headless man was, but some historians believe we can put the answer to bed. It was the last nail in the coffin of Margarets respectability: She was now a free woman, but her name was officially mud. Still, that wasnt quite enough for him. The photographs were taken on her newly-bought Polaroid camera, then commercially available in America in 1948, and the headless man (not so headless in additional snaps) had his own stash of . Margaret's rumoured affair with the ex-press officer at the Savoy was named as one of the key affairs in the divorce proceedings. While the documentary suggested that both Duncan Sandys and Douglas Fairbank Jr could both possibly be the 'headless man', other sources have also speculated over the man's identity. Who was the Duchess of Argyll? But she would be remembered for just one thing: the so-called 'divorce of the century', which ended her marriage to the Duke of Argyll in . Margaret seemed poised to take the duke down with her, but on the very day of her hearing about his infidelity, she couldnt find a witness and had to drop her case. Wedding to American golfer Charles Sweeny in 1933, Being Presented at the third court of the season in 1934, Recuperating in Hove following a fall down a lift shaft in 1934, Marrying the Duke of Argyll at Caxton Hall in 1951, With Frances at a Lancaster House Party in 1955, With Frances at Queen Charlotte's Ball at The Grosvenor House in 1955, With the Duke of Argyll leaving the pier at Tobermory in 1956, With Frances at Beirut's St George's Hotel in 1958, Outside the law courts in the Strand before being sued for slander and libel by her former social secretary Yvonne MacPherson in 1960, With the Duke of Argyll at the family seat, Inveraray Castle, in 1960, At the premiere of Kings Of Kings in 1961, At Zia Foxwell and David Kruger's wedding in 1969, With her poodle Louis at her Mayfair apartment in 1985, At the opening night of Chess The Musical in 1986, At the Hairdresser of the Year party in 1986, At her Grosvenor House apartment with Louis in 1989, The society beauty found herself at the centre of a toxic divorce case in 1963, after it emerged that both she and her husband had conducted multiple extra-marital affairs. Clearly, her second marriage was in deep troublebut no one had any idea what was really around the corner. Claire Foy is transforming into a forgotten British icon in new BBC drama, A Very British Scandal. The mystery man in the explicit photo became known as the 'headless man' and his identity has been largely speculated. When the beautiful textile heiress Margaret . She claimed he had slept with her own stepmother, Jane Corby Whigham. Duchess of Argyll divorce: What was the headless man Polaroid picture? The Duchess of Argyll at her Grosvenor House apartment, 1989 Credit: Shutterstock. A photo of a 'headless' man was one of the key pieces of evidence used in the divorce case of the Duke and Duchess of Argyll, which is due to be dramatised in the new BBC mini series A Very British Scandal. Although the couple's personal relationship had ended long before the divorce, The Duke of Argyll was furious at the numerous affairs Margaret had during their marriage. Mid-way through the After Dark broadcast, Margaret had to bail out of her commitment and walk off stage because, as she claimed, she was so very sleepy. In their efforts to guess at the man, they dug up even more dirt on the duchess. So when Margaret started staying out extra late and getting more distant, the Duke committed a creepy breach of trust. Please let us know if a fact weve published is inaccurate (or even if you just suspect its inaccurate) by reaching out to us at contribute@factinate.com. She was going to take the child in and somehow pass him off as her own, therefore making him the true legitimate heir of the duke. The couple married in 1951, but their marriage soon turned sour after the Duke accused Margaret of being unfaithful. In October 2021 Tatler shared news of 'The Crown' star Claire Foy playing the so-called 'Dirty Duchess' in a three-part series 'A Very British Scandal', produced by BBC Blueprint Pictures. One of the explicit photographs presented in court was a Polaroid of the Duchess, wearing nothing but her signature triple-string of pearls, standing next to an unidentified man. . Claire Foy is resplendent in pearl necklaces, pillbox hats, fur shawls and satin evening gloves as she reenters the unforgiving world of aristocracy to play the Duchess of Argyll for BBC One's A Very British Scandal.