The Backstory: The Sex Scandal That Foreshadowed the Epstein Case

Jeffrey Epstein’s files have upended peoples’ lives and resulted in the first arrest of a royal family member in 400 years. But the beginning of the end for these big shots actually took place over 60 years ago during an earth shattering sex scandal in London.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, this has been a crazy week. We've seen the
release of more of the files of the late millionaire
pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, putting the white hot spotlight on powerful
people in government and in Hollywood, and most notably, the
arrest of the former Prince Andrew, brother to King Charles,
for his involvement with Epstein and some very young women.

(00:21):
But it's not the first time the Brits have seen
their power broker stumble. I'm Patty Steele. A nineteen sixty
three incident with a nineteen year old girl and a
powerful politician almost brought down the British government. That's next
on the backstory. The backstory is back. Kind of a

(00:41):
shocking moment, though, I guess not unexpected when former Prince
Andrew was arrested this week on suspicion of misconduct in
public office. That's a nice way to put it. It
was the first time a member of the royal family
had been arrested since sixteen forty nine, when King Charles
was rested and executed for treason. So Andrew, as we know,

(01:04):
spent a lot of years paling around with the millionaire
pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. In addition to any illicit sexual activities.
Andrew's arrest has him being investigated for maybe sharing confidential
government info with Jeffrey. And it gets stickier because the
Epstein files indicate that Jeffrey was secretly working for Mossad,

(01:26):
the Israeli spy agency, so info that Andrews shared may
have been passed along to Israel. Wow. What amaze of intrigue. Right,
But like everything else that happens today, there's at least
one precedent. Let's go back to the early nineteen sixties,
just before what was arguably the biggest sex scandal in

(01:46):
modern British history came to light. It began as a
whole lot of political disasters do at a party. It's
July nineteen sixty one. The party is at Cliveden House,
an a state built in sixteen sixty six by a
duke for his mistress. By eighteen ninety three it had
been sold to the Astors, American aristocrats. It's quite a party, though,

(02:10):
with just a handful of guests. Lord Astor invites Britain
Secretary of State for War John Perfumo, and also doctor
Stephen Ward, a fashionable holistic doctor who also is a
sort of social fixer upper, comfortable in high society and
with London's nightlife crowd. Ward has a nineteen year old

(02:31):
model and showgirl with him named Christine Keeler. The story
goes that Profumo first saw Christine seductively emerging from a
swimming pool. Perfumo, married and almost thirty years older than Christine,
is smitten and the two began a brief affair. Okay,
stuff happens, right, problem is it was more than that,

(02:52):
and more than just a private embarrassment. Again, this is
nineteen sixty one and it's the Cold War. Here's the
explosive toys. At the same time Christine is seeing Profumo,
she's also involved with yevgany Ivanov, a Soviet naval attache
stationed in London. He's also a Russian spy. Suddenly, the

(03:12):
war secretary responsible for Britain's military secrets is sharing intimate
pillow talk with a woman who is simultaneously sleeping with
a suspected Soviet operative. It was a terrifying turn of events.
How far did the pillow talk go? Were secrets being
shared in national security being compromised? While whatever happened, the

(03:34):
optics were horrible. It took a while, but rumors began
to fly by late nineteen sixty two. By early nineteen
sixty three, the press was swarming. Britain's tabloids were just
coming into their own, becoming more aggressive, less protective of
powerful folks. On March twenty second, nineteen sixty three, Profumo

(03:55):
stood before the House of Commons. He admitted knowing Christine Keeler,
but denied anything improper had happened. He said, there absolutely, unequivocally,
was no affair. Okay. For a moment the government thought
they had contained the crisis, but Profumo had made a
fatal mistake. He had lied to Parliament. Just weeks later,

(04:16):
the whole thing unraveled. Evidence mounted, witnesses came forward, and
finally John Profumo confessed on June fifth, nineteen sixty three,
Yes there had been an affair. Yes he had misled parliament.
He resigned immediately. In British politics, you just don't lie
to parliament. In the aftermath, doctor stephen Ward, the guy

(04:38):
who introduced Christine to Profumo, was accused of being a pimp.
The trial was all over the press, and just before
the guilty verdict was handed down, or killed himself. A
lot of folks claimed he was a scapegoat sacrificed to
protect more powerful men, but months later the Prime Minister
of Great Britain now fatally tarnished himself because this resigned.

(05:01):
For decades, Britain's ruling class had been protected by the press.
Big shots did what they wanted without fear. After Profumo,
that world changed. Journalists were more aggressive, politicians watched, and
the public grew less willing to accept cover ups. As
for John Profumo, he spent the rest of his life

(05:22):
quietly dedicating himself to charitable work, and his reputation pretty
much recovered. Christine Keeler's life was a lot more turbulent.
She had two short marriages and two children with each
of those husbands, and she became both infamous and exploited,
forever linked to a moment that reshaped British politics. She

(05:42):
died in twenty seventeen at seventy five, with pretty much
no money to her name. This wasn't simply a sex scandal.
It marked a cultural turning point that even today his
impacted powerful people, including the royal family. It was the
moment Britain's establishment realized it could no longer rely on silence.

(06:03):
And the former Prince Andrew learned that the hard way.
This week, the old Order had cracked, and it all
started at a simple summer pool party. I hope you
like The Backstory with Patty Steele. Please leave a review.
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dm me if you have a story you'd like me

(06:24):
to cover. On Facebook, It's Patty Steele and on Instagram
Real Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele. The Backstories a production
of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, the Elvis Durand Group, and Steel
Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser. Our writer Jake Kushner.

(06:47):
We have new episodes every Tuesday and Friday. Feel free
to reach out to me with comments and even story
suggestions on Instagram at Real Patty Steele and on Facebook
at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening to the back Story
with Patty Steele. The pieces of history you didn't know
you needed to know.