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| Profumo affair: 50 years on, sketch of mystery woman is discovered | Profumo affair: 50 years on, sketch of mystery woman is discovered |
| (10 days later) | |
| Most people would surely remember the weekend even if it was more than 50 years ago: you're standing innocently at a west London bus stop, get picked up by a mystery couple and are driven to a cottage in the grounds of an impossibly grand mansion where the main activity seems to be drinking and hedonistic pool parties. | Most people would surely remember the weekend even if it was more than 50 years ago: you're standing innocently at a west London bus stop, get picked up by a mystery couple and are driven to a cottage in the grounds of an impossibly grand mansion where the main activity seems to be drinking and hedonistic pool parties. |
| If that was you, the National Portrait Gallery would love to hear from you. | If that was you, the National Portrait Gallery would love to hear from you. |
| The gallery announced on Tuesday it had discovered the most remarkable thing on the reverse of a pastel drawing by Stephen Ward of Christine Keeler – they found a similar drawing of an unknown young woman with a Helen Shapiro haircut and beautifully large lips. | The gallery announced on Tuesday it had discovered the most remarkable thing on the reverse of a pastel drawing by Stephen Ward of Christine Keeler – they found a similar drawing of an unknown young woman with a Helen Shapiro haircut and beautifully large lips. |
| The discovery was made by associate curator Clare Freestone while she was preparing for a new display marking the 50th anniversary of the Profumo affair. | The discovery was made by associate curator Clare Freestone while she was preparing for a new display marking the 50th anniversary of the Profumo affair. |
| It was in 1963 that John Profumo, the then war minister, was forced to resign and admit his affair with a woman who was also involved with a Russian spy. It was a scandal that had everything: sex, espionage, crime and politics and it gripped Britain, causing irreparable damage to Harold Macmillan's government. | It was in 1963 that John Profumo, the then war minister, was forced to resign and admit his affair with a woman who was also involved with a Russian spy. It was a scandal that had everything: sex, espionage, crime and politics and it gripped Britain, causing irreparable damage to Harold Macmillan's government. |
| Freestone discovered a note from Keeler about the Ward drawing which said: "This is me, but I don't know who the girl on the back is – she is somebody we just picked up at a bus-stop." | Freestone discovered a note from Keeler about the Ward drawing which said: "This is me, but I don't know who the girl on the back is – she is somebody we just picked up at a bus-stop." |
| "We just thought, what girl?" said Freestone. They took it out from its frame and looked at the reverse and saw, for the first time, the second woman. Curators read up on it, finding references in one book by Keeler into her and Ward picking up a girl at a bus-stop near London airport. | "We just thought, what girl?" said Freestone. They took it out from its frame and looked at the reverse and saw, for the first time, the second woman. Curators read up on it, finding references in one book by Keeler into her and Ward picking up a girl at a bus-stop near London airport. |
| "She seemed so nice so we invited her to the party at Stephen's cottage," wrote Keeler. | "She seemed so nice so we invited her to the party at Stephen's cottage," wrote Keeler. |
| The cottage was on the estate of Lord Astor's stately home Cliveden and was a place Ward used regularly for, by any standards, rather debauched and hedonistic parties. | The cottage was on the estate of Lord Astor's stately home Cliveden and was a place Ward used regularly for, by any standards, rather debauched and hedonistic parties. |
| The gallery thinks it was also the time of what turned out to be a notorious weekend, when a naked Keeler was startled by Lord Astor and his chums, including Profumo. | The gallery thinks it was also the time of what turned out to be a notorious weekend, when a naked Keeler was startled by Lord Astor and his chums, including Profumo. |
| "We would love to know who she is," said the NPG's curator of photographs, Terence Pepper, who has curated the display with Freestone. | "We would love to know who she is," said the NPG's curator of photographs, Terence Pepper, who has curated the display with Freestone. |
| "Or if one of her friends knows who she is, or her grandchildren. It is a real mystery and that's why we need some help." | "Or if one of her friends knows who she is, or her grandchildren. It is a real mystery and that's why we need some help." |
| The pastel drawings form part of a display telling the story of a scandal that people still find fascinating 50 years on although many have questioned whether it was quite as scandalous as was made out at the time. | The pastel drawings form part of a display telling the story of a scandal that people still find fascinating 50 years on although many have questioned whether it was quite as scandalous as was made out at the time. |
| Nevertheless, Profumo did resign after his affair with good-time girl Keeler and it helped bring down Macmillan. It also led to the suicide of the man in the middle, the loose-moraled osteopath and party organiser Ward who brought Keeler and Profumo together. | Nevertheless, Profumo did resign after his affair with good-time girl Keeler and it helped bring down Macmillan. It also led to the suicide of the man in the middle, the loose-moraled osteopath and party organiser Ward who brought Keeler and Profumo together. |
| The display includes a print of one of the best known images of Keeler: Lewis Morley's photograph of her naked, sat in a back-to-front chair. | The display includes a print of one of the best known images of Keeler: Lewis Morley's photograph of her naked, sat in a back-to-front chair. |
| It ends with a photograph of a lost painting that the NPG would also love any information on, a Pop Art work by Pauline Boty that features the Lewis Morley photograph and four of the key players in the affair - Profumo, Ward, and another of Keeler's lovers, the jazz promoter and drug dealer Johnny Edgecombe and his rival, the jazz musician "Lucky" Gordon. | It ends with a photograph of a lost painting that the NPG would also love any information on, a Pop Art work by Pauline Boty that features the Lewis Morley photograph and four of the key players in the affair - Profumo, Ward, and another of Keeler's lovers, the jazz promoter and drug dealer Johnny Edgecombe and his rival, the jazz musician "Lucky" Gordon. |
| There are also press photographs of Keeler's friends Mandy Rice-Davies and Paula Hamilton-Marshall, which help illustrate the story's lurid unravelling in the press which, understandably, could not get enough of a story that involved politicians, pimps, spies and call girls. | There are also press photographs of Keeler's friends Mandy Rice-Davies and Paula Hamilton-Marshall, which help illustrate the story's lurid unravelling in the press which, understandably, could not get enough of a story that involved politicians, pimps, spies and call girls. |
| The scandal was made into a film called The Keeler Affair, which was banned in the UK but became extremely popular in Denmark for some reason. It was remade into the 1989 film Scandal with Joanne Whalley, which introduced the story to a new generation. Andrew Lloyd Webber is hoping to bring it to the west end in a new musical called Stephen Ward that he has created with Don Black and Christopher Hampton. | The scandal was made into a film called The Keeler Affair, which was banned in the UK but became extremely popular in Denmark for some reason. It was remade into the 1989 film Scandal with Joanne Whalley, which introduced the story to a new generation. Andrew Lloyd Webber is hoping to bring it to the west end in a new musical called Stephen Ward that he has created with Don Black and Christopher Hampton. |
| The NPG free display, in room 32, officially opens on Wednesday but was on Tuesday already up and drawing large numbers of people – testament to the enduring interest. | The NPG free display, in room 32, officially opens on Wednesday but was on Tuesday already up and drawing large numbers of people – testament to the enduring interest. |
| "It has been a fascinating subject to research," said Freestone. "Despite the events occurring 50 years ago, the stories connected to these fascinating images still seem so vivid today." | "It has been a fascinating subject to research," said Freestone. "Despite the events occurring 50 years ago, the stories connected to these fascinating images still seem so vivid today." |
| • Do you know the identity of the mystery woman in the picture? Email mark.brown@guardian.co.uk | • Do you know the identity of the mystery woman in the picture? Email mark.brown@guardian.co.uk |
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