Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
PROFUMO WAS ‘BLACKMAILED’ BY NAZI SPY...
Files reveal sex scandal Tory was close to model
JOHN Profumo had a secret relationship with a Nazi spy who may have blackmailed him, documents reveal.
Profumo – forced to resign as a Tory minister in the 1960s because of a notorious sex scandal – met German fashion model Gisela Winegard at Oxford in the 1930s.
She went on to work for Nazi intelligence in Paris during the Second World War, according to MI5 files published today.
The newly declassified papers include claims made by her US husband Edward Winegard in 1950 that the couple separated that year because of her “endearing letters from John Profumo... written on House of Commons notepaper”.
During the Profumo Affair in 1963, MI6 sent a letter and files to MI5 boss Arthur Martin about Profumo and Gisela, outlining her wartime and postwar exploits.
MI6 wrote that its report from 1950 “makes mention of an association between Gisela... and Profumo which began [circa] 1933 and had apparently not ceased at the time of this report”.
In 1951, Gisela and her husband – who were back together – had an application for a UK visa rejected.
MISTRESS
The MI6 letter reveals authorities believed the Winegards had “recently engaged in blackmail activities and now think it possible their intended visit to the UK may be connected with this”.
The visa application for a sixweek visit listed Profumo as a reference, the files show.
Gisela was reported as being “on intimate terms with the German Military Attache in Paris” in 1938.
Profumo, who became an MP in 1940, informed MI5 about Gisela, the archives show.
A memo reveals that in 1941 he admitted meeting her in the 1930s “and got to know her well”.
The memo goes on: “[Tory MP from 1919 to 1945] Lady Astor is alleged to have expressed the opinion that she was a spy.”
Profumo’s political downfall came during the Cold War when – while Secretary of State for War – he was implicated in the scandal.
It revolved around the fact that in 1961 married Profumo had shared a mistress, Christine Keeler, with a Soviet defence attache.
After denying any impropriety, Profumo was forced to admit the truth and quit in disgrace in 1963.
The events were re-created in 1989 movie Scandal which also featured Keeler’s fellow showgirl Mandy Rice-davies who claimed she had an affair with Lord Astor.
Profumo, who left politics and devoted himself to charity work, died aged 91 in 2006.