My mum Christine Keeler’s final wish: To clear her name
Profumo affair mistress in plea to son... in final sentence of will
BY SHERON BOYLE
CHRISTINE Keeler left an impassioned message in her will asking her son to clear her name.
In the last sentence of the document, the model famous for the Profumo Affair asked that he “look after my rights and reputation and do what he can to make sure that the truth is told about events of which I took part during my life”.
Now Seymour Platt has petitioned Justice Minister Robert Buckland to recommend a royal pardon for his mum’s 1963 perjury conviction.
Seymour, 49, says: “I want to put straight the history of her life.”
Christine was at the centre of a scandal that shook the establishment.
It emerged in 1963 that the party girl had had an affair with married war minister John Profumo, while also
seeing the Russian spy and naval attaché Eugene Ivanov. Profumo, seen as a future prime minister, resigned when his lies about the affair were exposed.
Next month marks the 60th anniversary of the scandal, which led to Uxbridge-born Christine vilified in the press and Parliament as a “slut”, tart and “the sort of woman you would have sex with but not a conversation”.
Christine and Profumo’s affair ended in 1961, when she was 19. The perjury case related to an incident in her next relationship – a volatile liaison with Jamaican jazz musician “Lucky” Gordon.
In June 1963 he was convicted of attacking Christine in front of a woman and two known violent male criminals.
But she did not mention the two men in court after they allegedly pressured her not to say they were at the scene, in case their wives found out. Gordon admitted he attacked her and was jailed – but launched a successful appeal based on the fact the two men were not called as witnesses.
When the men were later traced, they alleged Christine’s evidence was false – and she was jailed for nine months for perjury.
Her son’s legal team say the decision to charge Christine, who died in 2017 aged 75, was “shocking”.
Leading QC Felicity Gerry said the vilification of Christine was tantamount to “slut shaming”. Business analyst Seymour, of Longford, Ireland, said: “My mother was blamed all her life for the scandal.
“People threw eggs at her, called her
names, refused her to join social clubs in later life. It meant she carried the can while others carried on with their lives.” Ms Gerry, who is leading the campaign for a pardon, says: “Christine was exploited by men for much of her life. The Government should do the right thing and recommend a pardon.”
“How confident I am depends on whether the Establishment has changed.
“If her case was brought before courts today she’d be seen as a victim, a broken woman, not a criminal.” The Ministry of Justice said: “The petition will be considered and we will respond in due course.”
Make sure truth is told... look after my reputation CHRISTINE KEELER IN FINAL PLEA TO HER SON