88: this is the number of men with whom Margaret Campbell would have slept while she was married to the Duke of Argyll, from 1951 to 1963. It is in any case the figure, names in support, which has been tossed about in a court of law, and to the British tabloids, by her husband when he decided to divorce.
The case, one of the most sulphurous (that is to say) of British high society, is today the subject of a mini-series,
A Very British Scandal
, with Claire Foy (the first Elizabeth II of
The Crown
) as the Duchess, and Paul Bettany as her husband.
Produced by the BBC, it is available in France on the Salto platform (1).
Daughter of an American billionaire, Margaret Campbell was born on December 1, 1912 in New York, and grew up between the United States and the old continent, taking the transatlantic as others take taxis.
Very young, her beauty is renowned.
She has not yet officially made her debut in the world that already, she is scandalous, at least in her family.
At 15, Margaret became pregnant by David Niven, three years her senior, who was not yet the actor in
The Pink Panther
but whom she met during a brief vacation on the Isle of Wight.
A pregnancy which will be discreetly put an end to.
Margaret will not hold it against the actor: she will attend his funeral, many years later, in 1983.
In video, the trailer for "A Very British Scandal"
Flagship couple
In 1930, she was presented to the English court and was one of the most sought after debutantes of the year.
Margaret connects the stories with lords, princes, actors and millionaires.
But it is with a count that she becomes engaged: Charles Greville, 7th of the line of Warwick.
The marriage will unfortunately not take place: in the meantime, she falls in love with a rich American, Charles Sweeny, whom she marries in 1933. And enters the legend: the splendor of her wedding dress would have created traffic jams during three hours on the bridge of Knightbirdge, in London, so much the crowd wanted to admire it.
Madeleine Campbell on her wedding day to Charles Sweeny.
(London, 1933.)
Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images
The Sweenys are one of the star couples of British chic society: Margaret is even mentioned in the version of a Cole Porter song,
You're the Top
, whose lyrics writer PG Woodehouse adapted for English audiences. (“
You're the nimble tread / Of the feet of Fred Astaire / You're Mussolini / You're Mrs Sweeny
. will note in passing that in 1934, a dictator enjoys the same aura as an it-girl, Ed)
.
But behind the glamour, Margaret suffers.
Her first child died when she was eight months pregnant.
It was not until 1937, and eight miscarriages, that her daughter Frances and her son Brian were born three years later.
In 1943, she fell 12 meters in the elevator shaft of her chiropractor.
But come out alive.
With perhaps a little more resistance to pain than others.
The count is no good
His marriage to Sweeny ended in 1947, Margaret claiming that all he really wanted was "a pretty brainless doll".
She pursues a life of socialite party girl, befriends a Texan banker, then the curator of the MET in New York… Before setting her sights on Ian Douglas Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll.
He is 48, she is 35, and becomes his third wife in 1951. For Margaret, a new chapter in her life opens, a blank page to fill with luxury and an additional step in the aristocracy.
In the pages of the magazines, one recognizes at first glance one of the three puff hairstyles that she will keep all her life, as well as the three-row pearl necklace that rarely leaves her.
“I was rich, I was pretty, she wrote in her memoirs.
I was a young woman who was constantly photographed, written about, flattered, admired, placed on the list of the 10 most dressed women in the world (…).
I had become a duchess, and the mistress of a historic castle.
In this case, the castle of Inveraray, in Scotland, which belongs to the family of her husband.
Which counts of course on the money of his wife (as on that of the previous one) to pay for the renovations.
But the marriage fizzled: the duke is a drinker, gambler, drug addict and violent.
The dirty tricks begin to rain down: Margaret tries to prove that Ian's two sons, born from a first marriage, are illegitimate.
The two spouses are unfaithful, and know it perfectly well: but while she is spending a few days in New York, the duke has Margaret's private apartments searched.
And in a drawer, find erotic photos, unequivocally, representing his wife in the company of another man.
Paul Bettany and Claire Foy as the Duke and Duchess of Argyll, in the A Very British Scandal
miniseries .
Sony Pictures Entertainment
The Polaroid Affair
It was more than enough for the Duke of Argyll to file for divorce in 1963. In court, he brandished the famous Polaroids, including one showing the Duchess performing fellatio on a naked man, whose the face is cut.
Margaret's identity is undeniable: the woman in the photo wears the famous three-row pearl necklace that has become her "signature".
At the trial, the names of 88 men are therefore cited by Ian before the judge, who is indignant at the “disgusting sexual activities” of the duchess.
A lawyer is even appointed to compare the writing of five of her lovers with sweet words scribbled on the photos.
Among them, the American actor Douglas Fairbanks, who categorically denies.
Margaret, for her part, refuses to reveal who the "man in the photo" is.
She claims first, perhaps not without malice, that it is her husband: he will undergo a medical examination at the end of which it will be concluded that his "measurements" are not up to those of the character. that we see on the picture.
She will just limit herself to saying that the only Polaroid to have penetrated British territory, at that time, was a camera sent to the Ministry of Defence… Which is directed by Duncan Sandys, son-in-law of Churchill and lover of Margaret, who immediately proposes his resignation (rejected).
Clailre Foy as Margaret Campbell in
A Very British Scandal
©Sony Pictures Entertainment
This is perhaps the first case of "
revenge porn
" and "
slut shaming
" in history.
Margaret's name is dragged through the mud, but she won't say anything.
Most of the men with whom he is said to have relationships are homosexual friends, a fact still considered a crime in England.
Her silence protects them, when he could have mitigated the "charges" against her.
And that the judge will sum up in these terms: “The Duchess is a woman of completely promiscuous morals whose sexual appetite could only be satisfied by many men (…).
His attitude toward the sanctity of marriage was what modern people call "enlightened";
which in common parlance means "completely immoral".
From now on, Margaret's whole life will be marked by the seal of scandal.
It is she who must pay the 50,000 pounds of legal costs ordered by the court.
The Duke of Argyll, meanwhile, will remarry a few weeks later with a young and wealthy American.
Whose fortune will, in turn, finance the work of his beloved castle.
A long twilight
The years that followed saw Margaret's fortune dwindle: her lifestyle, the parties she gave for the few friends who remained faithful to her, caused debts that she could less and less honor.
In 1975, she published an autobiography,
Forget Not
(
N'oublie pas
, NDLR)
, which allowed her to repay some of them.
In 1970, she adopted two little boys, whose education she paid for.
From time to time, we see it reappear in the columns of magazines, or at the bend of social events.
In 1977, she gave an interview to the BBC in which she deplored that the journalists, whom she "trusted" in her youth, later showed themselves "malicious, to put it mildly".
In 1988, this lover of animals (she owned a succession of identical black poodles, all christened “Louis”) was invited on television to comment on the Grand National, the most prestigious British horse racing course, “from the point of view of the horse” on his own terms.
But she leaves the set before the end of the show because she is “tired”.
Multiple moves lead her to abandon her sumptuous apartments for a hotel room, from which she will be expelled for lack of having paid the bill.
In 1993, this time it was a fall down the stairs, and not in an elevator shaft, which ended her days in the retirement home where she ended them.
Today, his story comes to light again, thanks to a mini-series.
A woman of her time, Margaret Campbell was perhaps not a feminist and did not fight for the right to live her sexuality as she saw fit.
It is the misogyny of an era that especially forced the latter to leave a room where she should have stayed.
The Duchess paid the price.
With a dignity, and no doubt a humor, that we finally discover.
(1)
A Very British Scandal
, by Sarah Phelps, available on Salto.
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