John Profumo was a Sexsuicide Minister. He tried to get D-notice to silence the Press regarding the affair that caused his downfall.
The head of MI5 requested that he meet with him and stated that he was in’some trouble’ about his relationship to Christine Keeler.
Profumo, the Tory war minister, and Yevgeny Ivanov, the Soviet spy were having sex in 1961. Miss Keeler was just 19 when they met through Stephen Ward.
Profumo later told the Commons that there had not been any impropriety. He was forced to quit when the truth came out and later the scandal helped overthrow the government.
John Profumo was a minister of sex scandals. He is seen leaving Regent’s Park, 1963.
The head of MI5 requested that he meet with him and stated that he was in’some trouble’ about his relationship to Christine Keeler, a model (pictured 1964).
Security service files, which are released today, reveal his attempt to obtain a D-notice – an official Whitehall instruction to the media not to print information based on national security concerns.
In January 1963, as the scandal threatened his life, he met Sir Roger Hollis (MI5 director general) and held an informal meeting.
According to the files, Graham Mitchell, Sir Roger’s deputy, thought Profumo had made the comments in the hopes that there were security grounds that would allow him and his team to take action against the Press (by D-notice, or any other means) to stop publication. However, this hope proved futile.
Profumo was contacted about Profumo’s proposal to Ivanov, to allow him to leave the Soviet Union and to work in the UK before the complicated web of relationships became widely known.
However, the papers claim that minister felt that he “ought to keep away” from this.
Miss Keeler was also involved in the shooting of another man who fired at Ward’s house with a revolver, while Miss Keeler was visiting Mandy Rice Davis as a model.
The relationship between Miss Keeler and Profumo, Ivanov, Ward was strained.
In January 1963, Sir Roger wrote this memo: “Mr Profumo wanted me to visit him last night. He told me that his life was complicated.
“He gave me a detailed account of Ward’s acquaintance with Ward, during which time he met Ivanov (and Christine).
He said that Ward had once visited his flat on several occasions. This was usually when Ward had hosted parties, but Christine had only been there once. The shooting incident was then mentioned by him.
“He claimed he had been told that the Sunday Pictorial, and the News of the World received a story by Christine. She alleged that she had been warned about his association and that she might bring Ivanov’s name to prove that he was Russian spy.
Profumo thanked Sir Roger for his information, and Ivanov was not enlisted “for our work”.
After Profumo quit in June 1963, the Commons heard that there was an effort to issue a D notice in regard Ivanov.
Sir Roger stated in a memo that it had not been considered.
After the shooting, Ivanov was recalled to Russia.
Profumo was a man who gave much of his time to charity following the scandal. He was awarded a CBE in 2006. Miss Keeler received a CBE in 2017.