LADY ASTOR VICTIM OF PROFUMO AFFAIR

Lady Astor died 28 December, 2017 aged 87.

She was celebrated as one of the world’s great beauties in 1950.

She was born on 6 June, 1930 in London. Her parents were Welsh County court judge Sir Alan Pugh and his wife, Kathleen. Bronwen was their third daughter.

Bronwen’s ambition was to be a teacher and trained at Central School of Speech and Drama. She went on TV presenting BBC.

When she took up modelling and went to Paris she became top in no time because of her beauty. She signed up with Balmain fashion house. Bronwen never lost her beauty.

She was introduced to the millionaire son of Nancy Astor by Patrick de Laszio. Nancy Astor was the first woman in the House of Common.

Bronwen Pugh and Viscount Astor married on 14 October 1960. Lady Astor changed to running the Cliveden estate in Buckinghamshire. They were the most celebrated couple in society.

MANDY RICE-DAVIES

CHRISTINE KEELER

The bliss did not last, a scandal broke lose about an affair of Christine Keeler and the war secretary John Profumo in 1961 at Cliveden. As details emerged it came to light that Christine Keeler also had a brief encounter, at the time, with Yevgeny Ivanov, a Soviet naval attache which really blew the lid off.

JOHN PROFUMO

John Profumo died in 2006.

To make matter worse, it was at a time when USA, West and Russia were at a cold war and the tension could have blown into a full-scale war.

Keeler’s affairs were a serious security risk at the best of time but situated in the tense atmosphere of the 1960s it blew into a huge scandal which brought even the Harold Macmillan’s government down.

The backlash of being ignored and losing business hit Bronwen and Bill Astor hard, although they were the most innocent party. To add to their trouble Mandy Rice-Davies, a friend of Keeler, accused Bill of having an affair with her. It was denied many years later.

Their marriage survived but Bill never got over the scandal and died in 1966 of a heart attack.

CLIVEDEN

After his death, Lady Astor moved to Tuesley Manor in Godalming, Surrey.

She converted to Catholicism and set up a religious community.

In 1986 She qualified as psychotherapist and ran a practice for over 20 years, but she never quite got over the stigma of being ostracised. She remembered that it was like a nightmare, being labelled, and people talking behind her back. She always felt that she was to blame for the scandal.

Lady and Viscount Astor, may they be together and rest in peace.

They had two daughters Janet and Pauline who survived them.