Bronwen Lady Astor, the chatelaine of the infamous Cliveden estate which became the setting for the Profumo scandal, has died at the age of 87.
Born Janet Bronwen Alun Pugh on June 6, 1930 in London, she was the forerunner of today’s supermodels and one of the most celebrated models of her generation.
Bronwen also enjoyed a glittering television career as a presenter at the BBC.
However, she was later shunned by the upper echelons of society after she was caught up in the notorious Profumo affair in the 1960s – when Christine Keeler met John Profumo at the home Bronwen shared with her husband, Viscount ‘Bill’ Astor.
Bronwen Lady Astor (pictured in 1963) passed away on December 28 at the age of 87
The model married into the wealthy Astor family at the age of 30 before working for the BBC
Bronwen Astor, born Janet Bronwen Alun Pugh, on June 6, 1930 in London, was the forerunner of today’s supermodels. She is pictured, left, in 1959
Bronwen (pictured in 1967) also enjoyed a glittering television career as a presenter at the BBC. But she was caught up in the notorious Profumo affair in the 1960s
Bronwen married former Tory MP and enormously rich aristocrat Bill Astor, 3rd Viscount Astor, in 1960 when she was a highly-successful model and muse to the Parisian couturier Pierre Balmain.
She married into the wealthy Astor family at the age of 30 and became matriarch of Cliveden.
However some three years later, her stately home was the setting for the Profumo scandal.
Viscount ‘Bill’ Astor hit the headlines when he had sex with nightclub dancer Mandy Rice-Davies, and helped introduce her friend Christine Keeler to John Profumo.
Those fateful events took place at Astor’s magnificent ancestral Thames-side stately home, Cliveden in Buckinghamshire, which he shared with his third wife, Bronwen.
Astor was said to have acceded to a playful request by his osteopath, the alleged pimp Stephen Ward, to bring Rice-Davies to Cliveden to see if she knew how to use her cutlery in the right order.
Bronwen (pictured in 1960) married former Tory MP and enormously rich aristocrat Bill Astor in 1960 when she was a highly-successful model and muse to the Parisian couturier Pierre Balmain
Bronwen (pictured left in 1958 and right in 1961) qualified as a psychotherapist in 1986, running a practice for more than 20 years. She became a Roman Catholic in 1970, and went on to work as a spiritual adviser
The model, formerly Bronwen Pugh, married the Viscount Astor in October 1960
Christine Keeler at Cliveden House, the scene of the 1963 Profumo scandal
Their one night stand ensued – and his later denial of it was widely ridiculed.
The Astors’ society friends began dropping them – and police even considered charging the viscount with allowing a brothel to operate on his estate. They seemed the epitome of an amoral rich set.
The Viscount died soon after the scandal, aged 58, in 1966.
Bronwen left Cliveden two years later and is now a hotel and a property operated by the National Trust.
Bronwen qualified as a psychotherapist in 1986, running a practice for more than 20 years.
She became a Roman Catholic in 1970, and went on to work as a spiritual adviser.
She died on December 28 and is survived by her daughters, Janet and Pauline.
Debutantes practice a fashion parade under the tutorship of Bronwen Pugh
The Profumo scandal was played out at Astor’s magnificent ancestral Thames-side stately home, Cliveden in Buckinghamshire, which he shared with his third wife, Bronwen