Christine Keeler, the former showgirl at the heart of the Profumo scandal of the 1960s, has died aged 75.
Her son, Seymour Platt, told the Guardian she died on Monday at the Princess Royal University Hospital, near Farnborough.
“My mother passed away last night at about 11.30pm,” he told the paper.
Christine Keeler
A hospital spokesman confirmed Ms Keeler had died, having been a patient at the Princess Royal.
Mr Platt paid tribute to his mother in a Facebook post on Tuesday evening.
He wrote: “My mother, the grandmother to my beautiful little girl, passed away late last night.
“She suffered in the last few years with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease but lost the fight.
“As many of you know my mother, Christine Keeler, fought many fights in her eventful life, some fights she lost but some she won.
“She earned her place in British history but at a huge personal price.
“We are all very proud of who she was.”
Christine Keeler
Miss Keeler was at the centre of the 1963 political scandal, after having an affair with then-Secretary of State for War John Profumo, which enthralled and scandalised the nation.
He was forced to quit his job as War Secretary following lurid disclosures of high-society sex parties and claims he had shared a mistress with a Soviet defence attache.
Douglas Thompson – the journalist and author who worked with Ms Keeler on her memoir The Truth At Last – spoke of his “shock” after hearing of her death.
He remembered his friend fondly as a “funny and bright” woman, who he described as “one of the most honest people I have ever met”.
“She believed absolutely everything she ever said about the Profumo affair,” he said.
“She said what she thought,” he continued. “I think that honesty is very surprising.”
Mr Thompson, who updated the book, published as Secrets And Lies in 2012, following the death of John Profumo, described Ms Keeler as a “victim of the time”, adding that she would probably have had her own TV show had the scandal happened today.
“The interesting thing about her is she tried to escape it,” he said.
“I don’t think she ever got away from it – that was a tragedy.”
Mr Thompson added: “She could never stop being Christine Keeler.”
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