Scandal-tainted former UK minister Profumo dies

LONDON, Mar 10: John Profumo, the government minister at the centre of one of Britain's biggest political scandals, featuring an explosive mix of sex and Cold War spying allegations, has died at the age of 91.

Profumo was forced to resign in 1963 as minister for war over his extramarital affair with 19-year-old prostitute Christine Keeler, who also counted among her clients a Soviet naval attache.

After his downfall, portrayed in the 1989 film ''Scandal'', Profumo devoted the rest of his life to charity work in London's East End.

''He atoned for his mistakes and I think will, on death, receive his reward for that,'' his friend and political commentator Bill Deedes told BBC radio oday.

A spokesman for the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital said Profumo died just before midnight after being admitted following a stroke two days ago.

''Mr Profumo died peacefully ... last night,'' he said, adding that his family were at his bedside.

The affair between Profumo and Keeler began at a country house party organised by socialite Stephen Ward in 1961.

Details of it, and of relationship with Russian attache Eugene Ivanov became public in 1962 with the world on the brink of nuclear war over Soviet missiles being sent to Cuba.

Profumo's main undoing, however, was lying to parliament about the affair.

Prime Minister Harold Macmillan later resigned due to ill-health exacerbated by the scandal, which was also credited with contributing to the electoral downfall of the Conservative government in the 1964 election.

''You have got to be careful about saying the Profumo affair brought down the Macmillan government,'' said political commentator Anthony Howard. ''But it did do tremendous damage,'' he told BBC radio. ''The country went hysterical.'' He said one Conservative parliamentarian even called for Profumo to be barred from seeing the Queen in person to resign his Privy Councillorship ''because his very presence in the palace would be a contamination''.

To the end of his days Profumo, whose marriage to screen actress Valerie Hobson survived, refused to discuss the scandal.

Britain's top High Court judge Lord Denning headed an investigation, and concluded there had been no security leakage.

WELL HE WOULD, WOULDN'T HE But the affair smeared the government and grabbed the imagination of the British public, a fascination which continued through Ward's trial on charges of living off immoral earnings.

Ward committed suicide before the end of the trial, during which another of the girls who frequented his parties, Mandy Rice-Davies replied when told that another prominent politician denied knowing her: ''Well, he would, wouldn't he.'' Keeler, who was found guilty on unrelated perjury charges and sentenced to nine months in prison, still lives in London.

She described in her autobiography how she used to attend high society dinner parties ending in sex romps at the height of the so-called swinging 60s.

In 2003, members of parliament from across party lines called for Prime Minister Tony Blair to restore Profumo to the Privy Council, a largely ceremonial honour he gave up with his ministerial job.

''I think he was embarrassed by that kind of thing,'' Howard said. ''I think he thought he had expiated what he had done and that was enough. I don't think all these campaigns on his behalf really pleased him very much.''

REUTERS