25 Facts About Christine Keeler

Christine Margaret Keeler was an English model and showgirl.

Christine Keeler's meeting at a dance club with society osteopath Stephen Ward drew her into fashionable circles.

Christine Keeler was brought up by her mother, Julie Ellen, and stepfather, Edward Huish, in a house made from two converted railway carriages in the Berkshire village of Wraysbury.

In 1951, at the age of 9, Christine Keeler was sent to a holiday home in Littlehampton because the school health inspector said that she was suffering from malnutrition.

That summer, Christine Keeler left Wraysbury, staying briefly in Slough with a friend before heading for London.

Christine Keeler initially worked as a waitress at a restaurant on Baker Street, where she met Maureen O'Connor, who worked at Murray's Cabaret Club in Soho.

Christine Keeler introduced Keeler to the owner, Percy Murray, who hired her almost immediately as a topless showgirl.

When Christine Keeler ended the relationship with Edgecombe in December 1962, Edgecombe turned up at Ward's house in Wimpole Mews on 14 December, where she was temporarily seeking refuge, and fired five shots at the building.

At the height of the Profumo affair in 1963, Christine Keeler sat for a photographic portrait by Lewis Morley.

Christine Keeler was reluctant to pose in the nude, but the film producers insisted.

Morley persuaded Christine Keeler to sit astride a plywood chair so that, whilst technically nude, the back of the chair would obscure most of her body.

Christine Keeler told cartoon historian Tim Benson in 2007 that she was not nude and was wearing knickers during the entire photoshoot.

On 18 April 1963, Christine Keeler was attacked at a friend's home.

Christine Keeler was accused of living off immoral earnings earned through Keeler and Mandy Rice-Davies based on the small contributions to household expenses or loan repayments the two had made to Ward while living with him.

In December 1963, Christine Keeler pleaded guilty to charges of perjury before Sir Anthony Hawke, the Recorder of London, and was sentenced to nine months imprisonment, serving six months in prison.

Christine Keeler mainly lived alone in the last couple of decades of her life.

Christine Keeler said that during the 1970s, "I was not living, I was surviving".

Christine Keeler published several accounts of her life, in one of which she claimed that she became pregnant as a result of her relationship with Profumo and subsequently had an abortion.

In 1988, Christine Keeler was featured in Bryan Ferry's promotional video for the single "Kiss and Tell" with Mandy Rice-Davies; this was meant to draw more attention to the song's theme.

Christine Keeler had been ill for some months, suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and was aged 75.

Christine Keeler is portrayed by Gala Gordon during the second season of the Netflix drama series The Crown in 2017.

Christine Keeler has always fascinated me, since I first became aware of her story via the 1989 film Scandal.

When I started painting, I decided to do a series of paintings of her, and as I researched Christine Keeler's life story, it struck me that, even though she is a culturally significant figure in British history, there is very little recent artistic reference to her.

Christine Keeler is mentioned in the song "Piano Lessons" from the 1999 album Stupid Dream by Porcupine Tree.

Christine Keeler is referenced in the song "Post World War Two Blues" from the 1973 album Past, Present and Future by Al Stewart.