Christine Keeler, the central figure in the sex-and-espionage Profumo scandal that rocked Cold War Britain, has died at 75.
Her son, Seymour Platt, posted on Facebook that Keeler died Monday at a hospital near Farnborough in southern England.
Born in 1943, Keeler was a model and nightclub dancer in 1963 when she had an affair with British War Secretary John Profumo.
R.I.P Christine Keeler the model known widely for her involvement in the #profumo scandal that rocked Westminster, #ChristineKeeler died today aged 75. #Profumoaffair #ChristineKeeler #JohnProfumo @thetimes pic.twitter.com/Sk2rNI9Lj8
— News UK Archives (@NewsUKArchives) December 5, 2017
When it emerged that Keeler had also slept with a Soviet naval attache, the collision of sex, wealth and national security issues caused a sensation and helped topple the Conservative government.
A naked photo of Keeler straddling the back of a chair is among the most famous U.K. images of the 1960s. She spent the rest of her life trying to escape her unwanted notoriety.
