Ethel Margaret Campbell, the Duchess of Argyll, 1982

Dirty Rotten Scandal

A “headless” man, a woman in pearls, louche aristocrats, a vast estate, early revenge porn, and one of the most shocking trials of postwar London. Now it’s a new mini-series starring Claire Foy and Paul Bettany

By Lyndsy Spence

In an era before influencers and hashtags, there was Margaret Duchess of Argyll, a woman famous for being famous. Her fame turned to infamy in 1963 when she was the victim of revenge porn, distributed by her husband, Ian Campbell, the 11th Duke of Argyll. Ahead of her time, she was vilified by the press, silenced by the British legal system and exiled from the establishment. It was a spectacular fall from grace.

Margaret first met Ian in 1947, on the Golden Arrow train between Paris and London. A recent divorcée, she was 34 and flitting between the UK, America and France. Ian was eight years her senior, twice married, with a penchant for rich women. His two wives were both heiresses. The train had scarcely left the station when he confided he had been a prisoner of war, having been captured by the Nazis while serving with the 51st Highland Division and sent to Rommel and a camp on the German-Polish border. His intensity did not alarm her. She sensed he was a damaged person and pitied him.