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Mandy
Rice-Davies waves to photographers in 1964 at London Airport as she heads to
Munich for a singing engagement. She played a key role in the Profumo Affair in
1963. (Associated Press)
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Funny how your senses 'O "Heightened
Attenzione" work, eh? Since for reasons involving my ever increasing
"Youth;" Hya! I enjoy perusing the New York Times Obituary section
and Wallah! Once again stumbled into an unknown person of interest solely because
she famously "Outed" one of the Astor clan during the height of the "Profumo affair!"
Previously I noted in Part One, how the
spotting of then unknown personality Anthony Marshall's death in the New York
Times, where after all, the Astor family's roots harken back to; Karmically,
and unbeknownst to Mwah, divulged the details of William Vincent Astor's third
and final wife was the aforementioned Brooke Astor, who's family fortunes were
plundered by the recently deceased Mr.
Marshall, Brooke's only son.
Since after all, the late Mr. William Vincent
Astor is the lynchpin to this rambling monologue
revolving around today's Indy Car Series championship trophy, thy Astor Cup...
Astor
Cup returns
After attempting to create a truly unique and
current Indy Car Series championship
trophy in 2010; thee notorious "Naked Man on 'Uni" flopped after too
much controversy regarding its futuristic looks and hence, a veritable classic
was dusted off and returned to duty in 2011 as the Open Wheel Racing's new
championship trophy.
Thus, thee Astor Cup once again became the
series championship trophy, albeit mostly seen in public without its two
granite bases encompassing all of America's Open Wheel Racing champions since
1909...
Champions
2011: Dario Franchitti, UK; Chip Ganassi Racing
2012: Ryan Hunter-Reay, USA; Andretti Autosport
2013: Scott Dixon, New Zealand; Chip Ganassi Racing
2014: Will Power, Australia; Team Penske
More Astor Family lore
Certainly it shouldn't come as a surprise, as
I'd presume all powerful family's of Aristocracy are rife with misdeeds, as the
name Rockefeller comes to mind, not to mention the temptation of wealth, power,
greed and lust, having noted Mr. Anthony
Marshall's misfortunes above,
thus once again I found the brief story of the Profumo Affair most
entertaining, which basically revolves around one of Britain's Parliament
getting caught with his zipper down!
Yeah, I'll confess that I'd never heard of
the Profumo Affair before, after all having occurred over a half century ago...
When then Brigadier John Profumo,Britan's Secretary of State for War was
ensnared in the sex scandal that rocked the nation.
Profumo would later be forced to resign after
having to admit sheepishly he'd previously lied to Parliament over the scandal
regarding Messer Profumo and Russian Naval Attache Yevgeny
Ivanov having allegedly shared the pleasures of Christine Keeler!
With the public worrying over the
possible transfer of state secrets, "Randy" Profumo's activities
ultimately led to the failure of Prime Minister Harold McMillan's Conservative
party in 1964.
Mr. Profumo was introduced to the then 19yr
old Model and (Topless) Show Girl Christine Keeler at Lord Astor's Cliveden
residency by Stephen Ward, a friend of Lord Astor's during a 1961 Pool Party at
the Buckinghamshire Mansion; Hmm? I know that name Astor from somewhere; Hya!
As Mrs. Mandy Rice-Davies famously scoffed in court regarding Lord Astor's
rebuffing of their affair: “Well,
he would say that, wouldn’t he?” Which gained
international notoriety...
This, along with the apparent suicide death
of Mr. Ward, who'd been found guilty of two counts of living off of immoral earnings, whilst Christine would
later serve a nine months prison sentence for purgery during Ward's trial which
revealed the Profumo- Keeler- Ivanov
love triangle.
Mandy Rice-Davies was entangled in the court
proceedings since she was Christine Keeler's roommate at the
time of the Profumo Affair.
William
Waldorf Astor II, also known as the third Viscount
Astor, a term which I needed to look up,
which refers to the bequesting of a royal, noble or chivilristic title, in
Viscount Astor's case, a hereditary bestowing of this mid-person nobility, who
was a businessman and conservative party politician, which typically the majority
of the Astor family were. Having served in the House of Commons from 1935-45
and a second brief term in the early 1950's, when he was bestowed the title of Viscount
upon his father's death.
After the Profumo Affair, for which William
Astor II continued proclaiming his innocence regarding his alleged affair with
the 18yr Show Girl Model Mandy Rice-Davies, apparently cashed-in on her notoriety,
having a string of Nightclubs and Restaurants in Israel named after her, during her first marriage to
an Israeli businessman. Followed by publishing her autobiography, a play called
Dirty Linen, further books, television and film roles, including the 1989 film
titled Scandal in which Bridgette Fonda played her, while most lately, being
involved in the short lived Stephen Ward
musical...
Meanwhile, the Viscount Astor III sought
refuge out of the limelight at Cliveden where he had a Stud factory; Uhm, Err
for Horses that is...
Lord Astor was married three times and sired
four children, three daughters and one son from his three wife's and died of a
heart attack in the Bahamas in 1966 at the age of 58. His son, William Waldorf
Astor III then inherited the Viscountcy title upon his
death, and is a member of the House of Lords...