Christine Keeler (born
1942) is the model and showgirl whose involvement with a government minister brought down the
Conservative government of
Harold Macmillan in
1963. She left home at the age of sixteen and worked in
London as a cabaret performer. Along with her friend,
Mandy Rice-Davies, she came under the influence of Dr
Stephen Ward[?], who brought her into contact with the Secretary of State for War,
John Profumo. Profumo entered into an affair with Keeler, not suspecting that she had also been introduced to a Russian diplomat by Ward, who apparently hoped for some personal gain as a result. She was briefly imprisoned for her part in what was effectively a prostitution ring; Ward committed suicide before he could be convicted.