The Duchess Who Dared by Charles Castle

Author:Charles Castle [Castle, Charles]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Very British Scandal;Very English Scandal;Claire Foy;Paul Bettany;Sarah Phelps;Hugh Grant;aristocracy;Princess Margaret;Argyll;A Very British Scandal;A Very English Scandal
Publisher: Swift Press
Published: 2021-11-01T17:29:47+00:00

She alleged that those words meant that she and the Duke were acting in collusion with the purpose of humiliating and extorting money from Margaret. In her defence, Margaret denied sending the damaging document or that it was defamatory.

Mrs MacPherson’s son Rory, who became a well-known television reporter, testified that on 18 April, the date of the telegram, he had left home at about 10.45 a.m. for Putney. If his mother had telephoned a telegram that morning he would have known about it. He knew, without doubt, that she had not sent it.

The Duke, who appeared as a witness for Mrs MacPherson, told the court that he had filed a petition for divorce from Margaret six months before this hearing. He also explained that he had moved into a hotel because the situation at home had become intolerable. When asked by counsel about supplying Mrs MacPherson with documents which would be useful ammunition for her to have against his wife, he admitted: ‘I supplied Mrs MacPherson with all the documents in my possession which may be useful to her in her action against my wife.’ Under cross-examination he also admitted that he had called Margaret ‘a yellow belly’, and that he had referred to her in a letter as ‘S’ which meant ‘Satan’. His reference to her as ‘Satan’ came after he had talked about a letter he had sent to Mrs MacPherson at Claridge’s in March 1957 while he and Margaret were on holiday in Siena, Italy. Mrs MacPherson did secretarial work for him there, but had not seen the letter at that time. He told the court that on their return to London Margaret had stolen the letter from the postbox at the hotel or from the porter. It said: ‘My dear Yvonne. You were right. “M” took the bait and relayed the message within hours.’ ‘M’ referred to Margaret. When asked what he meant by the word ‘bait’, he replied: ‘It might have been written by me with diabolical subtlety to catch out one more lie on behalf of my wife.’

Dr John Petro of Montagu Square was next to be called to give evidence. He said that he had been ordered to do so by the court under subpoena. He was a friend of the Duke as well as his medical attendant. He also knew Margaret and was acquainted with her voice. He remembered being asked on the telephone to visit the Duke at Claridge’s in January 1957, and that shortly after, on the same day, Margaret had telephoned asking him to see the Duke about some pills he had prescribed. She had also said that Mrs MacPherson, her ex-secretary, had been informing members of the press that she and the Duke had parted. He had replied that he had great doubts that that could be so. He had then visited the Duke and had heard the same slander repeated on the telephone by Margaret. Dr Petro had overheard the conversation between them. When he called on Mrs MacPherson on 4 March, he repeated the conversation and she was extremely upset.

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