Christine Keeler's son appoints a QC in litigation to have the mother's name pardoned posthumously

Christine Keeler's son continues the legal battle for the pardon of his mother's name and appoints a quality control with expertise in gender issues.

The 1960s icon and model didn't see the world spotlight until the age of 19 after her scandalous affair with MP John Profumo rocked British politics when it came to light in March 1963.

In December of the same year, she was sentenced to nine months in prison for perjury – the crime of being under oath in court – after her ex-boyfriend Lucky Gordon was brought on trial for obstructing justice.

Now, through her brief marriage to businessman Anthony Platt in the early 1970s, Seymour Platt, 49, Keeler's son, has named Felicity Gerry QC in a battle to clear Keeler's name.

When the former showgirl died in 2017 at the age of 75, she asked Platt, the middle child of her three offspring, "to do everything possible to make sure the truth is told".

He believes his mother was discriminated against because she was a woman who was under public scrutiny after the Profumo affair and that she would not now have been jailed for the same offenses.

Mrs. Gerry will advocate that Keeler receive a posthumous pardon from the Queen to the Lord Chancellor.

The QC told The Times that Keeler's conviction of perjury was "strange" for "subjecting to a violent assault and lying about who was there, not about an assault".

Seymour Platt, 49, (right), Keeler's son through her brief marriage to businessman Anthony Platt in the early 1970s, pictured with his mother on his wedding day in 2002

Ms. Gerry added, "(Keeler) carried the public moral opprobrium for the behavior and demise of privileged men."

She told the publication that modern prosecutors are more considerate of women who are victims of violence and that conviction for "perjury requires proof of a material lie".

Felicity Gerry QC who has expertise in gender legal issues

Transcripts made by the Times court reporters during the 1963 trial are scanned for receipts.

Keeler's affair with John Profumo in 1961 sparked one of the greatest scandals in 20th century political history.

Profumo was not only married and 27 years older than the then 19-year-old Keeler, but she also enjoyed a relationship with Yevgenius Ivanov, a Russian naval attaché, at the same time.

When this became known two years later, in 1963, MI5 feared that Profumo might inadvertently have passed military secrets to the Russians through Christine.

Profumo initially denied the matter in a statement to the House of Commons, and when he finally admitted it, he was forced to resign.

Attention then turned to the activities of Christine, her showgirl friend Mandy Rice-Davies, and her mentor Stephen Ward, the society's osteopath through whom Christine met both Profumo and Ivanov. Ward was arrested and charged with living on immoral proceeds when he was tried at the Old Bailey in 1963.

That same year, Profumo resigned from his cabinet post after admitting he lied to the House of Commons about the nature of his relationship with Keeler. Months later, on the last day of his trial, Ward was found dead at his London home after overdosing on sleeping pills.

A judicial investigation penned by Lord Denning into the case was due to open in the 1990s, but British Prime Minister John Major vetoed his release. It will now be released in 2048.

Christine Keeler's son Seymour Platt, one of the late showgirl's three children, told podcaster Catherine Mahoney that he was planning to file a legal "pardon" to excuse her name for the perjury conviction she received in December 1963 after the Profumo Had received affair

The campaign for Keeler's posthumous pardon will focus on the argument that she was exhausted after part of the Stephen Ward trial.

Hopefully Keeler's case could follow the precedent set by the Queen's posthumous pardon in 2013 of code breaker Alan Turing, who was convicted of homosexual activity in the 1950s.

In an interview earlier this month on journalist Catherine Mahoney's So I Quit My Day Job podcast, Platt, who has lived in Ireland for 15 years, spoke to big stars of the time about his mother's alleged affairs after she was released from prison Beatle Ringo Starr, Warren Beatty and George Peppard.

Keeler with her friend Mandy Rice-Davies; The couple became embroiled in one of the greatest political scandals British politics has ever seen in 1961 when they partied with London osteopath Stephen Ward and his high society friends – including John Profumo

In 1963, Profumo, who had plans to become Prime Minister, resigned from his cabinet post after admitting he lied to the House of Commons about the nature of his relationship with Keeler (British Secretary of War John Profumo and his wife Valerie Hobson in 1961) .

Platt also revealed some of the men his mother was linked with after instantly becoming famous from the scandal, including Ringo Starr, Warren Beatty, and George Peppard

The trial against Christine Keeler was shown earlier this year on a TV show of the same name. Pictured Sophie Cookson as Christine, center.

He said to Mahoney, “I think I now have something strong enough to excuse Christine – a plea for mercy.

“We have a number of reasons why we believe she should never have gone to jail. And today she would not have been found guilty. & # 39;

While Keeler's son warned that the process would be long and complicated, he said he was confident the family had a strong case.

Seymour says his mother asked him "to do everything possible to ensure the truth is told" before she passed away in 2017, aged 785

Seymour said that in the years following her imprisonment, some of the world's biggest stars, including a Beatle, have been partied and played with.

He explains, “She actually got out of jail and turned into a ton of money for selling all of her stories in newspapers for incredible amounts, so she was very, very rich.

“She went to the right parties and met the right people. She had relationships with everyone you can imagine from that time … from Warren Beatty to George Peppard to Ringo Starr. Nobody knows that she had a brief affair with Ringo Starr. & # 39;

The Profumo Affair turned into a film called Scandal in 1989, starring John Hurt, Ian McKellen and Joanne Whalley Kilmer (as Christine). Seymour said the actors then accused the producers of trying to turn the set into something like a porno movie & # 39;

A judicial investigation penned by Lord Denning was due to open in the 1990s, but then British Prime Minister John Major. It will now be released in 2048

SCHEDULE OF A SCANDAL: HOW THE PROFUMO AFFAIR ROCKED BRITISH POLITICS

The Profumo affair had it all – sex, lies, and espionage. It broke out at the height of the Cold War, when espionage was rampant and the threat of war was imminent with the outbreak of the Cuban Missile Crisis. This is how it developed:

April 1960: At the height of the Cold War, Christine Keeler, who has left her home in Wraysbury, Berks, travels to London and begins working at Murray & # 39; s Cabaret Club in Soho. There she meets Dr. Stephen Ward, a London osteopath. Within a few weeks she had moved into his Bayswater apartment. She soon meets Mandy Rice-Davies at Murray's and the two become party attendants.

Christine Keeler in May 1963 in Cannes, France; Her affair with Profumo only lasted a few weeks, but it changed her whole life

July 1961: Ward introduces 19-year-old Keeler to Secretary of War John Profumo while Lord and Lady Astor host a party at their stately home in Cliveden in Taplow, Bucks. Keeler and Profumo have an affair that lasts only a few weeks. At the same time she gets into an affair with Commander Eugene Ivanov, a Soviet naval attaché at the Russian Embassy in London.

March 1963: After months of speculation among MPs, Profumo is forced to face the Commons, where he says, “There has been no inappropriateness in my acquaintance with Miss Keeler, and I made the statement based on what was said in the House by three honorary members yesterday whose expressions were protected by privileges. & # 39;

June 1963: Ward is arrested in Watford and taken to Marylebone Police Station, where he is accused of living on immoral income. His trial will soon begin at the Old Bailey.

June 5, 1963: Profumo resigns from his cabinet post after admitting he lied to the House of Commons about the nature of his relationship with Keeler.

A career in tatters: Profumo had to admit that he had lied about his affair with the then 19-year-old showgirl, who was 27 years younger than him

August 1963: On the final day of his trial, Ward is found dead at his London home after overdosing on sleeping pills.

December 1963: Keeler is found guilty of perjury in the trial of her former boyfriend, Lucky Gordon, and is jailed for nine months.