Christmas Must Watch: A Very British Scandal

At the weekend I continued a Christmas tradition that has taken place ever since I was a little girl – I picked up my copy of the Christmas Radio Times. I never buy it at any other time of the year, in fact I no longer buy any TV magazine, I just use the Sky planner to plot my telly viewing, but at Christmas, I feel the need to grab the Radio Times and a pen, and to circle everything I am going to be watching. This year, the programme I am most looking forward to is ‘A Very British Scandal’, the absolute epitome of much watch television.

A Very British Scandal is the story of the divorce of the Duke and Duchess Of Argyll, and the racy polaroid photographs that were leaked to the press, of the Duchess wearing only a string of pearls, and a naked man suggested to be someone very famous and possibly high up in the Government of the day. Margaret, the Duchess, a legendary society beauty, was portrayed as a nymphomaniac with a string of lovers (88 it was suggested), and while she was thrown to the wolves, the identity of the headless man in the photograph was kept hidden, and he was protected.

Now, in a new series from the makers of ‘A Very English Scandal’, the story is told again. The Crown’s Claire Foy, and Paul Betthany are playing the Duke and Duchess in ‘A Very British Scandal’, and this is being shown over Christmas. Photographs from the series show that it is a feast for lovers of 1950’s fashion, the costumes are just stunning (not a million miles from Claire’s looks in The Crown if I’m honest), and Claire perfectly recreates the Duchess’s look and style.

I can’t wait to get absorbed by this juicy, scandalous piece. Margaret was never able to shake off the scandal, which may have been exasperated by an accident she had during World War Two when she fell down a mineshaft. It has been speculated that this was what caused Margaret to become so sexually voracious. Of course, it could just have been that she liked sex, not a problem if you are a Duke, but in the uptight 50’s, definitely a problem if you are a Duchess.

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