Anyone watching / watched “A very British scandal”?

Yes this was on my Christmas to watch list and I’m enjoying it so far, watching it on catch up. Initially I did think they truly deserved one another, both devious characters but he has a really cruel, twisted side, a high class con man who just wanted a new wife with family money to get him out of debt. Nasty scene when he mocked her stammer. There are some good actors in it & Claire Foy plays the part very well, Also interesting to see what fashions the upper classes were wearing at that time, there’s some great costumes. I’ve not seen all episodes yet though.

To add insult to injury, the Duchess was made to pay the costs of the divorce case - £50,000.

It may not all be true and the Duchess was not the nicest person but the Duke did marry three ladies for their money. Horrible person.

The Duke was a damaged and piteous man, but his treatment of his wife was shocking. That he was supported by the justice system was a disgrace. Also depressing that he was immediately able to marry another wealthy woman to bankroll his sordid and pathetic life.

This drama really highlighted the privileged but aimless and useless lives lead by many of the aristocracy.

I loved it and had lots of empathy for the Duchess, yup spoilt and a bit promiscuous but certainly a victim much the same. Duke of Argyll sounded and looked horrendous !! Three wives at least and financially ruined them all !!

Yes , but both are being judge as if it was true

Anniebach

In the series both seemed most unpleasant people, apart from the court case no one knows what was said and done in private,
has not the same been said of The Crown ?, i watched one episode of The Crown and it certainly wasn’t true.

But it is a drama and not purporting to be a documentary. No one can know totally what is true and what not in this or in The Crown

In the series both seemed most unpleasant people, apart from the court case no one knows what was said and done in private,
has not the same been said of The Crown ?, i watched one episode of The Crown and it certainly wasn’t true.

That’s so interesting Merlot, your perception of how social changes would influence your mothers view
I remember Profumo - I was about 14 so beginning an interest in news items.

I suspect views of the Duchess would still be negative, given the negative responses of many to say Amber Herd or the accusers in the Epstein case. I suspect the Duke would be unpopular especially if the drug and alcohol fired abuse was publicised
Fascinating story

As a teenager I wasn’t as gripped by this scandal as I was the Profumo affair which had a lot more glamour and intrigue attached to it.

I just remember my father muttering some jokey comments about the headless man to my mother whose opinion condemned the duchess as a ‘fast piece.’

Nowadays she would be firmly on the side of the duchess and the duke would be a ‘wicked swine!’ ?

homefarm

Double standards as usual, men always the king pins

I thought Clare Foy played Anne Boleyn. I thought Jenna Coleman played Victoria in Victoria, or did she play Victoria in something else?

I think you're right re Claire Foy and Jenna Coleman.

Claire Foy played a young Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown too.

We both really enjoyed it and binged watched it last night. I was a bit loath to watch it as I had read some reviews that said it was not so good. I find it very interesting that on Gransnet most of us have enjoyed it, and feel this is probably due to the fact that most of us are old enough to remember that era.

Double standards as usual, men always the king pins

I thought Clare Foy played Anne Boleyn. I thought Jenna Coleman played Victoria in Victoria, or did she play Victoria in something else?

Maremia

Visited Inverary Castle, must have been the late 60's. Spotted the Duke going along a private corridor, and, to my young eyes, he just looked like a dumpy, frumpy old man.
Photos of Margaret as a young women show her to be very beautiful. Perhaps all of those pregnancies aged her?

I think she had the sort of very dark haired beauty that can start to look quite hard as people age. She certainly looked stunning in the wedding photographs from her first wedding. Her first husband seemed to remain very fond of her.

I deliberately didn't watch/record because I'd mistaken it for a rerun of A Very English Scandal, which I'd rather enjoyed once but not enough to rewatch.

I read a bit of this thread and decided to give it a go but they both seemed so unpleasant that I didn't last long.

Yes watching it on catchup. Amazes me how dreadful that class is to each other,
Interesting other thing was the fact that a woman could still be treated like that. Now no one would turn a hair or bother.

Visited Inverary Castle, must have been the late 60's. Spotted the Duke going along a private corridor, and, to my young eyes, he just looked like a dumpy, frumpy old man.
Photos of Margaret as a young women show her to be very beautiful. Perhaps all of those pregnancies aged her?

I am not sure if I feel ready to judge. I woke up this morning thinking that it is likely that the class and sex she came from were educated to be wives and mothers not academics or have an interest in culture. It seems for a while - even after the debutantes were got rid of in 1958 the young didn't know what to do with themselves except to drink and dance the nights away along with lots of bonking. The only thing I didn't like in the analysis above is the word amoral. The standard set for each sex is a social construct, Personally I wouldn't have enjoyed that young women's life and her attempts to cope seem reasonable to me.

I remember the court case, I was 21 at the time. It really was all over the newspapers and very shocking at a time when sex wasn’t really discussed by “ordinary” people. How quickly that changed. It really was a man’s world and I don’t remember there being an awful lot of sympathy for Margaret. The photos at the time didn’t flatter her and I remember thinking how hard she looked and of course they were in black and white which didn’t help. I do feel sorry for her and feel she and her father were treated with contempt by the duke who swindled them out of a lot of money.

Great series, but Clare Foy looking nothing like the Duchess, or Queen Victoria for that matter. Casting directors seem to get stuck on one actress and they crop up in everything, suitable for the role or not. She’s a good actress to watch thinking though, very expressive face.
The head injury might have affected Margaret who it appears was already troubled as a child.

Watched the first episode on BBC and couldn’t wait for the other two so had a late night watching them on Iplayer. The best thing on over Christmas

This article tells her story, both as a child and later after the divorce.

www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-10352223/What-happened-Duke-Duchess-Argyll-British-Scandal.html

Iam64

I enjoyed it, best tv over this holiday period. Claire Foy was interviewed by Emma Barnett on Woman’s Hour. CF said she recognised the character flaws but was shocked by the double standards, the acceptance of the Duke’s awful behaviour, with the Duchess treated with contempt.
Great clothes, scenery and Scotland looked wonderful

Thanks. I’ll listen to that on catchup. I thought it was the best programme over Christmas, having been disappointed with Around the World in 80 Days.

Was it ever proved that she did have affairs while married to the Duke? Surely the headless man was her husband- we saw him take the picture , and she then removed the photos. s someone else said, she had gay male friends who couldn’t be witnesses as they’d have been prosecuted.

I enjoyed it, best tv over this holiday period. Claire Foy was interviewed by Emma Barnett on Woman’s Hour. CF said she recognised the character flaws but was shocked by the double standards, the acceptance of the Duke’s awful behaviour, with the Duchess treated with contempt.
Great clothes, scenery and Scotland looked wonderful