Mandy Rice-Davis, one of the main figures in the Profumo affair, has died. Publicists for the Wales-born beauty confirmed that she passed away on 18 December at the age of 70 after a short battle with cancer. Former model Mandy found herself involved with the Profumo affair, the scandal which threatened to bring down Conservative Prime Minister Harold Macmillan’s government in the '60s, when her then 19-year-old flatmate Christine Keeler’s affair with war minister John Profumo prompted him to resign.
Christine was also believed to be romantically involved with Russian defence attaché Captain Yevgeny Ivanov which created a possible security risk. Mandy testified at the high-profile trial of Stephen Ward, the osteopath who linked Christine to John Profumo and Captain Ivanov and who was found guilty of living off Mandy and Christine’s immoral earnings. The trial heard Mandy claim to have had an affair with Lord Astor. When she was told that he had denied it, she famously retorted: "He would, wouldn't he?" from the witness stand. By 1979 Mandy’s phrase had entered the third edition of the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations and is occasionally abbreviated as MRDA (Mandy Rice-Davies applies) or referred to as the 'Mandy Rice-Davies clause'.
After gaining notoriety through the case, Mandy appeared in a number of TV programmes and films including Absolutely Fabulous and Chance in a Million. Her film career included roles in Nana, the True Key of Pleasure, The Seven Magnificent Gladiators and Absolute Beginners.
In the 1989 film Scandal about the Profumo affair, Mandy was played by Bridget Fonda.
Mandy was also closely involved in the development of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Stephen Ward the Musical about the society osteopath. In the musical, which opened on 19 December 2013 at the Aldwych Theatre, Mandy was played by actress Charlotte Blackledge. Despite her key role in the Profumo affair, Mandy said she personally never met the politician.
Mandy leaves behind her third husband Ken Foreman, whom she married in 1988.
