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Jeremy Thorpe: A Secret Life
384 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1979
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July 8, 2021
I was living in Britain during the whole duration of the trial of Jeremy Thorpe in 1979 – accused with three others of conspiring to murder male model Norman Scott. For many years prior to the trial, Thorpe had been one of the country’s most charismatic and popular politicians. Energetic, articulate and colourful in both politics and public affairs, he was also a great mimic, an amusing and well informed performer on radio and TV, and an accomplished violinist.
He was leader of the Liberal Party from 1967 until his resignation in 1976– prompted by an escalating scandal in the light of an alleged homosexual relationship with Norman Scott in the early 60’s. When the relationship cooled, Scott continually threatened to expose the affair, prompting Jeremy Thorpe to look at possible ways of getting rid of him.
Scott’s story was given strong credibility in view of the threat he represented to Thorpe’s career and reputation, and after police investigations he and three others were ultimately sent for trial at the Old Bailey in 1979 - on a charge of conspiring to murder Scott. By this time the story had become as sensational as the infamous Profumo affair of 1963 .
And like the Profumo affair, the Jeremy Thorpe trial maintained a massive presence in the British media, with quips and anecdotes from the trial abounding. During the trial I was playing the organ at a pub in London’s Walworth Road, and I remember the compere finishing one of his songs with ‘how do you like your eggs done? - a question apparently posed by Jeremy Thorpe at breakfast after the first time he had been to bed with Norman Scott.
Similarly, during the Profumo scandal, showgirl Mandy Rice Davies – when told that Lord Astor denied an affair or even having met her - replied ‘Well he would, wouldn’t he?’ Her witty and realistic observation achieved legendary status and it was later included in the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations.
Jack Profumo was forced to resign as War Minister after he admitted lying to the House of Commons with regard to an adulterous affair with the model and dancer Christine Keeler. As a British newspaper commented at the time ‘his behaviour was reprehensible but understandable – he had a successful career and a top ministerial position in the government and he was no doubt reluctant to see it all jeopardised by a few tumbles in the hay with a call girl.’
And in the same vein Jeremy Thorpe was also determined not to see his brilliant career jeopardised by his former lover’s allegations. Whether he determined that murder was the best way of silencing him – again ‘reprehensible but understandable’ - was not proved ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ when Thorpe and his three confederates appeared at the Old Bailey.
A key witness, Peter Bessel – a former friend and confidante of Thorpe in the Liberal Party – was comprehensively demolished as a reliable witness by defence counsel George Carman. Norman Scott was denounced by the judge as ‘a fraud, a sponger, a whiner and a parasite’. Thorpe he positioned as ‘a national figure with a very distinguished public record’ Andrew Newton, an airline pilot who claimed to have been hired to kill Scott, was written off as ‘a perjurer and a chump determined to milk the case as hard as he can.’
All four defendants were acquitted, but there was widespread scepticism about the verdict and Thorpe’s political career never recovered. Talking about the affair nine years later, he said ‘If it happened now I think the public would be kinder. Back then they were very troubled by it..it offended their set of values.’
Today’s more enlightened and tolerant attitudes amply confirm the accuracy of his prediction. People are no longer frightened to reveal their sexual preference and the individuals, male and female, who have ‘come out’ as being gay include pop and movie stars, TV presenters, actors, doctors, industrial and business high fliers and prime ministers. In the 21st century, Jeremy Thorpe, a respected and effective party leader, would not need to hide his private life.
Well written and well researched by Lewis Chester (originally in company with three other highly competent journalists from the Sunday Times), ‘Jeremy Thorpe - A Secret Life’ traces Jeremy’s meteoric rise to become one of Britain’s youngest ever political leaders. Sadly, it ended in scandal and disgrace at a time when male homosexuality had not long been decriminalised in Britain.
However, the book is a factual document and does not dwell on social or moral issues. And it does not comment on the outcome of the trial. Lewis Chester, Magnus Linklater and David May made it easy to understand why the Jeremy Thorpe affair has created such a powerful impact and endless fascination. The book records all of the many extraordinary ingredients in the Thorpe affair – hidden gay sex, incriminating letters, blackmail, fraud, payoffs, vengeance, paranoia and blatant lying. It also vividly confirms how one unfortunate relationship can destroy a life and career.
I bought ‘Jeremy Thorpe – A Secret Life’ at the time of the trial, but I have only just got round to reading it. I learned recently that the late Peter Cook did an amusing impression of the judge, Mr Justice Cantley. Although I haven’t seen it, I doubt if it could surpass the funniest comments on the case, made predictably by the satirical magazine ‘Private Eye’.
At the end of the trial the front cover showed Jeremy and wife Marion leaving the Old Bailey after the ‘not guilty’ verdict. The speech balloon from Jeremy read: ‘Buggers can’t be losers!’ and from Marion the words were: ‘You lucky sod! So the Thorpe affair also inspired British humour at its very best!
In 2016 a new book was published on the Thorpe affair, which has now been made into a TV miniseries. I gather that unlike ‘Jeremy Thorpe: A Secret Life’, this book by John Preston contains an in-depth examination of the human, behavioural and psychological issues surrounding the case. I look forward to reading it.
He was leader of the Liberal Party from 1967 until his resignation in 1976– prompted by an escalating scandal in the light of an alleged homosexual relationship with Norman Scott in the early 60’s. When the relationship cooled, Scott continually threatened to expose the affair, prompting Jeremy Thorpe to look at possible ways of getting rid of him.
Scott’s story was given strong credibility in view of the threat he represented to Thorpe’s career and reputation, and after police investigations he and three others were ultimately sent for trial at the Old Bailey in 1979 - on a charge of conspiring to murder Scott. By this time the story had become as sensational as the infamous Profumo affair of 1963 .
And like the Profumo affair, the Jeremy Thorpe trial maintained a massive presence in the British media, with quips and anecdotes from the trial abounding. During the trial I was playing the organ at a pub in London’s Walworth Road, and I remember the compere finishing one of his songs with ‘how do you like your eggs done? - a question apparently posed by Jeremy Thorpe at breakfast after the first time he had been to bed with Norman Scott.
Similarly, during the Profumo scandal, showgirl Mandy Rice Davies – when told that Lord Astor denied an affair or even having met her - replied ‘Well he would, wouldn’t he?’ Her witty and realistic observation achieved legendary status and it was later included in the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations.
Jack Profumo was forced to resign as War Minister after he admitted lying to the House of Commons with regard to an adulterous affair with the model and dancer Christine Keeler. As a British newspaper commented at the time ‘his behaviour was reprehensible but understandable – he had a successful career and a top ministerial position in the government and he was no doubt reluctant to see it all jeopardised by a few tumbles in the hay with a call girl.’
And in the same vein Jeremy Thorpe was also determined not to see his brilliant career jeopardised by his former lover’s allegations. Whether he determined that murder was the best way of silencing him – again ‘reprehensible but understandable’ - was not proved ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ when Thorpe and his three confederates appeared at the Old Bailey.
A key witness, Peter Bessel – a former friend and confidante of Thorpe in the Liberal Party – was comprehensively demolished as a reliable witness by defence counsel George Carman. Norman Scott was denounced by the judge as ‘a fraud, a sponger, a whiner and a parasite’. Thorpe he positioned as ‘a national figure with a very distinguished public record’ Andrew Newton, an airline pilot who claimed to have been hired to kill Scott, was written off as ‘a perjurer and a chump determined to milk the case as hard as he can.’
All four defendants were acquitted, but there was widespread scepticism about the verdict and Thorpe’s political career never recovered. Talking about the affair nine years later, he said ‘If it happened now I think the public would be kinder. Back then they were very troubled by it..it offended their set of values.’
Today’s more enlightened and tolerant attitudes amply confirm the accuracy of his prediction. People are no longer frightened to reveal their sexual preference and the individuals, male and female, who have ‘come out’ as being gay include pop and movie stars, TV presenters, actors, doctors, industrial and business high fliers and prime ministers. In the 21st century, Jeremy Thorpe, a respected and effective party leader, would not need to hide his private life.
Well written and well researched by Lewis Chester (originally in company with three other highly competent journalists from the Sunday Times), ‘Jeremy Thorpe - A Secret Life’ traces Jeremy’s meteoric rise to become one of Britain’s youngest ever political leaders. Sadly, it ended in scandal and disgrace at a time when male homosexuality had not long been decriminalised in Britain.
However, the book is a factual document and does not dwell on social or moral issues. And it does not comment on the outcome of the trial. Lewis Chester, Magnus Linklater and David May made it easy to understand why the Jeremy Thorpe affair has created such a powerful impact and endless fascination. The book records all of the many extraordinary ingredients in the Thorpe affair – hidden gay sex, incriminating letters, blackmail, fraud, payoffs, vengeance, paranoia and blatant lying. It also vividly confirms how one unfortunate relationship can destroy a life and career.
I bought ‘Jeremy Thorpe – A Secret Life’ at the time of the trial, but I have only just got round to reading it. I learned recently that the late Peter Cook did an amusing impression of the judge, Mr Justice Cantley. Although I haven’t seen it, I doubt if it could surpass the funniest comments on the case, made predictably by the satirical magazine ‘Private Eye’.
At the end of the trial the front cover showed Jeremy and wife Marion leaving the Old Bailey after the ‘not guilty’ verdict. The speech balloon from Jeremy read: ‘Buggers can’t be losers!’ and from Marion the words were: ‘You lucky sod! So the Thorpe affair also inspired British humour at its very best!
In 2016 a new book was published on the Thorpe affair, which has now been made into a TV miniseries. I gather that unlike ‘Jeremy Thorpe: A Secret Life’, this book by John Preston contains an in-depth examination of the human, behavioural and psychological issues surrounding the case. I look forward to reading it.
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