GREAT BRITAIN WHILE THE PRISONER SKETCHED IN JAIL, HE LIVED LIKE THE 
PRINCE OF PONCES . FOR 56[ A DAY, HE WAS ABLE 
UNDER BRITISH PRISON REGULATIONS TO GET A CELL WITH A SOFT 
BED, A CARPET ON THE CONCRETE FLOOR, CURTAINS ON THE BARRED 
WINDOW, AN ARMCHAIR, AND ANOTHER PRISONER TO CLEAN UP AFTER HIM 
. DURING THE THREE WEEKS STEPHEN WARD WAS IN JAIL, JOHN 
PROFUMO HAD BEEN DISGRACED, EVGENY IVANOV EXPELLED FROM THE COMMUNIST PARTY 
AND PACKED OFF TO A RUSSIAN MENTAL HOSPITAL, AND CHRISTINE KEELER 
SUCCESSFULLY SCREEN-TESTED FOR THE PROPOSED " DRAMATIZED DOCUMENTARY " OF HER 
LIFE . BUT LAST WEEK ARTIST-OSTEOPATH WARD, THE FOURTH MEMBER OF 
WHAT LABOR PARTY LEADER HAROLD WILSON ELOQUENTLY CALLED " THIS DINGY 
QUADRILATERAL, " AT LAST HELD CENTER STAGE . HANDCUFFED AND WEARING 
SUNGLASSES, WARD STUCK HIS TONGUE OUT AT PHOTOGRAPHERS AS HE WAS 
LED INTO LONDON'S MARYLEBONE MAGISTRATES' COURT FOR A HEARING TO DECIDE 
WHETHER HIS CASE SHOULD BE REFERRED TO THE OLD BAILEY FOR 
TRIAL . THE CHARGE : EIGHT COUNTS OF PROCURING, LIVING OFF 
THE EARNINGS OF PROSTITUTES, RUNNING A BROTHEL AND ARRANGING ABORTIONS . 
IN HIS OPENING STATEMENT, PROSECUTOR MERVYN GRIFFITH-JONES WARNED THAT THE HEARING 
WOULD UNFOLD A " SOMEWHAT SORDID STORY . " IT WAS 
SORDID ALL RIGHT AND MORE THAN SOMEWHAT . SEE JIM . 
A PARADE OF GIRLS TALL, SHORT, BLOND, BRUNETTE, REDHEADED TOOK THE 
STAND . BUT, INEVITABLY, THE STAR WITNESSES WERE CHRISTINE KEELER AND 
MARILYN ( " MANDY " ) RICE-DAVIES . DURING CHRISTINE'S TESTIMONY, 
WARD QUIETLY SKETCHED HER FROM THE DOCK . CHRISTINE SAID THAT 
BETWEEN LOVERS OF HER OWN, SHE WOULD STAY PLATONICALLY WITH WARD 
AT HIS WIMPOLE MEWS FLAT . " WE WERE LIKE BROTHER 
AND SISTER, " SHE SAID, BUT FRATERNALLY, WARD KEPT HER SUPPLIED 
WITH MEN . " MY LIFE USED TO REVOLVE AROUND STEPHEN 
FROM THE MOMENT I GOT UP UNTIL THE MOMENT I WENT 
TO BED, " SHE SAID . " I THOUGHT I COULD 
NEVER STAND ON MY FEET UNLESS HE WAS THERE TO SUPPORT 
ME MENTALLY . " WARD TOLD HER IT WAS ALL RIGHT 
FOR A GIRL TO SLEEP WITH A MAN FOR MONEY AS 
LONG AS SHE DID NOT GET THE " PROSTITUTE MENTALITY . 
/ THOUGH PAYMENT FOR SERVICES RANGED UP TO $140, HALF OF 
WHICH USUALLY WENT TO WARD, SHE SAID : " I HAVE 
NEVER CONSIDERED MYSELF A CALL GIRL OR PROSTITUTE . " SOMETIMES 
WHEN WARD " COMPLAINED ABOUT HAVING NO MONEY, " CHRISTINE TESTIFIED, 
SHE WOULD SIMPLY SAY : " I'LL GO SEE JIM . 
" HE WAS A WEALTHY BUSINESSMAN, WHO HAD PAID HER " 
HUNDREDS OF POUNDS, " BUT THE NAME MIGHT WELL HAVE BEEN 
JACK . PROFUMO ALSO GAVE HER MONEY, " BUT NOT FOR 
MYSELF ; IT WAS FOR MY MOTHER . " MISS X 
. CHRISTINE SAID THAT SHE TOOK UP MODELING SO THAT SHE 
COULD KEEP MEETING GIRLS TO INTRODUCE TO WARD . OFTEN WHEN 
SHE AND WARD WERE OUT WALKING, / HE USED TO TELL 
ME WHICH GIRL HE LIKED IN A SHOP AND SAY " 
GO AND GET HER . " ' CHRISTINE WOULD INTRODUCE THE 
GIRLS TO WARD UNDER THE GUISE THAT HE WAS HER BROTHER 
OR THAT HE WANTED TO SKETCH THEM . WARD WOULD THEN 
SEDUCE THE GIRLS AND LATER DISCUSS THEIR TALENTS WITH CHRISTINE . 
/ HE USED TO SAY " THAT WAS WONDERFUL, " ' 
SHE SAID . " SHE'S GOOD, SHE'S NOT BAD, SHE'S FANTASTIC,' 
SOMETHING LIKE THAT . WHILE THE PRISONER SKETCHED ADD AS GRIFFITH-JONES 
AND HIS WITNESSES TOLD IT, WARD WAS OCCASIONALLY TURNED DOWN . 
ONCE A SHOPGIRL BALKED WHEN HE WANTED HER TO GO TO 
A PARTY " WHERE SHE WOULD SEE GIRLS TIED UP AND 
WHIPPED . / ANOTHER TIME, WARD TOLD A " YOUNG LADY 
OF THE UTMOST RESPECTABILITY, / SAID THE PROSECUTOR, THAT HE HAD 
A TWO-WAY MIRROR IN HIS FLAT THROUGH WHICH ONE COULD SEE 
INTO THE BEDROOM FROM THE LIVING ROOM, ADDED HE HOPED TO 
MAKE MONEY FROM PEOPLE WHO WOULD PAY TO WATCH . TAKING 
THE STAND HERSELF LATER, THE GIRL A TALL BRUNETTE WEARING SKI 
PANTS, IDENTIFIED ONLY AS A CERTAIN " MISS X " RECALLED 
TELLING WARD THAT SHE WAS NOT IN THE LEAST INTERESTED IN 
WATCHING THAT KIND OF THING . " MY DARLING, " WARD 
REPLIED, " I DON'T WANT YOU TO WATCH . I WANT 
YOU TO PERFORM . " ALWAYS BILL . PERHAPS THE MOST 
EXTRAORDINARY THING ABOUT ALL THIS WAS THE UNLIKELY ASSOCIATION BETWEEN WARD 
AND HIS ARISTOCRATIC FRIEND, VISCOUNT ASTOR . CHRISTINE STARTLED THE JAMMED 
COURTROOM BY TESTIFYING THAT WHEN SHE AND MANDY WERE ONCE SHARING 
A FLAT, THEIR RENT WAS PARTLY PAID BY NONE OTHER THAN 
ASTOR HIMSELF . SON OF COMBATIVE, CONVIVIAL NANCY ASTOR, BRITAIN'S FIRST 
WOMAN M.P., YOUNG ASTOR GREW UP AT THE CENTER OF BRITAIN'S 
SOCIAL AND POLITICAL WORLDS . HIS UNCLE IS PROPRIETOR OF THE 
LONDON TIMES, HIS BROTHER EDITOR OF THE OBSERVER . THE " 
CLIVEDEN SET " WAS FAMED IN THE '30S NOT ONLY FOR 
ITS APPEASING POLITICS BUT ITS INTELLECTUAL SPARKLE ; AND CHARMING, GENEROUS 
BILL ASTOR TRIED TO CARRY ON THE TRADITION . HIS CELEBRATED 
PARTIES FREELY MIXED WRITERS, ARTISTS, POLITICIANS AND ARISTOCRATS . BUT THE 
THRICE-MARRIED ASTOR (CURRENTLY TO BRONWEN PUGH, FORMER TOP LONDON MODEL) WAS 
NEVER REALLY INTELLECTUALLY ATTUNED TO HIS SOPHISTICATED CIRCLE, WHICH IS PERHAPS 
WHY HE ALLOWED WARD TO PENETRATE THE FRINGES OF THE CLIVEDEN 
SET AND RENTED HIM A COTTAGE ON THE GROUNDS . THE 
WORLDS OF THE ASTORS AND OF WARD FREQUENTLY OVERLAPPED IN THE 
GARDEN AND AT THE SWIMMING POOL, WHERE BILL ASTOR OFTEN SEEMED 
TO HAVE MORE FUN THAN WITH HIS OWN RESPECTABLE GUESTS . 
IN HER TESTIMONY, MANDY SAID THAT SHE HAD SLEPT WITH ASTOR 
. WARD ALWAYS SAID, MANDY DECLARED, THAT THOUGH HE DID NOT 
HAVE ANY MONEY, " WE HAVE ALWAYS GOT BILL, WHO CAN 
HELP US . " UNDER CROSSEXAMINATION, MANDY WAS TOLD THAT ASTOR 
HAD DENIED HER ALLEGATION . SHE REPLIED QUICKLY : " HE 
WOULD, WOULDN'T HE ? IN A LETTER TO THE TIMES, THE 
HEAD OF ONE LONDON MODEL SCHOOL PROTESTED AGAINST " THE NEW 
AND GROSSLY UNFAIR NEWSPAPER PRACTICE OF CALLING ANY WOMAN A " 
MODEL' WHO SO DESCRIBES HERSELF AND SO LIBELING THE PROFESSION . 
WITH FAR MORE JUSTIFICATION THAN THE NEWSPAPERS HAVE SHOWN, THE MODEL 
GIRLS OF THIS AGENCY ARE NOW REFERRING TO MISS KEELER AS 
THE " WELLKNOWN JOURNALIST . 