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In the Amazon Jungle

4/2/2023

Caroline Collett submitted this piece through a mutual friend. I found it so powerful and it told such an important part of Christine’s story and the complex way in which she is viewed, that I wanted it to go up on Christine’s website as part of her story.
In Caroline’s own words:

“The idea for this piece came whilst thinking about writing something completely different on Christine. For research, I’d gone to buy Christine’s autobiography on Amazon, only to find myself distracted by the huge number of reader reviews. Some reader comments were centred on the book’s literary value, but the vast majority were about Christine herself. It seemed that even in the 2000s, people couldn’t resist passing judgement on Christine, from the choices she made to her culpability for what happened around her to her personal ‘morality’ - or perceived lack of it. Even her beauty and intelligence were called into question by some. Whilst other readers were more sympathetic, they still sought to psychoanalyse and ‘own’ her in a different way.

Christine seems to endure in the public consciousness as a kind of lightning rod for other people’s projections, existing as she did on the cusp of two eras and claimed by both - simultaneously as a destroyer of the old order and a portent of the new. These projections probably reveal more about those making them than about her and I felt a strong urge to hold the commentary itself up for judgement. By arranging some of the most startling comments according by tone, I imagined Christine on trial once more, only this time at the mercy of the general public….’

Christine in the Court of Public Opinion

The Case for the Prosecution

‘Christine outlines the behavioural pattern of a stereotypical prostitute in which she uses men for money and favors, and makes judgmental errors all too familiar with women who use their body and looks in a self-destructive manner.’
(Fred Bilello)

‘I was born shortly after the Profumo affair and she was the reason I was brought up being told to never let people called me Christine, even by accident.’
(Chris Woods)

‘Keeler may not have taken her knickers off when she posed for the iconic 1963 portrait, but it was one of the few occasions when she didn’t do so at the earliest opportunity.’
(Neutral)

‘Attribute it to her background and nurturing or whatever, but from the very beginning she displays a very low level of morality.’
(Paul Dyer)

‘There's nothing very interesting about nudist parties or fellatio or powerful people driving posh cars when they go to visit their mistresses.’
(Jon G)
‘She was a spoiled brat, sleeping with rich men and persuading them to give her gifts and do favours for her.’
(Jon G)

‘It would appear from her own words that she slept with half of London.’
(Philip R Saunders)

‘Keeler as a young woman comes across as incredibly stupid, she really does make some very silly decisions for a hardened sex worker.’
(Alan Brown)

‘She claims in the book she is intelligent by quoting her IQ as 141, well why hasn’t she used this intelligence in her life?’
(Pat Clark)

‘Christine calling Mandy a tart demonstrates beyond the shadow of a doubt that it takes one to know one.’
(Fred Bilello)

‘There’s a lot of drama that could have been avoided but like a moth to a flame she sought it out.’
(Kat)

The Case for the Defence

‘Those of us who lived through that era will always remember her as vulnerable, and not at all the hard-hearted tart that the press often made her out to be.’
(Kenneth Barrett)

‘It was easy to point the finger and cast blame on Miss Keeler at the time, it sold papers, and kept the spotlight away from the main players, people more than happy to use young women for their own ends.’ (Jan Taylor)

‘The adult population saw Christine Keeler as the epitome of wickedness, "having seduced and destroyed one of our finest politicians." Even then I was at a loss to understand this point of view, Profumo being married, middle-aged and in a position of great authority whilst Christine Keeler was an 18 year old finding her way in the big city and following the example of the many rich and powerful people she was to meet.’ (Lizzie)

‘Exploitation of naïve young girl by those with power and titles, a cover up to protect those at the top, nothing changes.’
(Chiller)

‘Throw into the mix a couple of beautiful teenage girls (Christine Keeler and Mandy Rice-Davis) who also had associations with gangsters and racketeers and heaven forbid, sexual relations with black men, you had the full attention of a British public who didn’t know whether to be outraged or titillated by it.’
(Robin Webster)

‘Christine was blamed for all things in a world built for self-serving men.’
(John Towill)

‘She was swept into a world beyond her control at 16 and is a victim of what today we call 'slut shaming'.’ (Gary Selikow)

‘The biggest mistake she made was expecting these men to be honourable and honest.’
(Kat)

‘I truly feel for Ms. Keeler, who I must say was the epitome of gorgeousness and beauty, she was played like a violin.’
(Rebekah Robinson)

‘Throughout her life Christine was well and truly shafted by the establishment - in every sense. She deserved better.’
(stillalive)

‘This is a woman who didn’t hide her life or what she had done.’
(Janice Pardy)

‘Christine Keeler lit the fuse that sparked the sixties.’
(Brian Jones)

The Hung Jury

‘Very young. Immature and addicted to the adrenaline. Nevertheless, a survivor who wasn’t intimidated by the powerful men around her.’
(Kat)

‘On one level she could be seen as a victim of circumstances, but she also made her own lifestyle choices.’ (Robin Webster)

‘No doubt in my mind Christine lived an interesting life and at times difficult. A rough and treacherous childhood. But I felt she kept making silly mistakes and decisions.’
(Helen)

‘Christine Keeler comes across as a somewhat naive person who leads a disorganised life and is not a good money manager.’
(Hans Coster)

‘Attractive certainly, a street-fighter able to hold her own with the upper-crust, maybe.’
(David S)

‘At another level altogether, Christine's story, quite apart from issues of morality, is that of a person with a totally absented sense of personal identity. That in a nutshell is her crisis.’
(Strangerbird)

‘Some people still choose to rubbish Christine Keeler. I think simply staying afloat among such amoral ruthlessness factored with the choices she actually had in life, wins the day. And it seems she had a somewhat healthy appetite, so what?’
(Gentoo)

‘She admits she slept with men to better her lifestyle, she didn't ask for political secrets to be discussed in front of her.’
(April Axton)

‘Even though Christine was a bit naïve she did not deserve the treatment she received from some of the people she associated with.’
(Sue)

‘Christine Keeler's life is a representation of a changing society, one in which working-class youth, hitherto people with few choices about where to go and what to do in life, are suddenly confronted with multiple opportunities. One effect can be, as in Keeler's case, a paroxysm of self-doubt and indecision.’
(Strangerbird)

‘She appears to have been, always, infuriatingly unreliable, unpredictable, and unknowable.’
(Kenneth Barrett)

All quotes from Amazon reviews of ‘Christine Keeler’s The Truth at Last: My Story’ / ‘Secrets and Lies: The Trials of Christine Keeler’.
Idea / quote selection by Caroline Collett
Twitter: @CollettWriter

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