7904 Keeler was my mother’s prison number at Holloway Prison back in 1963 - she was 7904 Keeler. Seems appropriate with all the work going on to show she should never have been given that number. It has been over a year since we filed the paperwork, and every few months I get an update from the CCRC (Criminal Cases Review Commission) that lets me know they are still looking at my mother’s case or they are pulling together some additional information. Sometimes I can hear my mother saying, “Come on, don’t be slow, be like Elvis. Go Go Go!” which was something she used to say to a pot of cold water that she was boiling for tea. But every time I get an email from the CCRC I get a terrible feeling of dread, what are they going to say? I hope it isn’t “Sorry we can’t help you”. These are just nerves, the same nerves you get before finding out exam results or a meeting with a doctor after doing a round of tests. Most recently an email landed in my inbox from the CCRC with a few more questions and an update on some of the things they are doing. It sounded really positive. In reply to the questions from the CCRC, I ended the letter with: As I grew up my mother would tell me, and particularly the people around me, like my friends, my wife… that she should never had gone to prison but she found it so hard to articulate why, to her it was so complex with so many characters but what we now see in the material we have provided is that it was simple – she pleaded guilty when she was not guilty, and she deserves to be exonerated. In her will she asked me to tell the truth about her life. I know that she was once famous and involved in a great scandal, but she told that story herself. She wanted somebody to tell this story of her innocence. I hope you will agree. I am hopeful that this journey to prove that my mother should not have gone to prison is nearing its end. The CCRC seem to be doing a thorough review of her case, and that can only be a good thing. It’s also been a few months since my last story. There are lots of reasons why: I have moved house, started a new job, and writing can be quite hard. Unlike my mother who was a great speller, I am a little bit dyslexic, so it takes me a little longer to get ideas on to the page. Once I start, I can tap away, but when I read it back, what I thought I wrote is not always what is on the page! I am often asked about my family and where are they now? My mother has two half-brothers and a half-sister on her father’s side, and that is the only family I have any contact with now. I found out recently that when my mother and father were married in 1971, none of his family came to the wedding because of who she was. His mother and father did not approve - marrying Christine Keeler was an embarrassment to them. In fact, that embarrassment would mean I never met his mother. He had brothers and sisters and uncles and aunts, and I never met any of them. It seemed that because my mother was Christine Keeler I would never meet any of my father’s family. Except one time, and I was taken to meet his father. My parents went through a very bad divorce soon after they were married, so bad that I was made a ward of court. It was years before I saw my father. In fact my first memory of him was when I was about nine. My mother had a chance meeting with him. I think they talked and agreed it would be a good idea for him to meet his son. I also think this was about paying maintenance. So one day my mother asked me, “Do you want to meet your father?” And I started seeing him on the odd Saturday and my father started paying £11 per week maintenance. I was underperforming in school and struggled to read or write. My mother had really struggled financially for a number of years and we were poor, even with the new maintenance payment. Like many of the kids at that time whose parents were poor, my clothes were from a charity shop.
Then, unlike other poor kids, the following year I was sent to a boarding school to learn to read and write and study some Latin. I never met any of the other Platts. I never thought of my father’s parents as grandparents, I just don’t have that connection. His father was an old man when I met him and he died when I was about 18. There was a funeral, but I wasn’t invited. My mother was as good as she could be about it all. She said, “They are from money… It’s the way they are”. I think I felt a little ashamed, but not of Christine Keeler. The whole thing caused my mother a lot of pain. She didn’t blame herself, how could she, but she didn’t like it. What if she hadn’t gone to prison, would her husband’s parents have gone to the wedding? Probably not, but maybe they would have turned up and sat outside the church, or maybe at the very least gone to the reception. It was 1971 after all.
6 Comments
Terry
20/8/2023 09:54:59 pm
I have read many books about Christine and have always been on her side. It is the same today nearly impossible to take on the establishment and get any kind of justice.Christine is an iconic figure in British history and should be remembered for the mistreatment she was given for being a female
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Seymour
21/8/2023 01:12:59 pm
Thank you
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DC
20/8/2023 11:13:53 pm
Thank you Seymour for this update and insight into your fathers side of the family and connection or lack of you had with them. Perhaps next, when you get time, you can discuss your mothers side of the family, it always struck me of how ironic it was that your mum purchased a house for her mum but ended up penniless at one point, was the favour ever reciprocated when she was is most need? And perhaps some non sensitive info on your brother and what became of his relationship with your mum and indeed yourself. DC
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Hi DC
21/8/2023 01:15:42 pm
No reciprocation there I am afraid.
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Suzanne Monaghan
21/8/2023 04:50:38 pm
Hi Seymour,
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Christopher D
28/8/2023 05:34:24 pm
Thanks for the update Seymour. The CCRC have had some bad press lately so it’s good to hear they are still working hard on your case. You are not alone in being nervous, as there are many of us anxiously awaiting the outcome.
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AuthorSeymour Platt - Son of Christine Keeler Archives
November 2023
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