Ian Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll

Ian Douglas Campbell, 11th and 4th Duke of Argyll (18 June 1903 – 7 April 1973) was a Scottish peer. He is chiefly remembered for his unhappy marriage to, and scandalous 1963 divorce from, Margaret Whigham.

Early life

Ian Douglas Campbell was the son of Douglas Walter Campbell and his wife Aimee Marie Suzanne Lawrence. He was a great-grandson of George Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll. He inherited the dukedom from his first cousin once removed, Niall Diarmid Campbell, 10th Duke of Argyll, in 1949.

Family

Argyll was married four times.^[1] His first marriage was to the Honourable Janet Gladys Aitken (9 July 1908 – 1988), daughter of business tycoon and press baron Lord Beaverbrook, on 12 December 1927. They had a daughter:

• Lady Jeanne Campbell (10 December 1928 – 4 June 2007) she married Norman Mailer in 1962 and they were divorced in 1963. They have one daughter. She remarried John Cram in March 1964. They have one daughter.

Ian and Janet divorced in 1934. Argyll's second marriage was to Louise Hollingsworth Morris Vanneck, née Clews (d. 10 February 1970), daughter of Henry Clews by his wife Louise Hollingsworth Morris (ex-wife 1894–1901 of Frederick Gebhard) of Baltimore, Maryland, and former wife of Hon. Andrew Vanneck (md 1930–1933) on 23 November 1935. This marriage produced two sons:

• Ian Campbell, 12th Duke of Argyll (28 August 1937 – 21 April 2001) he married Iona Colquhoun on 4 July 1964. They have two children:
  • Torquhil Campbell, 13th Duke of Argyll (29 May 1968)
  • Lady Louise Iona Campbell (26 October 1972) she married Anthony Burrell on 18 April 1998. They have two children:
    • Teale Iona Burrell (11 February 2005)
    • Albert Westray Burrell (4 February 2009)
• Lord Colin Ivar Campbell (b. 14 May 1946) he married Lady Colin Campbell on 23 March 1974 and they were divorced in 1975.

This marriage also ended in divorce, in 1951.

Argyll's third marriage was to Margaret Whigham (1 December 1912 – 25 July 1993), mother of the Duchess of Rutland, Frances Helen Sweeny, from her previous marriage to Charles Sweeny. They were married on 22 March 1951. Margaret was a glittering society figure with a voracious sexual appetite. Even while married to the Duke, she carried on affairs with men from actor Douglas Fairbanks Jr. to Duncan Sandys, the Minister of Defence. The marriage was childless and they divorced in 1963, after the Duke photographed one of her sexual exploits. In the infamous divorce proceeding, the Duke produced Polaroid photographs of the Duchess wearing only her signature triple-string of pearls while fellating an unidentified man. This naturally caused a stir in society, and the divorce was granted, though on grounds of adultery with a different man.^[2]

Argyll's fourth and final marriage was to Mathilda Coster Mortimer (20 August 1925 – 6 June 1997)^[3] on 15 June 1963. From this marriage he had a daughter:

• Lady Elspeth Campbell (29 April – 4 May 1967), who lived only five days.

They remained married until the Duke's death on 7 April 1973. He was succeeded by his son Ian.

While most Dukes and Duchesses of Argyll are buried at Kilmun Parish Church, the 11th Duke and his son, the 12th Duke, both chose to be buried on the island of Inishail in Loch Awe.

Ancestry

References

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Duke of Argyll
• Ian Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll