Prince Philip WAS named in top-secret FBI documents about the Profumo affair in the early 1960s

His role in one of the most notorious scandals of the 20th century has long been a source of speculation.

Now the Mail on Sunday can reveal that Prince Philip was named in top-secret FBI documents about the Profumo affair in the early 1960s.

The papers show the FBI had been told the Duke of Edinburgh was personally 'involved' with Christine Keeler and Mandy Rice-Davies, the two women at the centre of the sex scandal that brought down the government.

Files from the US Department of Justice show the crucial memo was written by J Edgar Hoover, then director of the FBI – and it can be revealed after a five-year quest by the MoS seeking relevant documents under American freedom of information laws.

At the heart of the scandal was the married secretary of state for war John Profumo, who had denied in the Commons in March 1963 that he had a sexual relationship with teenage showgirl Keeler. He was forced to resign months later when proof of the affair became public.

The scandal had national security implications because Keeler was also sleeping with Russian military attache Yevgeny Ivanov. 

In the fallout, well-connected osteopath Stephen Ward, who had introduced Keeler to Profumo at a party, was charged with living off the immoral earnings of Keeler and her friend Rice-Davies. He took a fatal overdose and died three days after he was convicted.

In the newly disclosed document, Thomas Corbally, a US businessman involved in industrial espionage, who agreed to be interviewed by the FBI about his friendship with Ward, makes the claim about Philip. 

A cable sent by Hoover to the US embassy in London on June 20, 1963 reads: 'Corbally also stated there was a rumour Prince Philip may have been involved with these two girls.'

Philip's links to the Profumo affair formed a key storyline in the Netflix series The Crown.

Sir Anthony Blunt, the Queen's curator of art later disclosed to be a Soviety spy, warns Philip that he will expose his relationship with Ward when the Duke tackles him over his treachery.

Philip had certainly had been in contact with Ward on a number of occasions and had even been sketched by the artist at Buckingham Palace 

In his evidence to the FBI, Corbally said he did not believe the charges against Ward.

Ward was was an unlikely associate of Christine Keeler or her friend Mandy Rice Davies. 

Keeler found herself living with Ward - in a non-sexual relationship - both at his London apartment in London and at his weekend cottage on the grounds of the Cliveden estate, home to the 3rd Viscount Astor. 

It was at one of many Cliveden pool parties that Ward fatefully introduced Keeler to John Profumo, the Secretary of State for War, and his wife, the actress Valerie Hobson 

Keeler had served four and a half months for perjury after being found to have falsely accused a man of assault at a friend's home. 

Unseen risque pictures of Keeler emerged in 2019, two years after the death of the 1960s glamour icon. 

The images of Keeler are believed to have been taken soon after the scandal, one in 1966 of her wearing only a pair of trousers.

Another even more revealing picture, seemingly from the same shoot, depicts a 24-year-old Keeler in a matching outfit with her bare back to the camera.

The images were taken by an unknown photographer while Keeler worked as a showgirl at the glamorous Murray's Cabaret Club in Soho, London.

A third photo, taken earlier in 1964, shows Keeler eating a chicken drumstick following her release from prison.