On the peak of the Chilly Warfare, in a rustic experiencing the ultimate throes of a post-war financial increase, one unusual man went on to play a central position in a scandal that introduced down the British authorities. In a grasp class of methods to get away with grand espionage, Hod Dibben coasted by means of hazard seemingly with none worry. The night time golf equipment of London, which have been the main target of our consideration thus far, are all underneath new possession after a collection of tragic deaths of their earlier homeowners and hostesses. As all the time, with something Horace Dibben did throughout this era, elite intercourse events and sadomasochistic orgies had been a key a part of what would finally turn into the Profumo Affair.
Constance Capes and the Mysterious Mr. Atherley
Stella Marie Capes was born on 9 Might 1941 in Sheffield, Yorkshire, to an single mom, Constance Capes. Though she was born Stella Marie Capes, the title she selected to make use of most frequently earlier than she met Hod Dibben was Mariella Capes. To know why “Mariella” Capes glided by so many various names—together with Mariella Novotny and Henrietta Chapman— it’s value revisiting a little-known anecdote regarding her mom, Constance Capes.
Mariella’s mom was born in Grimsby in 1903 and was concerned in a really curious and well-documented case in 1927 regarding a person who had additionally used a number of identities. Constance was twenty-four-years-old when she went to work as a secretary for a captivating fraudster named Mr. Reginald Winterburn Atherley. She was described in a Day by day Mirror article dated 5 October 1927 as a “fairly North-country typist” with the article describing how she had “a number of unusual experiences whereas she was performing as Mr. Atherley’s secretary on the 4 Winds caravan in Thirsk.” Constance Capes described in her personal phrases what occurred when she arrived in Thirsk after corresponding with Mr. Atherley:
“The wage he proposed was small, however he stated he would give me shares in his enterprise. I knew that 4 Winds was a caravan, however I didn’t comprehend it was his everlasting head-quarters. After I had labored 4 days with Mr. Atherley on the 4 Winds I felt compelled to depart.
Within the first place, it appeared a little bit an excessive amount of to count on a typist to work by day, and typically by night time, in a caravan located in a discipline removed from city. After I had been at 4 Winds two days a curious incident occurred which made me uncertain. It was on Sunday, September 18 when Mr. Atherley got here to my lodgings and instructed me that he had significantly injured a person together with his automobile. He urged me to return to the caravan, which I did. On the 4 Winds he received me to kind a letter to a girl in Southport stating that Mr. Winterburn was dying, and if she wished to ship him a message it could be delivered to him on regaining consciousness.
I then obtained the superb request to signal the letter as Mr. Winterburn’s non-public secretary. (I need to clarify that Mr. Atherley typically known as himself Mr. Winterburn. On the Tuesday he astonished me by asking me to signal most of his letters for him. I instructed him that I couldn’t put my title to a few of his correspondence, and remarked that I assumed I had higher go away. In consequence of this I left his service the identical day. In fact, I obtained no wage, however I used to be actually glad to be away from 4 Winds. Though I used to be in want of a job, I believe I acted for the most effective in leaving, and I’m positive each typist would have executed the identical.”
Constance Capes had had her first run-in with a conman on the 4 Winds caravan and it garnered her a whole lot of consideration. The curious case of Mr Winterburn Atherley and the 4 Winds caravan obtained a whole lot of protection within the Day by day Mirror, a lot in order that Atherley complained to the newspaper through his solicitors that the experiences about him had been each libellous and defamatory. But it surely was not solely a lone typist, Constance Capes, who was standing up for the reality, as there had been a variety of fraudulent incidents involving the illusive Mr. Atherley, together with with Captain Denis Ewart Bernard Kingston Shipwright, a former-MP who took it upon himself to confront the conman on a station platform, with the dialog being described as each “heated and futile.”
In response to Miss Capes recollections of her employment making the pages of one of the crucial in style newspapers on the time, Mr. Atherley’s solicitor despatched her a requirement, ordering her to return a pocket book wherein she had taken shorthand notes of Mr. Atherley’s enterprise letters. Constance was lauded publicly for her response, with the plucky younger woman stating:
“Re Word Ebook. I remorse being unable to accede along with your request, because the guide referred to, containing Mr. Atherley’s observe, is my property, a reality of which he’s conscious.”
Many different victims of Atherley’s fraudulent behaviour contacted the newspaper after they learn the Winterburn/Atherley tales, giving their very own expertise of this conman. This degree of publicity was in all probability one thing which a lowly typist akin to Miss Capes loved. In the identical yr that Constance uncovered Reginald Winterburn because the fraudster he was, the audacious conman was sentenced on 4 fees together with the assault of a woman named Beatrice Grey, impersonating the police, doing malicious damages to a police cell, and acquiring a driving licence after beforehand being disqualified. In courtroom, Winterburn described himself because the “Mysterious Mr. Atherley, the tremendous publicity agent” and when the magistrates had been leaving to think about their verdict, he supplied to learn his life’s historical past to the courtroom and even went on to sing a hymn for the baffled onlookers.
Did the extravagant real-life adventures of Reginald Winterburn encourage the daughter of Constance Capes in the direction of an identical future? Not a lot else is thought about Mariella’s mom, besides that she by no means married and the truth that Christine Keeler, the wily central determine within the Profumo Affair, who was a pal of Mariella Capes, referred to Mariella’s mom as “a whore.” Nevertheless, no proof but exists that Constance Capes engaged in such exercise. Mariella was born two years into World Warfare II and her mom was by no means married. Given the time interval, that would have been sufficient for any woman to obtain a unfavorable status. But, Mariella herself would haven’t any qualms about being concerned within the types of actions which might result in such title calling.
On 7 October 1940, Mariella’s mom is famous as “Miss Constance Capes” within the Day by day Mail Newspaper whereas attending the marriage of her sister, Alice Capes. Roughly eight months later, Constance Capes gave delivery to one of the crucial well-known vixens of the twentieth century. The following time Constance Capes was to be talked about within the British press was within the Day by day Telegraph on 6 June 1961. In that article, Constance and Hod Dibben are reported as assembly with Mariella as she arrived into Southampton on the Queen Mary after a number of intelligence companies had coordinated to smuggle her out of the US.
The Hod Couple
By 1958, Mariella Capes was forged within the Folie Bergère London revue—a type of theatrical leisure consisting of quick sketches, songs, and dances—known as Ah, Quelle Folie, at age 17. On 30 January 1958, it was introduced in The Stage journal that the French revue was heading for the West Finish. The Folies Bergère was a cabaret music corridor which was positioned within the 9th Arrondissement in Paris. It had opened in 1869 and was famed for that includes raunchy nude cabaret, one thing which England within the late Fifties was nonetheless not fairly prepared for culturally talking.
Jules Borkon who was representing the homeowners of the world rights of the official Folies Bergère introduced that James Laurie was to current the present in London, with rehearsals had been deliberate for March of 1958. Laurie must delay the manufacturing by a couple of months as he additionally had one other curious worldwide mission to cope with first. In April 1958, it was reported within the Stage that:
“In July, Mr. Laurie goes to Australia to current his spouse, Rosina Raisbeck, on a three-month live performance tour and within the autumn he has plans for presenting an American opera star behind the Iron Curtain.”
By June, the revue of Ah, Quelle Folie, had begun receiving unfavorable consideration from one of many highest workplaces in the UK. The Day by day Information newspaper primarily based in London reported that: “Adjustments have been ordered by the Lord Chamberlain’s workplace within the Folies Bergere revue, Ah, Quelle Folie, as a result of open tonight on the Winter Backyard Theatre, Drury Lane.” The demand had come on the opening night time of the present on 28 June 1958, and, if the required adjustments weren’t made, the present wouldn’t be allowed to proceed. James Laurie could be quoted as saying: “We’ve made minor modifications principally regarding the nudes.” A type of nudes was a really younger Mariella Capes, who was nonetheless a minor. She was additionally for use to promote the raunchy cabaret, with an image of her adorning web page 2 of the Day by day Mirror and an accompanying paragraph describing her “Edwardian strip-tease” and referring to Mariella Capes as “half-dressed in a coral pink negligee.”
By August 1958, the Individuals newspaper was describing the Folies Bergère dancers as “Offended refrain ladies” after James Laurie demanded that they decide to “pack drills” to enhance their performances after the women had been discovered to be going to “so many events and getting so little sleep that their dancing was struggling.” Simply two months later, the Day by day Herald was reporting on the flagging act underneath the headline: “Nude-show man denies close-down,” describing the act as costing £40,000 to supply and insisting that James Laurie denied that the present was closing, the reporter, Mike Nevard, states:
“Mr. Laurie is considering the women. And if audiences don’t come as much as scratch within the close to future, ladies like Mariella Capes will likely be trooping to the closest employment bureau.”
The present was famous within the latter article as operating for under 4 months earlier than it flopped. But, Mariella Capes was hardly heading to an employment bureau in the hunt for work. As a substitute, she was quickly to wed none apart from Hod Dibben, who would later make Mariella Capes one of the crucial well-known ladies on this planet.
In an article entitled “Membership Boss To Wed Waitress”, the Sunday Mirror on 24 January 1960 continued with the weird plugging of the life and instances of Horace Ronald Dibben. On this event, reporter Matt White was despatched to seek out out about Horace Dibben’s new younger lady-friend. After giving a quick recap of how Hod had beforehand made his former ward Patsy Morgan-Dibben into an enthralling younger woman, White writes:
“Patsy Morgan-Dibben, the lady who was the topic of his first experiment and added his title to her personal, left him three years in the past – after he made her into the Hostess with the Mostest in London’s West Finish. Patsy’s Successor is blonde, Czech-born Mariella Capes. Dibben met her six weeks in the past when he marketed for ladies to work in his new Mayfair membership, The Black Sheep.”
The story of how Hod and Mariella met is tough to take significantly and was probably instructed to the media with a purpose to obfuscate the true nature of their first encounter. Per this narrative, Mariella had apparently gone for her job interview on the Black Sheep as a result of she thought they wanted dancers. She was quickly to find that they wanted waitresses quite than dancers. Nevertheless, the article goes on to state: “She was so short-sighted she was unable to see clients making an attempt to draw her consideration.” It was additionally reported that Hod’s enterprise accomplice fired Mariella in consequence, after which level she went weeping to Horace Dibben. Hod, being a “gentleman,” instructed her that he’d wish to marry her. She had already stated sure, however it’s then reported that Dibben purchased Mariella a pair of spectacles so she might see him correctly. The article reads:
“She blinked at him, took in his mutton chop whiskers and stated:- ‘I nonetheless love you. And I can’t wait until March. Let’s get married straight away.’ So the date was introduced ahead to subsequent Friday.”
The article solely will get extra tongue in cheek, with Hod Dibben being quoted as saying:
“By giving her these glasses, I’ve opened the world round her. Mariella will tour hairdressers and wonder salons till we discover a hair-style and make-up which fits her greatest. She will likely be taught to sing – her voice is sweet, however wants coaching – and there will likely be classes in deportment and vogue.”
An image of Mariella Capes ran alongside the article, displaying her biting the temple tip of her model new spectacles. The Day by day Information in London reported the shotgun marriage ceremony of Mariella Capes and Horace Dibben on Saturday 30 January 1960, in a small piece entitled: “Bride of 18 strikes right into a mansion.” There it was reported that Horace Dibben had purchased her a “40-room, sixteenth-century mansion close to Pentworth, Sussex.” The earlier article can be the primary time wherein Horace Dibben’s son from his first marriage is talked about, stating: “By his earlier marriage Mr. Dibben has a son who’s 12 years older than his bride.” On the identical day, the Day by day Mirror additionally printed an article in regards to the marriage ceremony which describes Mariella Capes as an: “Eighteen-year-old ex-Folies nude.”
This story of how the completely satisfied couple met could seem trite to us now, but it surely appeared to resonate with publications and readers around the globe, with numerous articles about their romance showing even in American native newspapers in locations akin to Arizona, Tennessee, and Indiana, to call a couple of. One article on 1 February 1960 within the Yuma Day by day Solar and Arizona Sentinel acknowledged that the couple had giggle matches at their marriage ceremony ceremony, with the article reporting on how the priest (known as “the preacher” within the American newspapers) warned them: “It is a severe event. You’ll have to depart if this doesn’t cease.” It was additionally stated that Mariella, who was carrying a 200 year-old engagement ring given to her by Hod, was devastated when their spectacular multi-tiered marriage ceremony cake turned out to be filled with sawdust. It appeared that a whole lot of their marriage ceremony pomp was, in truth, only for present.
Ward, Dibben and Sugden – The Society Sexmen
Hod Dibben and Mariella Capes quickly grew to become a severe partnership, a power to be reckoned with, however it could be a pal of theirs who made their fetish periods an enterprise with the facility to take down a authorities. For many individuals, Stephen Ward, sometimes called the “society osteopath”, is remembered as the unfortunate patsy within the “Profumo Affair”, a particularly well-documented intercourse scandal which resulted within the downfall of the British authorities.
Stephen Ward was the son of Canon Arthur Evelyn Ward who was, till his loss of life in 1944, the Canon of Rochester Cathedral. Stephen Ward studied to change into a physician of osteopathy in America, attending the College of Minnesota. But, certainly one of Dr. Stephen Ward’s many notable skills was sketching. Throughout his lifetime of sketching, Ward would sketch portraits of the Duke of Edinburgh, Princess Marina, Lord Snowden, the Duke and Duchess of Kent and plenty of others. Ward could have been near Hod and Mariella and a particular intercourse addict, although he wasn’t a giant fan of Dibben’s satanic-themed intercourse events which had been being held for London’s elite.
Horace Dibben was unconventional in virtually each doable method, as was his relationship with Mariella Capes. They’d additionally forge some very unconventional relationships after they had been formally wed. In Douglas Thompson’s guide, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, Hod Dibben is talked about on quite a few events, with the creator quoting a enterprise accomplice of Hod’s, Mary Sykes, who acknowledged:
“There wasn’t a lot to not like about Stephen [Ward] – he pursued his pursuits with none disgrace. As, in fact, did Dr. Ward’s shut pal Hod Dibben, who had three custom-made leather-based fits: two in black, one in light pink. He stated the leather-based intensified the pleasure when he was caned or, ideally, birched. It was so nice he didn’t thoughts an excessive amount of the chafing of the fits between his legs: ‘not so dangerous, in case you use a number of talc – Johnson’s child powder is greatest.’”
Thompson follows this quite revealing quote by writing:
“The pink-bottomed Dibben was the charming raconteur of White Horse Road. He spoke extremely of {the teenager} he married at Caxton Corridor on 29 January 1960: ‘She ties me to a chair in my leather-based swimsuit, whips me after which makes me watch her screwing another person.’ Beautiful pleasure, he introduced, including: ‘I’m showering her with items – nothing is simply too good for this glorious lady.’”
Thompson goes on to jot down:
“The one factor his bride (we’ll name her Mariella, for brevity) by no means received up shut and intimate with was the reality about herself. Stella Capes, aka Mariella Capes, aka Maria Novotny, aka Henrietta Chapman is up there as a marvel of the world. She had a reputation for all seasons, a kink for all takers, a proof for the whole lot.”
The identical guide would additionally quote the famend London gangster Bobby McKew and his expertise with Mariella Capes, stating:
“‘The one factor that was constant about Mariella,’ stated Bobby McKew, who knew her properly, ‘was that she wore her hat always – she by no means took it off. As soon as I used to be having a drink with this quite upper-class chap, who instructed me he was assembly his new girlfriend, Henrietta Chapman. Would I like to fulfill her? I assumed nothing of it and went with him and there was Mariella. I stated: “Whats up, Mariella.” She smiles sweetly: “Oh, I’m so sorry. I’m Henrietta. You’re the third individual this week to make that mistake – we should look very alike.” She was very good. She was sitting there smiling and carrying the hat she’d been carrying the night time earlier than once I noticed her stark bare at an orgy. She was a one. She was actually particular – she was meant to be the President of some-where’s daughter but it surely was all bollocks, she was from Sheffield. However she turned everyone on, everyone the wrong way up.”
For such a younger woman, it appeared prefer it was second nature for Mariella to wrap very rich and highly effective males round her little finger. The latter quote from Bobby McKew got here with an anecdote of how she had as soon as “put a needle by means of the window cleaner’s bollocks when he tried to fuck her,” additionally noting that the window cleaner was an “affiliate of the British Safety Companies” and had admitted that “he thought it was well worth the danger.”
Douglas Thompson once more quoted Bobby McKew in relation to the intercourse events which Hod Dibben ran:
“‘He had a troublesome struggle, all these males within the skies did. That form of factor makes you need to get on with life shortly – Hod simply did it at double time. For a [Plymouth] Brethren boy, he actually ran probably the most elaborate intercourse events in London. You by no means knew who you would possibly see there. Black magic and males in masks and peacocks wandering round had been all at events organised by Hod, not Stephen Ward. Stephen went to among the events however he wasn’t organising them. For many people, it was curiosity. They had been occurring throughout city however Hod’s had been particular, he had one thing for everyone.’”
Hod Dibben all the time had a eager eye on no matter was occurring at his events. Even when Gypsy Riley, the accomplice of notorious London gangster Billy Hill, went to the bathroom at certainly one of Hod’s gatherings, she was met with Hod’s eye’s watching her by means of spy-holes. Bobby McKew would later recant: “You couldn’t rise up to something with out Hod seeing. Even having a pee.”
Stephen Ward and Hod Dibben grew to become thick as thieves, so to talk, with the pair assembly up often in Knightsbridge and sustaining shut connections with Dr. Teddy Sugden who, whereas Ward was often known as the “society osteopath”, Sugden was the “society abortionist”. These three males had been helping the elites of London with the whole lot from illicit hookups and intercourse gatherings, all the best way to elaborate satanic-themed intercourse events and secret abortions, they knew everybody’s secrets and techniques. Edward “Teddy” Charles Sugden was rumoured to carry out 15 abortions a day throughout a time when abortions had been unlawful in Britain. For lots of the gangland pimps, Teddy was a miracle employee, famend for having the ability to abort a child and get the women again to work virtually instantly. These three males had burrowed out a distinct segment for themselves, Hod Dibben because the grasp of ceremonies, Stephen Ward as a excessive flying pimp, and Sugden because the clean-up crew for any undesirable pregancies. However none of those males might have gained any of this energy if it wasn’t for the women and long-queues of paying punters.
Sugden was one other very unusual character. He was stated to have two distinguishing options; one being that half his face was paralysed which apparently left him wanting as if he was all the time smiling; and the opposite was that he was sexually aroused by ladies committing intercourse acts on reptiles. Mariella described him as a “150-guinea man” and Lillian Pizzichini claims in her guide, The Novotny Papers, that:
“His unlawful abortion clinic specialised in society women, actresses and whores pimped by gangsters who ran Soho. He assured that he might get them again to work inside the day.”
The latter guide additionally claims that the night time earlier than her marriage ceremony to Hod Dibben, Sugden requested Mariella if he might watch whereas she simulated intercourse with a python. Though there are different witnesses to back-up the declare that Sugden had such serpentine peccadilloes, it’s also clear for many researchers that Mariella instructed as many falsehoods as she instructed truths. For such a younger woman, Mariella Capes had a whole lot of very unusual associations and experiences. Nevertheless, as soon as she had married Hod, her experiences solely grew to become extra profound, extra protracted, and extra Profumo.
The primary cause why a lot of the characters on this collection ended up lifeless or disappeared appears to be their widespread connection, the London night time golf equipment that they had been concerned with or frequented. One factor was sure in London in the course of the late-Fifties, the gangland villains had been taking on the city. Hod Dibben had moved his operation over to the Black Sheep and soon-after the Kray twins purchased a stake in Esmeralda’s Barn. It was the primary time that the gangsters of the East Finish of London had began to overtly transfer into the West Finish scene. In truth, you couldn’t personal a membership in London by the early 60’s in case you weren’t paying safety cash to one of many many organised racquets. The one group with sufficient energy throughout this period to trump the gangland villains had been the intelligence companies, and so they had been about to play their arms and take management of the London scene.
As for Mariella Capes, she would finally meet a really uncommon and unhappy finish, drowning in jelly, we’ll examine that quickly.
