Ian Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll


Ian Douglas Campbell, 11th and 4th Duke of Argyll, was a Scottish peer and the Chief of Clan Campbell. He is chiefly remembered for his unhappy marriage to, and scandalous 1963 divorce from, his third wife, Margaret Whigham.

Early life

Ian Douglas Campbell was born in Paris, France. He was the son of Douglas Walter Campbell and his wife, Aimée Marie Suzanne Lawrence. His paternal grandfather, Lord Walter Campbell, was the third son of the 8th Duke of Argyll. Through his father, he was the great nephew of Queen Victoria's daughter Louise, who married John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll, the fourth Governor General of Canada. He was educated at Milton Academy in Milton, Massachusetts, United States and Christ Church, Oxford.
He served during the Second World War with the rank of captain in the 8th Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and saw combat during the Fall of France. Along with his GOC Maj. Gen. Victor Fortune, the war poet Aonghas Caimbeul and all surviving members of the 51st (Highland) Division, Captain Campbell surrendered to Wehrmacht General Erwin Rommel at Saint-Valery-en-Caux in Normandy on 12 June 1940. He was held as a prisoner of war until 1945.
He inherited the titles Duke of Argyll and Chief of Clan Campbell following the death of his first cousin once removed, the 10th Duke, on 20 August 1949.

Personal life

Argyll was married four times. He was known to be addicted to alcohol, gambling and prescription drugs amphetamine and barbiturates. The Duke was also accused of physical and emotional abuse by his wives, whose money he tried to use for maintaining Inveraray Castle. His five years of mental and physical abuse in Nazi captivity during World War II likely resulted in what is now known as PTSD, thereby adversely affecting his personality, marriages, family and personal relationships for the remainder of his life.
His first marriage was to Janet Gladys Aitken, daughter of business tycoon and press baron Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, on 12 December 1927. They had a daughter:
Ian and Janet divorced in 1934. Argyll's second marriage was to Louise Hollingsworth Morris Vanneck, née Clews, daughter of Henry Clews Jr. by his wife Louise Hollingsworth Morris of Baltimore, Maryland and former wife of Hon. Andrew Vanneck on 23 November 1935. This marriage produced two sons:
This marriage also ended in divorce, in 1951.
Argyll's third marriage was to Margaret Whigham, mother of Frances, Dowager Duchess of Rutland, from her previous marriage to Charles Francis Sweeny. They were married on 22 March 1951. Margaret was a glittering society figure. While married to the duke, she had affairs with other men including actor Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Duncan Sandys, the minister of defence. The marriage was childless and they divorced in 1963 after the duke found Polaroid photographs of her sexual activities with other men. In the divorce proceedings, the duke produced the photographs, which featured the duchess wearing only her signature triple-string of pearls while fellating an unidentified man. In hearings which gained much media attention, the divorce was granted, though on grounds of adultery with a different man.
Argyll's fourth and final marriage was to Mathilda Coster Mortimer on 15 June 1963. Mathilda, who was first married to Clemens Heller, founder of the Salzburg Global Seminar, a school in Salzburg, Austria, was the granddaughter of New York banker and clubman William B. Coster. From this marriage he had a daughter:
They remained married until the duke's death on 7 April 1973. They lived in a Paris apartment for years, visiting Scotland only briefly. He had spent much of his youth in France and he was bilingual.
He died in a private hospital nursing home in Edinburgh, from the effects of a stroke. He was succeeded by his son Ian.
While most dukes and duchesses of Argyll are buried at Kilmun Parish Church, Ian Campbell and his son, the 12th duke, both chose to be buried on the island of Inishail in Loch Awe.

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