Ian Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll


Ian Douglas Campbell, 11th and 4th Duke of Argyll 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 born in Paris, France. He 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.

Personal life

Argyll was married four times. His first marriage was to the Honourable Janet Gladys Aitken, daughter of business tycoon and press baron Lord 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 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 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 having 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.
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. He died in a nursing home in Edinburgh. 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