The Montagu Case: A Peer of the Realm Caught in a Gay Sex Scandal

Two corrections: The pronunciation of Beaulieu is closer to "B-you-ly" or BYOO-lee. In the episode, I mention that the age of consent was 16. That was the age of consent for heterosexuals only. Homosexuality was illegal across all ages until a minor reform in 1967. The Sexual Offences Act 1967 legalized homosexual acts between two men over 21 in private. This did not apply to the armed forces or the merchant navy. Lesbian acts were never criminalized, so there was no legal age of consent.  In the spring of 1953, four men, including a British lord and two RAF officers, would become the focus of a national homosexual sex scandal—one that would destroy reputations, shock the country, and ultimately help change the law. From the moment I read about this scandal many years ago, I was fascinated. As an American, I have to confess, I cannot fully understand the British class situation. It seems that Lord Montagu's penchant for surrounding himself with "commoners" seemed to alarm those in his social strata to such a degree that open season was declared on him and any of the lower orders around him. Montagu and Peter Wildeblood were from similar backgrounds, but when Wildeblood and his RAF boyfriend spent the weekend at Montague's estate, the event presented the perfect opportunity to come down hard on Montagu.  The result was something of a show trial with a preordained conclusion. That level of invasion of privacy led to a change in the law.