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hé put the telephone down Christine Keeler said, “1 think you have asked for £5,000. How much is the house going to cost? ” The said, “ £2,000 up to £3,000". She said, “It will cost me £500 yd away in America. I would like to have something to come back to. Ia 105. I would like to say, in fairness to Christine Keeler’s solicitor, that he had only been brought into the case at very short notice and had no time to reflect. It was 8 situation entirely out of the ordinary. He told me he thought the £5,000 was nothing to the persons concerned and it did seem a pfetty fair estimate of what Christine Keeler would be involved in Having seen him, I am sure he had no intention to extort and ought fairly to be excused for what does look, I confess, at first sight a most unjustifi- able suggestion. ne too _ 106. As for Christine Keeler, it is only fair to say that, if she had been minded to blackmail, Mr. Profumo, she would probably have kepi the ‘Darling’ Jetter herself and not handed it over to the Sunday Pictorial. Further, I would record her statement to me: When £3,000 was mentioned, she says, “I said No, and I know this sounds wicked, I said £5,000 because 1 wanted to move my parents, you see, so I do admit that I did say to. raise it. . . . It was not a matter of blackmail. [ would have asked for £50,000 if it was.” Let no one judge her too harshly. She was not yet 21. And since the age of 16 she had become enmeshed in a net of wickedness. I would credit her, too, with a desire only for a fair recompense and not an intention to extorL 107. Jt is quite clear that after the telephone conversation on 4th February, 1963, Mr. Profumo’s solicitors had no negotiations with Christine Keeler or anyone on her behalf to pay her any money. But Stephen Ward’s counsel! had negotiations with Christine’s solicitors to which I must now turn. (viii) Negotiations with Stephen Ward 108. On the next day, Sth February, 1963, Christine Keeler’s solicitor was speaking, he told me, to Ward’s counsel on another matter, and afterwards they got on to the subject of Christine. Christine’s solicitor said he was acting for her and said, “She says she would like to have five” (meaning £5,000). Stephen Ward’s counsel (presumably acting on behalf of Stephen Ward) said, “Oh, I am sure that will be all right, I will let you know ”. Christine’s solicitor said it was most urgent. That afternoon Christine's solicitor went and collected £50 in cash from Stephen Ward’s counsel. Christine's solicitor gave her £26 of the £50 and she agreed not to go to the White House (the flat provided by the newspaper) and did not go. Next day Christine’s soliciter went to collect the balance of the-£5,000, as he thought. Stephen Ward’s counsel gave him a packet which he opened. Inside was £450. It then became clear, he told me, that when he had said “five” on the telephone, Stephen Ward’s counsel hed thought he meant £500, not £5,000. Christine’s solicitor said he could not take tai He went back and told her what had happened. She thought she hall. tricked. She would not dream of accepting the money. She would. pels is the last the solicitor saw of her. — 7 ee 109. Stephen Ward’s counsel gave me an account which corresponded in most of the essentials. He told me that when Christine’s solicitor said she wanted “ five in expenses ”, he took it to mean £500, not £5,000. This accorded 35 ° ~ 7 a ee - Ae c