This is a documentary about scandal, but how much scandal is there here, really? Lord Boothby was a flamboyant character who although a bit too over the top to hold the highest political office was tailor made for the emerging medium of television. He was also bisexual. Today, this would mean nothing, but in the 1960s, men who had sex with other men were targeted by the police, when they had nothing better to do, which was most of the time. Even when this documentary was made, 1997, there was still a whiff of taboo about homosexuality, but who would bat an eyelid today?
Part of the scandal is that Boothby associated with the notorious Kray twins, one of whom was homosexual. The fact that two homosexuals know each other socially or even associate does not of course mean they had a sexual relationship, but even if they did, so what?
There is a lot of innuendo here about Boothby and Ronnie Kray procuring underage boys together, and much is made of him standing by Kray when the twins had some trouble with the law. Some would call that loyalty. In any case, the Krays were minor celebrities, and it is doubtful if Boothby had any idea of the full extent of their criminality.
People will gossip, however. Of course, most of the claims made in this programme can neither be proved nor disproved, probably some are partly true, some are totally true, and others fantasy. In spite of the Summer of Love, the Sixties, especially prior to 1967, was a time of crass hypocrisy, indeed the Profumo scandal even gets a mention here, one that had even less substance, in spite of its leading to the suicide of Stephen Ward.
Part of the scandal is that Boothby associated with the notorious Kray twins, one of whom was homosexual. The fact that two homosexuals know each other socially or even associate does not of course mean they had a sexual relationship, but even if they did, so what?
There is a lot of innuendo here about Boothby and Ronnie Kray procuring underage boys together, and much is made of him standing by Kray when the twins had some trouble with the law. Some would call that loyalty. In any case, the Krays were minor celebrities, and it is doubtful if Boothby had any idea of the full extent of their criminality.
People will gossip, however. Of course, most of the claims made in this programme can neither be proved nor disproved, probably some are partly true, some are totally true, and others fantasy. In spite of the Summer of Love, the Sixties, especially prior to 1967, was a time of crass hypocrisy, indeed the Profumo scandal even gets a mention here, one that had even less substance, in spite of its leading to the suicide of Stephen Ward.