Great-nephew of MP who faked death in 1974 says there was psychological grooming by Czech spies but no honeytrap. For months he went round London alone, pretending to be Mr Markham or Mr Mildoon: into numerous banks, embassies and government agencies as he prepared for a new life in Australia. They said a girl lived there, and read out some names. . 'The fact of the matter is nobody's learned anything from history', Hayes said, drawing parallels to the current political landscape. After her education could be finished, she started her serious job. Despite the age gap and Stonehouse's frequent philandering, she fell in love with him and married him in 1981 after he divorced his wife Barbara. According to the series, Stonehouse, a high-ranking official in Harold Wilsons administration, faked his death by swimming into the sea after disappearing from the beach of a lavish resort in Florida circa November 1974. A committed supporter of developing nations, he had in 1971 helped set up the Bangladesh Fund a way of allowing Bengali citizens living in the UK to support their government in exile. Thats why Im quite certain that a honeytrap was never on the agenda, he said. Starring Matthew Macfadyen as Stonehouse, the drama tells the story of how the MP vanished from a Florida hotel . The most recent series, Stonehouse, which dramatizes the lives and events surrounding the greatJohn Stonehouse, who has been the Labour minister,has revived memories of the seemingly unforgettably shocking event that shook the nation. Stonehouse recounted the outrageously true story of high-flying Labour MP John Stonehouse (played by Matthew Macfadyen), who attempted to make a fresh start after seemingly drowning off a beach in Miami back in 1974. 'I can't take it any more,' he'd told her. Heres a look at his family and what happened to his four children following his scuppered plans to fake his death and start a new life in Australia. Anybody on any of his numerous flights could have recognised him. According to the book Stonehouse: Cabinet Minister, Fraudster and Spy by Johns great nephew Julian Hayes, neither Sheila nor Barbara wanted to let go of the MP despite his misdeeds. In a trick borrowed from Frederick Forsyth's Day of the Jackal, he obtained fake passports using birth certificates of two dead constituents and wired himself money in their names in Australia as he embarked on a new life. Two days later, while my mother was trying to contact her, Sheila arrived at Copenhagen airport to find my father sitting in the arrivals lounge looking pale, thin and nervous. John married his mistress, Sheila Elizabeth Buckley, in Hampshire on January 31, 1981. Within a fortnight he was caught due to a suspicious Melbourne bank teller (and initially suspected of being the fugitive Lord Lucan, who had disappeared a fortnight earlier). My father would later acquire copies of birth certificates for both Clive Mildoon and Joseph Markham, and falsely obtain one passport in the name of Markham. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. Buckley has rarely spoken about that relationship but did talk briefly about his declining health in 1978 after the politician experienced a series of heart attacks while in prison. 'It's little wonder nobody has any respect or indeed any trust in the political establishment. 4 January 2023. Stonehouse subsequently faced a 68-day trial, making the longest dock statement in British history, lasting six days the ancient right was later abolished as a result. In 1988, he died after a heart attack, aged 62. 'As a British diplomat reported back to Downing Street at the time: 'Although remarkably attractive and seemingly composed, [Sheila] is really rather a silly person who has been brought to her present situation by infatuation with Mr Stonehouse', Hayes writes in his new book. But a slow insidious step-by-step persuasion to cooperate worked. She only found out John had been having an affair after he went missing and she was contacted by a newspaper reporter asking about a rented flat in Westminster. When asked if the real-life figures had seen the series or had a say in the making of it, John revealed that he had spoken to John's daughter Julia: "I had one brief meeting with Julia Stonehouse quite a long time ago. Barbara was left deeply upset by the admission but also told Sheila how John had had many affairs in the past. Without saying what his occupation was, he told her he was carrying out a survey of widows' pensions and their taxes. Words fall short of expressing our grief for your loss, as we mourn with family and friends for this great loss. One was Sheila Buckley, my father's secretary somebody we had known well for years. Heres the background to the show, and what has happened to the subjects since. ITV drama Stonehouse wrapped up yesterday (January 4) with the finale of the three-parter hitting screens. Streaming Guide. My handsome, generous and brilliant father had seemed in good spirits that night, and my mother was relieved. You might or might not be aware of the famous Stonehouse controversy. But it doesnt stand up to scrutiny and it certainly wasnt believed by the jury in his trial.. She went on to say the entire family found the series emotionally damaging and didnt collaborate on it. 17:01 EST 10 Jul 2021 Sheila, who was 21 years his junior, and John welcomed their son James William John in 1982. The disgraced politician was foiled after the police caught him in 1974, believing he was missing aristocrat Lord Lucan. As she sat across the restaurant table from him that evening, my mother had no idea that this would be their last ever anniversary dinner together. She stuck by him through his time in prison, and remained with him until his death. Description. How To Watch Trigun Stampede Episodes? Most of the peripheral characters are made up, and very little is factually correct, he said. After satisfying themselves that he was, in fact, John Stonehouse MP, the hospital gave him about five names. She now works as a chartered accountant and. He expertly dealt one punch to his wife, kids, oppressive work obligations, and other economic and political allegations. Then you'll find out how painful it is to live with an unfaithful man. He told the then prime minister that he was sure that Mr Stonehouse had been a spy for the Czechoslovakians but he had no evidence which he could put before the jury. After he was caught, he phoned his wife to inform her that he was still alive. Stonehouses daughter, Julia, dismissed the spy claims in her own book, John Stonehouse, My Father, published in 2021. . The partner of imprisoned MP John Stonehouse, Sheila Buckley discusses Stonehouse's declining health after he was declined parole. But shortly afterwards, rumours began swirling that the fund had once topped 1 million, and that approximately 600,000 was missing. The crook attempted to escape a British courtroom by seeking refuge in Sweden and Mauritius, however, Scotland Yard police, much like Sherlock Holmes, ultimately brought him back to London. At Melbourne Airport he showed the documentation proving he didn't have tuberculosis. Once tipped as a future prime minister, he rose to become minister of aviation, the final postmaster general and a privy counsellor advising the Queen. John had three children with his first wife Barbara Joan Stonehouse: Julia, Jane and son Mathew. By ', By His first wife remained married to him for several more years but Barbara and John parted ways in 1978 and he went on to marry Sheila in 1981. He could walk down the street, go for a meal and conduct business without people having any opinion, good or bad, about him. A brainstorm, as he described it, brought on by the demands of his profession, was what inspired him to his weird escapade. Stonehouse writer reveals real-life Barbara and Sheila's reaction to ITV series Matthew MacFadyen stars in the drama January 05, 2023 - 19:02 GMT Nicky Morris Stonehouse writer John Preston. ' he wrote. They also cost him his political career a year later. ITVs Stonehouse drama showcased the pair in the midst of a high-profile scandal. Many times he'd respond to the call of his false name and go to various desks to collect the new paperwork. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. 'Her book is an apology for her father', he said, differentiating his own less sympathetic account. She was once the glamorous brunette whose lover, the notorious John Stonehouse MP, scandalised Westminster. 14:20 GMT 30 Jul 2021 On November 7, 1978, he underwent a six-hour open heart procedure. The discovery left his wife Barbara devastated after learning of his betrayal. Also Read: How To Watch Stonehouse Episodes? He told her he wanted to see her. She is seen as a lovely, compassionate person who was swayed by Stonehouse, she got herself drawn into doing something she should never have done. Keeley Hawes and Matthew Macfadyen play Barbara and John Stonehouse, with Emer Heatley as Johns lover, Sheila Buckley, in ITVs Stonehouse. All About The Stonehouse Scandal Revealed. Wednesday, 1st March 2023See today's front and back pages, download the newspaper, order back issues and use the historic Daily Express newspaper archive. Stonehouses daughter Julia maintains that right-wing elements within MI5 made sure the rumour was spread to the press and politicians. She was an attractive brunette who gave in to John Stonehouse, who she knew wasa married party member. It was just impossible,' he told her, according to great nephew Julian Hayes, the author of Stonehouse: Cabinet Minister, Fraudster and Spy. 'He betrayed everybody - his family, his constituents, his party, the country.'. How To Watch Stonehouse Episodes? WATCH:Keeley Hawes reveals what it was like to work with husband Matthew Macfadyen on Stonehouse. Julia wrote the book John Stonehouse, My Father: The True Story Of The Runaway MP, which was published in 2021. Nearer to home, my father was sailing close to the wind with his own export businesses. She thought he sounded suicidal. NOT both! If theyd said, John, wed like you to spy for us, hed have said no. In early July 1974, my father phoned a hospital in his constituency of Walsall, telling them he had money to distribute to young widows and asking if they could give him the names of men who had recently died. John Stonehouse, pictured in August 1975, was sentenced at the Old Bailey to seven years in prison for fraud, theft and deception. I send him my undying love and respect.. Short on cash but looking to bankroll the lavish lifestyle of an ambitious politician, he developed a relationship with the Czech StB, or secret service, write Hayes. Stonehouse was 49 at the time, and was mired in debt and addicted to prescription drugs. He left a pile of clothes on a hotel beach in Miami to fake his own death in 1974. , updated Sign up to our What to Watch newsletter to get other stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. It wasn't 'all over'. Assuming he'd drowned or been attacked by a shark, the great and the good paid tribute to him in fulsome obituaries published in London. The story of John Stonehouse may be little known stateside, but you almost wouldn't believe the tale told in BritBox's three-part drama Stonehouse spins if it wasn't based on true events. Theres no way on earth that anybody would swallow it as a plot line. James Swaider. Sheila Buckley was John Stonehouse MP secretary who disappeared with him when he faked his own death in 1974 and fled to Australia. By the middle of 1974, he had decided he had had enough. 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