Pro ‧ fu ‧ mo Scan ‧ dal, the /prəˈfjuːməʊ ˌskændl/ BrE AmE ( also the Proˈfumo Afˌfair )
a series of events in 1963 involving the British politician John Profumo (1915–), who was the Minister for War in the Conservative government. Profumo had a sexual relationship with a young woman, Christine ↑ Keeler , who was also in a relationship with a Russian naval officer who worked at the Soviet ↑ embassy . People were shocked when these facts became known, because it was thought that national secrets might have been passed to the Russians. There were also newspaper stories about Profumo and other important public figures having parties where there was a lot of sexual activity. Profumo was forced to give up his job, and these events caused great damage to people's opinion of the government. ⇨ ↑ Rice-Davies, Mandy