The long-running affair between Dorothy Macmillan and the bisexual Bob Boothby was widely known at the time, and initially caused Macmillan much pain; but it diminished over time. A letter in The Daily Telegraph on 10 March claimed that in giving Boothby a peerage, Macmillan showed that he had no respect for the honours system. Alistair Lexden put the record straight in a letter published on 16 March.
SIR – Harold Macmillan’s award of a peerage to Bob Boothby in 1958 did not indicate a “contempt for the honours system“ on Macmillan’s part (Letters, 10 March). He had long since come to accept his wife’s relationship with Boothby, and the pleasure that the title would give her was one factor in his decision. He was also glad to remove an increasingly unreliable, maverick MP from the Commons.
It was what Boothby himself wanted. He asked Macmillan for a peerage. In reply the prime minister told him to “enjoy the platform that the other House will give you. It will enable you to put forward your contributions in a much better atmosphere than the House of Commons now has.”
Lord Lexden
London SW1
