Photo by Bryan Wharton, 1986. (National Portrait Gallery, London)

My life has been one long descent into respectability.

I woke up this morning to the news that Marilyn Foreman – better known as Mandy Rice-Davies, whose very name still conjures bittersweet memories of the Profumo Affair, more than half a century later – died last night after a short battle with cancer. I am shocked and sad – she was so full of energy and wit that I thought nothing would stop her. I never knew her personally but she was a huge part of my creative life. And as a woman, her refusal to be cowed by sexual hypocrisy was incredibly inspiring.

Peter Stanford has written an excellent obituary for The Guardian, and you can read some of my own Mandy-related posts here.