William Astor, 3rd Viscount Astor He took his seat in the House of Lords, forcing a by-election in Wycombe, which was won by the Conservative candidate John Hall. During the 1963 Profumo Affair, Astor was accused of having an affair with Mandy Rice-Davies. In response to being told during one of the trials arising out of the scandal that Astor had denied having an affair with her, Rice-Davies famously replied, "He would, wouldn't he?" Astor then took over the family's Cliveden estate in Buckinghamshire, where he and his family continued to live until 1966. Active in thoroughbred horse racing, he inherited Cliveden Stud, a horse
Astor Library collection. This was agreeable to Astor. By May 1839, Astor had set aside a sum of $400,000 for a free public library. For books, $120,000 was allocated, and trustees were to be Washington Irving, William B. Astor, Daniel Lord, Jr., James G. King, Joseph G. Cogswell, Fitz-Greene Halleck, Henry Brevoort, Jr., Samuel B. Ruggles, Samuel Ward, Jr., and the Mayor of New York City and the Chancellor of New York State, "ex officio". (The Chancellor later disappeared from the plan when the office was abolished.) In December 1842, $75,000 was fixed as the amount to be expended for the building,