Senior correspondent Barry Everingham says whatever else is in store for Rupert Murdoch, the gutter press will never be quite as sleazy again.
What the future holds for Rupert Murdoch’s empire will become clearer in the foreseeable future, but one thing is clear — the era of sleaze and revelations will never be as toxic again.
The Sun King’s aura has lost its sheen — and the blame for this can be laid squarely at the feet of the yes men who have for so long surrounded him.
Having said that, I have to say there is another reason why his tabloids came up over the years with the headlines they have — and that is the insatiable need of the “celebrities” to see their names in print. There was always a culture of: I don’t give a shit what they say so long as they spell my name right!
My expertise in the business of celebrity writing and reporting always with the royals — so long as there was a title, a pretty royal face and the sex antics of a randy prince, there was always a space made available to fill.
My first real experience of how Buckingham Palace leaks was when I was researching and writing the unofficial biography of Marie Christine von Reibnitz — who is now HRH Princess Michael of Kent, the most reviled and despised member of the House of Windsor.
The Queen has never really forgiven the former Australian migrant from Czechoslovakia for her arrogance.
She once drew herself to her full height and reminded “cousin Lillybet” that her husband Prince Michael was “more royal than any of you!”
That’s when the queen reminded MC (as the princess is known) there was no job on the royal payroll for Michael, as having married a Roman Catholic, his name was struck from the Line of Succession.
How do I know this?
Easy.
When I let it be known I was preparing the tome, those close to the Windsors by either blood or employment came out of the woodwork to fill me in on the juicy details — and I now know the instructions were issued at the highest level.
Tell him what he wants to know and if there is something he doesn’t know make sure it’s given to him.
So anecdote after anecdote came gushing forth and out came the book.
That’s how the palace, and now Clarence House, operates — it’s a giant sieve and it really leaks.
Of course, in the current mayhem double standards are pouring out at a great rate — Fleet Street is in a frenzy of tut tutting forgetting the culture of most of the British media has been for many years: Gotcha!
So, the Murdoch competitors needn’t get too prissy.
Rupert has had it in for the royals for many years.
First, although he trashed his citizenship of this great country, he has never hidden his contempt for the idiocy of the Constitution we are lumbered with and that he wants it changed.
Second, he has the courage of his convictions.
He has shunned offers of a knighthood and even a peerage, settling for the highest honour his former country has to offer — he is a Commander of the Order of Australia.
So, Rupert Keith Murdoch’s day of reckoning is upon him — some would say it’s been a long time coming.
One thing is certain.
Having gone right outside the boundaries of decency, even in this anything goes culture, celebrity exposures will become less salacious and those “ordinary” people who had their phones tapped will have some consolation in knowing all the Murdoch tabloids, worldwide, will at last serve a useful purpose — wrapping up the fish and chips on a Friday night.
