Post by Deleted on Sept 27, 2022 19:24:27 GMT
James Whitaker, King of Royal Reporters, Dies at 71
www.nytimes.com/2012/02/21/world/europe/james-whitaker-top-reporter-on-british-royal-family-dies-at-71.html
By John F. Burns
Feb. 20, 2012
LONDON — James Whitaker, considered by many of his peers to be the dean of the tight-knit pack of reporters who specialize in covering the British royal family, had the good fortune that comes to those in all walks of life who fall into jobs to which they are innately suited.
Mr. Whitaker, who died last week at the age of 71 after a year’s battle with cancer, had chronicled the lives of Queen Elizabeth II and her family for 45 years, a career that had its genesis, he said, in the late 1960s, when, as a junior reporter, he was assigned to cover a polo match in which Prince Charles was playing, and to write a diary column about it.
It was there, he said, that he experienced the “civilizing effects” of the smoked salmon and champagne provided by the events’ sponsors, and decided that a career spent making a quarry of the royals and their foibles was just the ticket for him.
It was a choice that saw him rotate through a rollcall of Britain’s rambunctious tabloids, working successively at The Daily Mail, The Daily Express, The Sun, The Star and The Daily Mirror, where he stayed for 20 years and scored the most notable of the scoops — many of them centered on the tempestuous marriage of Prince Charles and Princess Diana — that propelled him to minor celebrityhood, a status he unashamedly burnished.
He was a fixture as well on British television, working as a “royal correspondent” for ITV. Richard Wallace, the editor of The Daily Mirror, said in his eulogy that Mr. Whitaker “was a true Fleet Street legend” — and that he had thrived on it. “His colleagues often joked that at times he appeared grander than the royals themselves,” he said.
www.nytimes.com/2012/02/21/world/europe/james-whitaker-top-reporter-on-british-royal-family-dies-at-71.html
By John F. Burns
Feb. 20, 2012
LONDON — James Whitaker, considered by many of his peers to be the dean of the tight-knit pack of reporters who specialize in covering the British royal family, had the good fortune that comes to those in all walks of life who fall into jobs to which they are innately suited.
Mr. Whitaker, who died last week at the age of 71 after a year’s battle with cancer, had chronicled the lives of Queen Elizabeth II and her family for 45 years, a career that had its genesis, he said, in the late 1960s, when, as a junior reporter, he was assigned to cover a polo match in which Prince Charles was playing, and to write a diary column about it.
It was there, he said, that he experienced the “civilizing effects” of the smoked salmon and champagne provided by the events’ sponsors, and decided that a career spent making a quarry of the royals and their foibles was just the ticket for him.
It was a choice that saw him rotate through a rollcall of Britain’s rambunctious tabloids, working successively at The Daily Mail, The Daily Express, The Sun, The Star and The Daily Mirror, where he stayed for 20 years and scored the most notable of the scoops — many of them centered on the tempestuous marriage of Prince Charles and Princess Diana — that propelled him to minor celebrityhood, a status he unashamedly burnished.
He was a fixture as well on British television, working as a “royal correspondent” for ITV. Richard Wallace, the editor of The Daily Mirror, said in his eulogy that Mr. Whitaker “was a true Fleet Street legend” — and that he had thrived on it. “His colleagues often joked that at times he appeared grander than the royals themselves,” he said.
Miss this guy, I can only imagine what he thinks about William marrying Kate now.
I remember someone from the old forum did YT video of a collection royal journalists talking about Kate & one of them was Whitaker & Whitaker said about William & Kate during the "dating" years is "William loves her but not in love with her". I can't seem to find that video on YT... hopefully it's here somewhere.
tale BS.
#JamesMiddleton