exclusive : A Murdoch Marriage

In a low key ceremony Elisabeth Murdoch the daughter of media mogul Rupert Murdoch has married artist Keith Tyson (right)
Various members of the Murdoch clan gathered at Elisabeth's Cotswold farm in the UK this weekend including father Rupert and his partner Jerry Hall, Lachlan and Sarah Murdoch and flying in from New York where they now live, her mother Anna Mann and her partner William (pictured below).

Among the influential and powerful guests, former UK PM David Cameron and wife Samantha, the controversial News Corp head honcho Rebekah Brooks and Emily Oppenheimer heir to the South Africa diamond fortune.
Noticeably absent was Elizabeth's previous two husbands, publicity guru Matthew Freud and Dutch economist Elkin Pianim.
Now that's a real power get-together. Below is a sample of Tyson's work

The Merry Wives Of Murdoch, the Gardener & the Crooner

Patricia Booker               Anna Torv                 Wendi Deng

Whilst the rest of the media is still reeling after having been caught on the hop by the announcement of the Rupert Murdoch divorce : unlike Social Shuttle readers who read 2 months ago that the marriage was on the rocks and the end was pending, a former Murdoch confidante has come up with an insightful article on Rupert Murdoch and his former wives including Patrica Booker, Anna Mann (nee Torv) and the soon to be Wendi Deng.

Most of the media have turned to Michael Woolf's excellent biography  The Man Who Owns the News: Inside the Secret World of Rupert Murdoch for details but Rodney E.Lever was Rupert Murdoch's right hand man and a News Ltd executive for many years, a friend of the family and someone intimately involved in Rupert's personal and business affairs. He even accompanied Rupert and Anna on their honeymoon.

His series on Murdoch and his empire on the informative website Independent Australia are well worth reading.

One piece shines out as a previously unknown detail is revealed : In Adelaide when Rupert first set up home with his first wife Patricia, the gardens were tendered by a dusky hued handyman. And who was this gardener?.Step forward our favourite Malaysian import Kandiah Kamalesvaran , the late Queen Mother's favourite singer and now known as Kamahl !. Kamahl has certainly come a long way from the Adelaide Hills. He now lives in a large mansion on Sydney's elite North shore and drives a gleaming Rolls Royce. Last week we encountered Kamahl at an America Australia Association awards dinner attended by Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

What a small world we live in.
Here is a clip of Kamahl (hiding in the foliage) singing his 1975 hit The Elephant Song which won the heart of HRH Queen Mother who invited Kamahl to share a few G&Ts at Clarence House.
trivia : He first used the name Kamal but after an MC introduced him as 'Camel' he became Kamahl.

Murdoch Split No Surprise

the Social Shuttle : April 2013

The news may have caught the Australian, British and US media on the hop but avid Shuttle readers were in on the secret at least 2 months ago when we reported a snippet from our New York operative who had been a guest at an up-town dinner party. A fellow guest, a Fox executive had confided to a stunned table that all was not well with the marriage of our favourite ex-pat media mogul Rupert Murdoch and wife Wendi. Apparently the liberally watered executive said that Rupert and Wendi had been living separate lives for so long now that he expected the marriage to end soon and thus, as the world discovered yesterday it came to pass.
 Despite that the pair were in Australia last December for the red carpet opening night of Les Miserables and all looked well but Rupert has been back to Sydney twice since( just last week) on his own. At that time we spoke of the troubles that have bedevilled the entire Murdoch clan as revealed by former News Corp executive and insider Rodney E.Lever.

Kai Torv, William & Anna Mann, Hans Torv.

Never fear. Social Shuttle operatives are everywhere and we shall bring you news of any new splits or pairings involving a current or former Murdoch, just as we did in December 1999 when we presented the first photograph to the world of the former Anna Murdoch with her new husband William Mann along with Anna's brother, Gold Coast radio boss Hans Torv and his wife Kai. Hans is the father of actress Anna Torv, star of the hit cult TV series Fringe.  The foursome were celebrating the New Year at the Sydney Opera House.

When Rupert & Anna divorced in 1999 Anna is reported to have received over $1B in assets, the largest ever divorce settlement.

Not All Doom & Gloom For The Murdochs

Sarah Murdoch at the Astras last night

The Murdoch family still face battles with the British parliament and a public still reeling from the great phone hacking scandal but life appears to be far rosier for some members of the extended first family of the media.

While Lachlan Murdoch accompanied his father Rupert Murdoch and brother James to London this week keeping a low profile and returning to New York with them on their private jet, his beautiful wife model and TV presenter Sarah Murdoch was  last night voted Favourite Personality at the Astra Awards for pay TV held at the Sydney Theatre Company.

Anna Torv splash

Sarah is host and executive producer of the series Australia's Next Top Model which co-incidentally is screened on Foxtel , the cable network part owned by her famous father-in-law.

Meanwhile the on-line magazine The Beast has come into bat for the Australian actress Anna Torv and claimed that she is a victim of the The Emmy Awards’ 10 Biggest Snubs.

Kia Torv, William & Anna Mann, Hans Torv

Anna appears in the hugely popular TV series Fringe which has a world wide cult following.

She's the daughter of Gold Coast radio network owner Hans Torv who is the brother of the former Mrs Anna Murdoch and she's the cousin of James, Lachlan, Prudence and Elisabeth Murdoch. Anna is named after her famous aunt.

John Noble

Not that Anna has much contact with her famous media family cousins. She's been estranged from her father Hans since the age of eight when he and her mother parted company but she does maintain contact with the former Mrs Rupert Murdoch and regularly visits her aunt in New York.
Anna Murdoch  married New Yorker financier William Mann and as our exclusive picture shows is extremely close to her brother Hans and his present wife Kia. Anna Mann is also a co-owner of the Queensland radio network run by Hans.
Anna Torv has been signed for another series of Fringe along with the star of the show, Australian actor John Noble who The Beast reckons should also be up for an Emmy.