Excusive : John Rendall

Come back soon for our exclusive story on the life of John Rendall..perhaps better known as the Christian The Lion man.

Drinks with Rupert

Media baron Rupert Murdoch's Christmas drinks party in London is a much sought after invite by the powerful and not so great especially for politicians after his various news outlets in the UK publish totally partisan by-partisan tales about elections. Boris Johnson was there will bells on although rumored new Labour front-runner for the leadership Sir Keith Starmer possibly either didn't get a guernsey or if he did, tossed it away after.....

The Sun just ran a scathing article claiming he was a millionaire pretending to be working class and was no pal to workers. He might be a millionaire but his back ground is most definitely working class unlike the Boris the Toff at No Ten whose background is most definitely Upper Class and who went to Eton unlike Starmer who went to a humble northern Grammar School.

However one unexpected guest who lingered in the shadows was actress Cate Blanchett and husband Andrew Upton. Blanchett and Upton have just sold their holiday home at Pittwater and after selling the family home at Hunter's Hill for a grand price, they have relocated to England and purchased a large Manor house (they also have a flat in London and a house in Los Angeles). Cate still owns half a dozen apartments in Sydney bought as an investment for her children.

Blanchett is a Greenie at heart and although Rupert claims he believes in Climate Change most of his editors are unbelievers. Perhaps Aussies who have made it big in the big wide world can't really afford to turn down an invitation from Rupert who is known to make offers folk can't refuse.

# Whispers has been to several parties hosted by Rupert Murdoch. He's a friendly, chatty type of bloke although at the opening of his Sydney Fox Studios when Whispers asked him an innocuous question and he read our name tag stating we were from a rival newspaper he responded: "oh just fuck off"

The Feud #7

Lord Sugar wishes Piers Morgan Happy Mother's Day.

Lord Sugar Strikes #3

An occasional series:

An instant update:

Arise Sir Frank

Completely nu-noticed by the Mainstream Media possibly because No Kardashian was harmed during the making of this news, it didn't involve the late Princess Diana and Meghan Markle has nothing to do with it, but one of Australia's richest men has been knighted by Her Majesty, Queen of Australia,

Plain old Frank Lowy worth a reputed $8Billion who lives in Sydney's Bellevue Hill now becomes Sir Frank Lowy. Lowy is the mastermind of the giant Westfield Shopping plazas that now dot the landscape in Australia, the US and the UK. He was quietly knighted a month ago. One of Britain's largest Westfield is in the shadow of the dreadful Grenfeel building in West London. The Brits have taken to them like ducks to water.
And it was not for the services of confusing shoppers world-wide as to where they parked their car in a Westfield car-park, rather for his services to industry which have been considerable certainly in his adopted Australia where he arrived as a penniless refugee after WW2. You could read more of Sir Frank's fascinating history here.

Victoria's Secret

Some highlights from that fashion show....

Daily Mail Fail #45

The inimitable Daily Mail newspaper is a source of constant amusement here among office staff (1) and the office cat over cups of tea at the water cooler. Here is their latest blooper with a dig at various signs for typo errors and just beneath..is the Fail's Mail's very own typo.

This still doesn't beat the Fail's Mail's Best Blooper spotted by us when they announced the death of comedienne Tracey Ullman's 85 year old mother Doreen Skinner and ran a picture of her with Tracey...except it was a snap of a fairly healthy 50 year old Aussie star of the Rocky Horror Show Nell Campbell known as Little Nell.

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The Rupert Murdoch and Jerry Hall rumours

Fleet Street in the UK is having one of it's meltdown moments as the claim that Jerry Hall is now dating Rupert Murdoch run riot. Oddly they all echo the same source who is said to be a 'family friend' - the usual way of describing an unknown source - and all quote the same thing :
" they are set to go public by attending next Saturday’s Rugby World Cup final at Twickenham. Billionaire Murdoch was introduced to Texan Jerry by one of his sisters and a niece while in his native Australia." 
 Time will tell. As Whispers reported on the September 20th Murdoch's defunct News of The World  bugged the phone of Mick Jagger's publicist when Jagger was married to Hall and they were having marital problems. The bugging provided many stories that were published. So is all forgiven?

Bernie Leser who launched Australian Vogue has passed away

After being tested on the local market in the early 1950s, Bernie Leser was appointed to launch the Australian version of the legendary Vogue magazine in 1959.
In an interview Leser said this of the launch:
"Quality was absolutely vital. We were much more interested in the quality of human relations and the quality of the product than money. The money came after that. We made a good profit but our shareholders were never greedy. We could have made more money had we approached it more in a Murdoch fashion, but the Newhouse family was different in its priorities."
Bernie was born in Germany and raised in New Zealand. He and his business partners purchased Vogue from Conde Nast in 1972 although in 1990 Conde Nast bought back the publication from Leser who had turned it into a money spinner. 
Bernie went on to become the vice president of Conde Nast Europe and Conde Nast USA . In 1987 he moved to New York after being appointed president of Conde Nast USA before returning to Australia  as chairman of Conde Nast Asia Pacific. He finally retired in 2000 and was a popular figure on the Sydney and Melbourne social circuit. His artists daughter Deborah Leser announced the death of her father on Facebook this morning.

Julia is all Smiles

 It is without a doubt, one of Sydney's most elegant mansions in Wolseley Road Point Piper with the most commanding views of the harbour. Ville del Mare was the home of employment agency entrepreneur Julia Ross and had been on the market for some years as Ms Ross relocated her headquarters to London where she originally came from.
Last year the palace finally sold for a whopping $39M to 55-year-old Hong Kong property developer Hui Ka Yan who is listed as China's  15th wealthiest person.
Alas there are problems with the sale and Treasurer Joe Hockey has decided that the sale of the house breached Foreign Investment Review Board rules on foreign ownership. Hockey has given the new owner 90 days to sell or risk having it confiscated  by Commonwealth Department of Public Prosecutions.
But what news of the former tenant Julia Ross?. We can report that Julia is safely ensconced in grand premises in London's Belgravia and is loving life back in England. With (at least) that $39M.

exclusive: What Barry Humphries misses about Australia

Comedian, author and artist Barry Humphries, manager of Mega Star Dame Edna Everage, who lives in London talks about his visits back to Oz:
 "I go straight to Machiavelli in Clarence Street in [Sydney], where I feel instantly at home. There, I have a restorative chicken consommé with parmesan and basil leaves, followed by a langoustine (the best in the world) or a minute steak on a bed of rocket, garlic and tomatoes. With a zabaglione for dessert I am totally restored. Alternatively, I fly to Mildura on the Murray River to Stefano De Pieri's incomparable restaurant at the Brewery, for Murray cod, perfect pasta or whatever delectable meal Stefano places before me. This has to be one of Australia's greatest restaurants."
OK, it is an exclusive but not the Shuttle's. Barry Humphries was talking to journalist  Naomi Chrisoulakis for the superb Aussie magazine Gourmet Traveller.
Naomi interviewed a number of famous ex-pats like Catherine Martin and make-up expert Napoleon Perdis about what they miss about their home country while living abroad. Read the full story here.
Pictured is Barry with his son Oscar at the recent Sydney launch for Oscar's new magazine The Art Book.

Peter & Hugh's Goodbye to Joan

 One little fact unreported about Joan Rivers' star-studded funeral- as she wanted it to be- was the song she was finally bade goodbye with that brought tears as well as applause to her last exit. The late Australian singer Peter Allen was a good friend of Joan's and each would go to see their respective shows in whatever city their paths crossed. Indeed the Shuttle who worked with Peter in London recalls Joan turning up to see Allen sing on three occasions when he appeared at a club called Madisons in Camden Lock.
And so Hugh Jackman who portrayed Allen in The Boy From Oz bicycled to Joan's farewell to sing the song Peter originally wrote about the late Judy Garland : Quiet Please There's a Lady on Stage.
Here is Peter's original recording of that song.

Royal Ascot, Royal Secrets

Please watch the video first as an introduction : that's a command from Her Maj, Queen of Australia (UK, Canada etc etc and so on) who is seen in our exclusive snap arriving at the pollies' Mid-Winter Ball in Canberra last week.

           It's very chilly in Sydney with a wind howling down from the snowfields but in London it's bright and sunny and that time of the year for Wimbledon, Windsor Polo and the races at Royal Ascot. Plenty of pics have been published of famous Aussies in the VIP Box at the tennis but here are our exclusive snaps of ritzy Double Bay hairdresser Joh Bailey who has taken Ascot by storm. And doesn't he look elegant? (no idea who the lady in top hat is but she looks great)
 Joh is a fine horseman himself so he has a great interest in the beasts and when he isn't tending to the locks of Sydney society matrons or visiting celebs like the Duchess of York or movie legend Jane Fonda- seen with Joh in our snap - he's appearing at gymkhanas and horse trials. At present he's moved on from the grand Belgravia mansion he was staying in and is now in Paris. Ain't life grand for some !

## The Shuttle has attended Ascot twice. Many moons ago we traveled in style in a Range Rover with a good friend Stephen Barry who worked at Buck Palace.  Amazingly, Barry's car was waved through at blocked intersections by police as they spotted him bearing down on them. They held up traffic as we sailed past. It's then we learned the car was owned by Barry's employer Prince Charles and he had borrowed it for the day. Being painted a special blue supplied by British Paints, a colour reserved for the Royals (right), it's how we discovered that all British police are trained in spotting the special coloured cars to ensure smooth passage of VIPs. Like us.
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          Below is a pic of the Windsor Polo and the Cartier Cup. It's a splendid snap and we love the lady in front. Apparently in one of our snaps is a royal impersonator and in our other snap it's a genuine Royal. We can't tell which is which, perhaps you can!

I'm Confused about Rolf

I had a fierce English master who put the fear of God into me via threat of his over arm swing that wielded a sharp cane with a brutal effectiveness when it came crashing across a callow youth's palm.But I still can get it all wrong and if in doubt, usually look up the word or meaning.
But just what is happening with the Rolf Harris trial ?. Here are just two of dozens of similar reports of questions asked of the judge by the jury :The UK Daily Mirror says this : "can the voracity of a witness statement in one count be taken into account when judging the voracity of a witness statement in another count.”
News Ltd complicates it even further with : "Can the veracity of a witness statement in one count be taken into account when judging the voracity of a witness statement in another count.”
 Is the jury suggesting the complainants may have attempted to eat Rolf?
Macquarie Dictionary:
veracity : habitual observance of truth in speech or statement
voracity :devouring or craving food in great quantities

London Life

While our captains of industry were settling their differences in a street punch-up, HRH Prince Harry was putting his time to good use and attended his annual charity event the Sentebale Summer Party at the Dorchester Hotel  in London,as our exclusive snaps show. Above Harry is seen with Malineo Motsephe (left) and Joss Stone. Joss is a patron of the charity.
The evening was to mark 10 years since Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho made a commitment to helping the vulnerable children of that landlocked African nation.
In 2004, Prince Harry visited the country on his gap year and was shown around the country by Prince Seeiso. Overwhelmed by the poverty and hardship faced by many children together they decided to set up Sentebale, which means ‘forget me not’ in Sesotho, with the aim of giving some of the most vulnerable children the chance of a happy, hopeful future.
## During the 1980s the Shuttle lived next door to the Lesotho Embassy in Kensington. So impoverished is the country that our apartment was far grander than the Embassy.
 ### James Packer and David Gyngell might like to make a donation to Sentebale here.
Packer is worth around $7Billion and Gyngell is on a salary of about $10Million a year.

 

GaGa Christmas

Another Day Another Hobbit Opening

Cate Blanchett looked sensational on the green carpet at the London launch for The Hobbit, An Unexpected Journey wearing a Givenchy gown. Joining her were a host of her co-stars including Sir Ian McKellen.

Dominic Monaghan , Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen , Peter Jackson, Andy Serkis,

Rumour of The Week that Is Probably True:

Kyly Boldy is pregnant according to a very good source.

 Spotted last week at a charity event in Sydney at the Westin Hotel with an ever so small but noticeable slight bump, Mrs Michael Clarke was unusually coy when asked if she was expecting by our intrepid spy. 

You read it here first.

 Hairstyle Of The Week :

 Cuban Musician Danny Rojo with pals at the Queen Sofia Spanish 2012 Gala this week in new York. Fab !!

Facebook Quote :

 

 Kathy Lette:

"My life is in your hands," Barry Humphries confides in me at dinner. I'm intrigued. "Really?" He then hands me a copy of his autobiography.

 

 

Melissa Shines At The Baftas

Wearing a figure hugging Victoria Beckham gown, Australian actress Melissa George looked radiant at last night's British Academy of Arts, Film & Television awards in London.

She may still be only finding roles in less than A grade films, but one television series in which she appears regularly that has been overlooked in this country is In Treatment,  a series with Gabriel Byrne as a psychotherapist who despite analysing a series of patients, begins to question his abilities. Well worth getting the entire series on DVD and watching over a long weekend.

Plenty more great pictures at the MailOnline.MailOnline.

Camp Moment #1

Tom Daley is the British diver who at 15 years old was the youngest ever participant at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He'll compete again in London later this year.

In the meantime he is training in Australia and filming videos for his Tom Daley TV internet website. He managed to find the only two sunny days this summer at Bondi and in Melbourne and made the most of them in this video: