More on the James Packer yacht

It's yourd for s lazy $200M, the Packer super yacht IJE which is for sale after just one Med cruise. Now there is a video featuring it. Very stylish: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFINU-aRa_0

Spotted

at Donald Trump's campaign launch at Mar a Lago:

Breaking news : Titanic (2) Sinks !

Alas, along with his political career hitting rock bottom it looks like billionaire Clive Palmer's ambitious project to recreate the Titanic has also sunk. Palmer's Blue Star Line's twitter page hasn't updated for ages and now this video has appeared on YouTube

Yachting News #2 James Packer's superyacht

Whispers has obtained some exclusive pics of the fabulous Italian built James Packer Superyacht IJE which is on sale for €175,000,000 or $US189M or nearly $AUS256M and not $300M as widely reported.The gorgeous Benetti designed yacht reputedly cost around $AUS200M to build so it looks like Packer may pick up a nice profit after taking possesion of the ship for just one year and crusing the Mediterranean last year with a bunch of good pals. Friends on that trip were not allowed to take snaps of the interiors but we now present an insight into the lavish and tasteful furnishings and cabins. It's really more like a foating luxury boutique hotel. There are 11 guest cabins to accomodate 22 guests and the yacht needs a crew of 28. Currently there are just over 2000 Superyachts around the world for sale and most can be chartered for various sums from $50K a week up to $1M with provisions costing extra and of course, generous tips expected for the crew.

Book Month

A new biography of Australian billionaire James Packer gives a fascinating insight into Packer's recent "breakdown" with the author Damon Kitney of The Australian newspaper being given exclusive access to James:

"I was like Icarus," the billionaire tells his biographer of the heady days of 2016 when he broke up with pop star Mariah Carey, abandoned living in Hollywood and Israel, left the global casino stage, and divided the family fortune in a bitter separation from his sister.
With these words, Packer delves for the first time into the story behind his stunning public revelation in mid-March 2018 of his battle with mental health issues, which forced him to resign from the board of the Crown casino company he owns and loves.

Packer says he was "saved" partly by close friend Hollywood actor Warren Beatty who Packer often stayed with in LA and who he calls "father" (pictured above). 
 'The Price of Fortune' will be available on 22nd of this month.

Gina & The Trumpettes

on the far right- Gina & The Fabulous Trumpettes at Mar A Lago

 Whisper's attention is drawn to the news that Australia's on / off Wealthiest Woman on The Planet Gina Rinehart appears to have joined the prestigious Trumpettes at Mar-A- Lago in Miami. The Trumpettes are a band of wealthy society ladies who spruik the joys of Donald Trumps' presidency and as you can see from our various pics, Gina is right in there in the middle of the action having heaps of fun.
And don't they look like fun ladies !

These gals go from one giddy party to another with the odd sporting event tossed in and Our Gina is there in the thick of it as can be seen on The Trumpette's Facebook page. The Trumpettes were started by a former Hollywood journalist Toni Holt Kramer (left-waving the US flag) who is a yuuge fan of The Pres. Toni flits about in her private jet between her homes in LA and Miami and has defended Mr Trump in the past from the alleged groping recording that appeared in 2016 with this response : "when people really think about it, is not nearly as bad as receiving a blow job in the White House" referring to former president Bill Clinton. Ouch.

Gina at Mar-A-Lago with (right- seated) Australia's Governor General Peter Cosgrove

But we are slightly worried about Our Gina who seems to be spending an inordinate amount of time at Mr Trump's splendorous Miami resort. Reports emerged in February this year in the Miami Herald that Florida Health Inspectors had cited the resort when they found 13 violations at the fancy club’s kitchen deemed a record for a club that charges $200,000 to join.
Toni Holt Kramer reportedly has an ex-Navy Seal as a bodyguard, as one does, and hopefully Our Gina has her own fearsome chap to guard her. Perhaps a permanent food taster would be in order as well.
# Former Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce, a pal of Gina's may soon be at a loose end. Could be an ideal job for him.

Read more here: https://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/restaurants/article144261894.html#storylink=cpy

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.

21 : and Just For Fun

Anyone brought up in Sydney will recall the motto of the fun park Luna Park : Just For Fun. Situated with possibly the most commanding views of Sydney Harbour it was the location for media heiress Francesca Packer Barham to celebrate her 21st birthday. Francesca is the daughter of the late Kerry Packer's only daughter Gretel Packer and her ex-husband British banker Nick Barham. When she's not partying at Luna Park, Francesca hangs out with the likes of Tom Cruise and Robert de Niro on her uncle James Packer's cruiser in the Mediterranean.
Pictured is Francesca ( as a Minnie Mouse character) with PR supremo Roxy Jacenko of 'Sweaty Betty' fame and below, a snap of some other fancy dressed guests.

Rupert Murdoch & Jerry Hall : so much to discuss

One of the madder tales doing the rounds and which is bound to be repeated ad infinitum is the rumour that billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch is dating the Texan model Jerry Hall. Jerry is pictured here with her former boyfriend Warwick Hemsley and with her daughter Georgia May Jagger during Sydney visits.
What could this newspaper obsessed mogul possibly have in common with fun loving Jerry?. Well according to Nick Davies in his best- seller Hack Attack about the recent hacking scandal, perhaps pillow talk could involve a discussion about how Rupert's tabloids hacked the phone of Bernard Doherty who was Mick Jagger's publicist when he was married to Jerry which provided a string of exclusive tales about the couple's divorce for the Murdoch newspapers.

Growing Up

It doesn't seem that long ago when the 'scandal' erupted in Australia that billionaire Dick Pratt had fathered a daughter with the vivacious socialite and lawyer Shari Lea Hitchcock.

Now 17 years old, Paula Sarah Hitchcock was spotted out on the town this week with mum Shari-Lea and a school chum at the launch of Karim Gharbi's VIP venture hosted at the swish Penthouse at the Top of The Town in Darlinghurst.

Polish born Pratt who died in 2009 left a tidy sum to Paula that includes over $22M, a $7M Watsons Bay house on Sydney's harbour and a country property. Paula, who looks  like her late dad, is set to become a fixture on the Sydney circuit.

Billionaire Biffo

Sunday's dust-up between James Packer and David Gyngell with claims of lost teeth, black eyes and swollen cheeks is not the first time we have witnessed James' fierce temper.

In the late 90s the Shuttle was at a grand bash hosted by Packer to launch the Nine Networks' new TV season of shows, ironically when the network he owned was run by his Bondi sparing partner Gyngell.
We had just taken the above snap of James with then wife Jodhi Meares when he spotted gossip columnist Ros Reines standing nearby . Packer immediately jumped to his feet, stormed over, took Reines aside and tore strips off her over reporting of his personal life.
Alas it was the only story in town the following day leading all the tabloids- news of his new TV shows was forgotten.

Exclusive : James Packer & Miranda Kerr Together in New York

The Shuttle has scoffed in the past at tales of the supposed love affair between billionaire James Packer and supermodel Miranda Kerr but the exclusive amateur photographs we have obtained means we may have to eat humble pie.
Our source, an ardent fan of Kerr followed her from the ritzy Pierre Hotel in New York at 2pm one afternoon last week to a luxury apartment block on 56th Street. She disappeared inside and emerged around 6pm as the sun was setting and he snapped Miranda on his IPhone looking very discreet as she headed for a waiting car.
 But it was half an hour later that our fan got just a little curious as the same limo returned to the building. He took a snap of the extremely tall and casually dressed gentleman who emerged from the same apartment
block and slipped into the same car. A further source has confirmed that the apartment block contains a Packer company owned flat that is used for business.
So there we are- the very first photographs, grainy as they are of what may have been a liaison between Australia's richest man and undoubtedly Australia's richest model.