Princess Diana broke up My Marriage

The charity worker who brought the late Princess Diana to Australia, Marie Sutton has told Whispers how the experience ended up wrecking her marriage.
When Sutton raised the idea of inviting Diana to Sydney to help launch the Victor Change cardiac unit at St Vincent's Hospital to the charity committee organizing the event, no-one thought it could possibly happen. But one week later Marie was astonished to receive a late night phone call from Diana herself who confirmed that not only would she launch the charity, it would be her last public appearance before retiring from the public eye.

The dramas that followed have been well documented as then NSW premier Nevile Wran and a number of society figures tried to wrestle control of the project from Marie. But Diana remained loyal to Sutton and Marie eventually accompanied the Princess during her 4 day visit.
But Sutton now says the stress she suffered as vested powerful interests continually tried to take over the event eventually led to she and husband splitting.
Marie has given an interview to Channel Ten's Studio Ten show with show-biz editor Craig Bennett which you can view below.

Princess Diana's Aussie pal may write a book

Diana & Sutton

Chatting to Marie Sutton at the Darling Point morning event to launch the AGCF cancer charity (see above) brought some new revelations about the late Princess Diana's last visit to Australia in 1996 to launch the Victor Chang Institute. The visit  was to be Diana's final charity contribution before retiring to private life. Subsequent events have become history but Mrs Sutton revealed that she is seriously contemplating writing a book on her battle to maintain control over the plan which she conceived after contacting her friend Dr Hasnat Khan who was Diana's secret lover.

'My husband Bill kept incredible detailed diaries about the battle I had' says Marie. "Powerful people were desperate to seize control because of Diana's profile but she remained loyal to me". It is no secret that having conceived of the plan, Sutton found herself under intense pressure from figures like the late Nevile Wran who tried to wrestle control from her.

Whispers was lucky to accompany Sutton & Princess Diana on the tour and can confirm that Diana remained steadfastly loyal to her Aussie pal & was fully aware of the political machinations around her visit. When Diana died (and Whispers also had a connection to the late Dodi Fayed having lived in his Park Lane apartment for 3 months during the early 80s) Marie was rewarded by Diana's brother the Earl of Spencer with a personal tour of Diana's resting place on an island in the middle of the Althorp estate. Visitors cannot access the island and trees have been grown to prevent aerial photography of the grave. Marie took some photographs of Diana's resting place which had some extremely touching personal mementos placed upon the grave by her sons William & Harry. Although we have seen the snaps we are sworn to secrecy to never reveal what the items were. Sutton is still offered a small fortune by European publications for the photos.
A book on Sutton's Diana exploits would make fascinating reading.

David Frost : " A Towering Intellect"

When the Shuttle interviewed the late Sir David Frost in 2011 he responded to a question about former Australian prime minister Gough Whitlam : "a towering intellect, possibly the most intellectual politician"'
Friday was Gough's 98th birthday and he celebrated with his family at his nursing home Lulworth House. Sadly Gough has lost his great Labor Party ally and fellow resident, former NSW premier Nevile Wran who died in April this year. But another mate and resident Sir Laurence Street was there to wish Gough all the best. In our picture is Gough and son Tony Whitlam. Gough's wife Margaret died in 2012.
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Next Friday the winner of the Archibald Prize for portraiture will be announced at the Art Gallery of NSW. Watch this cool video of every winner from 1921 to 2013 morphed into one.

Courtesy : ABC and Art Gallery of New South Wales

Sir Laurence Street Joins the Team in Elizabeth Bay

Sir Laurence & Lady Penny Street

He is one of the Shuttle's favourite legal eagles and one of Australia's most respected jurists. At 87 years of age, Sir Laurence Street has moved into the uber smart nursing home Lulworth House in Elizabeth Bay.

Sir Laurence joins a veritable smorgasbord  of Sydney's most well known faces including entertainer Jeanie Little. promoter Harry M.Miller , Dame Leonie Kramer , former NSW premier Neville Wran and former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam.

Harry Miller * Jeannie Little * Gough Whitlam

Sir Laurence Street & Rachel Finch
       at a party in 2008

Sir Laurence Street was the Chief Justice of the NSW Supreme Court and comes from a distinguished family of lawyers. His father Sir Kenneth Street was also NSW Chief Justice and his mother Jessie Street a tireless worker for Aboriginal and women's rights. It was largely her efforts that led to indigenous Australians finally getting a vote in 1967 (at one stage she was called Red Jessie in the media and a Conservative government refused to re-new her passport whilst she was abroad).

Nevile Wran (right) with
 artist Martin Sharp

Like Miller, Little , Whitlam and Wran, Sir Laurence was a regular on the social circuits in Sydney and Melbourne before ill health saw him hang up the gold embossed velvet Gucci pumps he often wore to parties.
Wife Penny Street is a great pal of Prince Charles and the pair always dined with Charles on his Australian visits.
Meanwhile a claim late last year by a former nurse that Lulworth House residents were "under-nourished" seems to have vanished from the ether.

Jimmy Savile ? : blame Richard Nevile

Writer A N Wilson, once dubbed the 'young fogey' has laid into a series of personalities in a dissertation about the so-called 'sexual revolution' that has resulted in what he thinks are today's slack morals.

Richard Nevile
at a book launch
 2 weeks ago

Starting with Lady Chatterley's Lover (he read it as a boy, under the sheets with a torch) , Wilson draws a line beginning with the Baby Boomers , Hippies ,and the swinging 60s and just about anyone who contributed to the arts during that era  from the Rolling Stones to Richard Nevile and the Oz Magazine team who were busted for obscenity when they produced the School Kids issue that featured Rupert The Bear with a hard on (the issue was actually edited by school kids).

Richard Nevile,Felix Denis
   and Jim Anderson at
  their obscenity trial

Even the Oz defendants brief at their trial, Rumpole author and barrister John Mortimer comes in for a serve and perhaps barrister Nevile Wran who defended Nevile in Sydney on obscenity charges and later become NSW Premier for 10 years, should share in the blame.
Apparently 57% of Brits were happy in the idyllic 1950s and presumably there were no rapes, sex assaults or abortions- although the Shuttle's late aunt who had a backyard abortion in 1951 may dispute that (as a result she was couldn't have children and suffered for the rest of her life).
All this free sex and loose morals have disturbed Wilson so much he draws a link between them and the BBC apparently ignoring the exploits of the late Jimmy Savile although he has failed to point out that most of the newspapers Wilson has written for also turned a blind eye. And little does he know he shares something in common with Richard Nevile : in the 1960s Nevile who was an advertising copy writer was dubbed the Young Fogey by pals who weren't quite convinced with his 'revolutionary' zeal.
You can read all this in the Daily Mail.

Martin Sharp Honoured

He was an invited guest to last week's autobiography launch for the late film-maker Albie Thoms but illness prevented him from attending : artist Martin Sharp whose work was featured in Thoms' book.

Earlier in the week Sharp had received a long overdue award at the University of Sydney- an Honorary Doctorate of Visual Arts.
Martin joined a host of names when he received his award from Governor Marie Bashir in her last official act before she retires . They include Cate Blanchett, former NSW Art Gallery head honcho Edmund Capon, fashion designer Peter Weiss and musician and singer Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu.

Martin Sharp & Nevile Wran

Sharp was part of the infamous Oz Magazine trio of Richard Nevile and Richard Walsh who were busted for obscenity in the 1960s in Sydney and again in London. They were found innocent in both trials-defended in Sydney by a young barrister Nevile Wran who later went on to become NSW premier for 10 years.

His colourful works are now hung in galleries worldwide and he designed album covers for some of the 1960s major rock groups including Cream and wrote songs with Eric Clapton whilst living in Chelsea's famous Pheasantry building. Other residents at The Pheasantry included Clapton, Germain Greer and the film director Anthony Haden Guest. In the early 80s he campaigned to preserve Luna Park and redesigned the famous entrance.

During the last 10 years of his life, the unique performer Tiny Tim found a huge fan in Sharp who financed Tim's career and records and made a film of the eccentric singer's life. The movie still hasn't been screened.
Below is Tiny Tim's Tiptoe Through The Tulips: