James Whitaker

Who was James Whitaker?

James Whitaker was an English journalist, specialising in the British royal family.

Born in Cheltenham, he was educated at Cheltenham College. Initially working as an articled clerk in an accountancy firm, in 1963 he became a reporter at the Hounslow, Brentford and Chiswick Post. In 1966, Whitaker scored his first scoop when he went undercover working as a cloakroom attendant in the newly opened Playboy Club in London. In 1967 he moved to the Daily Mail and, in 1971, joined the William Hickey column team at the Daily Express.

In 1975 he joined The Sun, where he struck up a lifelong friendship with Royal photographer Arthur Edwards. As a result, in 1979 he joined the team on the launch of the Daily Star as its Royal reporter. He then moved to the Daily Mirror.

In November 1982, the Daily Mirror assistant editor, Anne Robinson, attended a formal dinner attended by Queen Elizabeth II, at which she noted that Diana, Princess of Wales arrived late. Robinson asked Whitaker to investigate and, after conversations with various sources, including Diana's sister Lady Sarah McCorquodale, confirmed that Diana was suffering from an eating disorder, then identified as anorexia, in a scoop article on 19 November. As a result, the Buckingham Palace Press Secretary, Michael Shea, rang then Mirror's editor Mike Molloy to demand the removal of those involved in the story. Robinson left the paper to start her television career and it was later confirmed that Diana suffered from bulimia.