Rupert Murdoch is at loggerheads with his former pal Donald Trump over a recent story in the Wall Street Journal which claimed that Trump had written an enigmatic poem for Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday in the shape of a naked woman – and that he’d done so at Ghislaine Maxwell’s request.
Trump admitted he had tried to phone WSJ editor Emma Tucker and Rupert Murdoch directly to kill the story, but neither had complied. Furious, he launched a multi-billion dollar defamation claim against Murdoch, and even tried to subpoena Murdoch himself urgently, claiming that the ailing media oligarch might not be alive by the time the issue comes to trial.
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The lawyers have calmed down somewhat since – could a truce be on the way? – and retracted their demand for Murdoch’s early testimony. But Murdoch himself may have some degree of sympathy for Trump, as he must know how hard it is to disentangle oneself from Epstein and the Maxwells.
A few years ago, in 2017, Murdoch’s ex-wife (and mother to Elisabeth, James and Lachlan) Anna was looking to buy herself a yacht, and asked her son James for advice on which to pick. James had at one time been the favoured heir to take over after Rupert passed on, but is currently estranged from his father and the new favourite, Lachlan.
James recommended a 180ft super yacht, the Lady Mona K, to his mother, who bought it, renovated and rechristened it the Dancing Hare. But that wasn’t the first time the yacht had been renamed. Until 1993, it had been known as the Lady Ghislaine – the boat named for Ghislaine Maxwell, from which her father Robert fell to his death in 1991. It’s a small world when you’re ultra-rich.
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