Janet CollinsA Humiliated Duchess
May 24th 2010 11:25
The embarrassing pickle that the Duchess of York has found herself in totally of her own doing, has kept news stations and online news sites entertaining us all day. The story is about bribery and corruption....and stupidity, and a very red faced Sarah Ferguson has not only had to publicly apologise for a “serious lapse of judgment” but has been left standing as the world's biggest fool.
In case you have just walked in and missed the news all day, the story goes like this. Mazher Mahmood, a reporter for the UK’s Sunday tabloid, The News of the World, went undercover as a rich businessman, meeting the Duchess of York on two occasions – once in New York and then again in London.
It was on the London visit that Mahmood, or the newspaper he worked for, decided to video record the discussions and captured a promise from Ferguson to “open the door to her ex-husband” for a price of 500,000 pounds, a receipt of 40,000 pounds as a downpayment and shaking on a deal that would give her one per cent of any business dealings that came out of the arrangement.
The significance of this is that her ex-husband, Prince Andrew, is Britain’s special representative for international trade and investment.
Of course, contrary to what she was at least implying in the recorded video, the Duke of York knew nothing of the arrangement and Buckingham Palace were quick to let the world know that Ferguson was acting alone.
Royal watchers and associates of the Duchess of York have been quick to defend her actions and put them down to her dire financial situation but even that support has been rather underwhelming. It has also been written that the reporter had been tipped off by "an associate of the Duchess".
The whole episode surely raises a few ethical questions. One would have to be the recording of the conversation without the knowledge of permission of the Duchess. In Australia at least, it is illegal to record someone without their knowledge and I would think it would be the same in the U.K.
The second is that the journalist was not being honest about his real identity. I don’t know if there is any law that is broken by a journalist going undercover but it is certainly an ethical question. Most journalist associations have very clear rules about stating who you are before anything is recorded in writing or any other way.
It is also a pretty despicable episode that the Duchess has plunged into but also one that has been rather foolish. According to The News of the World exposé, Ferguson was so clumsy in her dealings with the fake tycoon that she didn’t even check out his credentials before meeting him and even returned to his flat alone to secure the 40,000 pounds advance for the deal. Not only was this entirely stupid, it could have been dangerous.
It has to be either desperation or greed or both that drives people, particularly those who are not new to business dealings – and Sarah Ferguson is not new given her publishing deals for her children’s books and her deal as spokesperson for Weight Watchers - to do such stupid things when dealing with strangers.
The Duchess of York may be in financial dire straights but she now has total international humiliation to add to her woes.
Sourced: www.newsoftheworld.co.uk; www.smh.com.au
Image credit: www.newsoftheworld.co.uk
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Comment by Readbaron
Readbaron 3
Readbaron
Comment by Janet Collins
Acceptable Etiquette
The Social Critic
Janet Collins Blog
I think most people would be tempted if a large amount of money was offered to them but the way I read the story was that the Duchess was the one who was making the offer. The journo (according to the story anyway) suggested that the whole episode was prompted by an associate who dropped to a journalist that Sarah Ferguson had been telling people whe could "open the door to Prince Andrew" for a price. In fact, the $40,000 advance was clearly asked by her on the video as was the one per cent commission on any business that came out of it.
I don't for a second condone what the journalist did either. It was far from ethical and shows just how important a story is to newspapers - far more important in fact that the way they go about getting it.
Thank you for the comment.
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
At least the Royals have proved themselves good for a laugh once more.