Noel Botham

Noel Botham(23 January 1940 – 23 November 2012) was a Britishtabloid journalistand prolific author.

He wrote books on the love-life ofPrincess Margaret(Margaret: The Untold StoryandMargaret: The Last Real Princess) and the death ofDiana, Princess of Wales(The Murder of Princess Diana), as well a series of books ofobscure factswith the theme of "Useless Information",some of which was wildly erroneous; for example, "It would take 150 million years to drive a car to the sun" inThe Totally Awesome Book of Useless Information.Also noted as araconteurand publican, for many years he ran one ofSoho's landmark pubs,The French House.

Career

Botham was educated atDulwich Collegeand apprenticed onThe Croydon Advertiser,then became the foreign editor for theDaily Sketchat the age of 21. He went on to work for many tabloids, including theNews of the Worldwhere he was chief investigative reporter for a period. Later, he became European editor of theNational Enquirer.

In 1997, at the funeral of television presenterHughie Green,Botham revealed that Green was the biological father of entertainerPaula Yates.Selling that information to the press is reported to have earned him £100,000.In 2008, Botham was portrayed byDanny Webbin theBBC FourdramaHughie Green, Most Sincerely.

After his death,The Daily Telegraphreferred to Botham as "one of the hard-drinking reporters who made British newspapers the liveliest in the world".Roy GreensladeinThe Guardiancalled him "the epitome of a Fleet Street scandal-monger and happy to be regarded as such".

Books

His book aboutPrincess Margaret,Margaret: The Untold Story(1994) he published her love-letters toRobin Douglas-Home,the pianist and nephew ofSir Alec Douglas-Home,the former prime minister. These also appeared in theNews of the World.

Botham's book,The Murder of Princess Diana(2004) disputed the official version of events. According to the book, the Princess was the victim of themilitary–industrial complexconcerned about their profits because of her involvement in the campaign against landmines.The book was later adapted into theLifetime Televisionproduction,The Murder of Princess Diana.

In addition to his many published biographies and books of trivia, Botham wroteCatch That Tiger(2012), about Major Douglas Lidderdale's capture of anAfrika KorpsTiger Tankin 1943.The book became "something of a bestseller".