James Whitaker †71 (1940 - 2012)

He was considered the doyen of Fleet Street’s royal correspondents (otherwise known as the “Rat Pack”) during a 40-year career on tabloid newspapers, notably with The Daily Mirror. He was one of those who created the type of royal correspondent that has become the norm today: a reporter whose business it is to unearth stories about the Royal family rather than produce anodyne accounts of official engagements. His best years coincided with those in which Diana, Princess of Wales, became the most famous woman in the world, and he chronicled her story from beginning to end. He followed her around Britain and across the globe, and was the first to reveal that she was suffering from a serious eating disorder.