Noel Botham (23 January 1940 – 23 November 2012) was a British tabloid journalist and prolific author. He wrote books on the love-life of Princess Margaret (''Margaret: The Untold Story'' and ''Margaret: The Last Real Princess'') and the death of Diana, Princess of Wales (''

The Murder of Princess Diana ''The Murder of Princess Diana'' is a 2007 Lifetime Television movie, directed by John Strickland and starring Jennifer Morrison as an American reporter. The film was based on the book by Noel Botham. Reg Gadney and Emma Reeves wrote the telepl ...

''), as well a series of books of obscure facts with 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" in ''The Totally Awesome Book of Useless Information.'' Also noted as a

raconteur A humorist (American) or humourist ( British spelling) is an intellectual who uses humor, or wit, in writing or public speaking, but is not an artist who seeks only to elicit laughs. Humorists are distinct from comedians, who are show business ...

and publican, for many years he ran one of

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develo ...

's landmark pubs, The French House.

Career

Botham was educated at

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2–19 Independent school (United Kingdom), independent, Day school, day and boarding school for Single-sex education, boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a Public school (United Kingdom), public school, it began as the Col ...

and apprenticed on ''

The Croydon Advertiser ''The Croydon Advertiser'' (with locally branded editions) is a paid-for weekly newspaper with five editions covering the London Boroughs of Croydon, Sutton and two neighbouring towns and with a free up-to-the-minute maintained web presence. Ci ...

'', then became the foreign editor for the Daily Sketch at the age of 21. He then proceeded to work for many tabloids, including the '' News of the World'' where he was chief investigative reporter for a period. Later, he became European editor of the ''

National Enquirer The ''National Enquirer'' is an American tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1926, the newspaper has undergone a number of changes over the years. The ''National Enquirer'' openly acknowledges that it pays sources for tips, a common practice in tabl ...

''. In 1997, at the funeral of television presenter

Hughie Green Hugh Hughes Green (2 February 1920 – 3 May 1997) was an English radio and television presenter, game show host and actor. Early life Green was born in Marylebone, London, to a Scottish father, Hugh Aitchison Green, a former British Army offic ...

, Botham revealed that Green was the biological father of entertainer

Paula Yates Paula Elizabeth Yates (24 April 1959 – 17 September 2000) was a British television presenter and writer. Yates is best known for her work on two television programmes, '' The Tube'' and ''The Big Breakfast''. She was the girlfriend of musicia ...

. Selling that information to the press is reported to have earned him £100,000. In 2008, Botham was portrayed by Danny Webb in the BBC Four drama ''Hughie Green, Most Sincerely''. After his death, ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' referred to Botham as "one of the hard-drinking reporters who made British newspapers the liveliest in the world".

Roy Greenslade Roy Greenslade (born 31 December 1946) is a British author and freelance journalist, and a former professor of journalism. He worked in the UK newspaper industry from the 1960s onwards. As a media commentator, he wrote a daily blog from 2006 to ...

in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' called him "the epitome of a Fleet Street scandal-monger and happy to be regarded as such".

Books

His book about Princess Margaret, ''Margaret: The Untold Story'' (1994) he published her love-letters to Robin Douglas-Home, the pianist and nephew of

Sir Alec Douglas-Home Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel (; 2 July 1903 – 9 October 1995), styled as Lord Dunglass between 1918 and 1951 and being The 14th Earl of Home from 1951 till 1963, was a British Conservative politician who se ...

, the former prime minister. These also appeared in the ''News of the World''. Botham's book, ''

'' (2004) disputed the official version of events. According to the book, the Princess was the victim of the

military–industrial complex The expression military–industrial complex (MIC) describes the relationship between a country's military and the defense industry that supplies it, seen together as a vested interest which influences public policy. A driving factor behind the r ...

concerned about their profits because of her involvement in the campaign against landmines. The book was later adapted into the

Lifetime Television Lifetime is an American basic cable channel that is part of Lifetime Entertainment Services, a subsidiary of A&E Networks, which is jointly owned by Hearst Communications and The Walt Disney Company. It features programming that is geared toward ...

production, ''

''. In addition to his many published biographies and books of trivia, Botham wrote ''Catch That Tiger'' (2012), about Major Douglas Lidderdale's capture of an

Afrika Korps The Afrika Korps or German Africa Corps (, }; DAK) was the German expeditionary force in Africa during the North African Campaign of World War II. First sent as a holding force to shore up the Italian defense of its African colonies, the ...

Tiger Tank Tiger tank may refer to: *Tiger I, or ''Panzerkampfwagen'' Tiger ''Ausf. E'', a German heavy tank produced from 1942 to 1944 *Tiger II, or ''Panzerkampfwagen'' Tiger ''Ausf. B'', a German heavy tank produced from 1943 to 1945, also known as ''Kön ...

in 1943.Tank Museum: How did they catch that tiger?
/ref> The book became "something of a bestseller".

References

1940 births 2012 deaths British male journalists 21st-century British novelists British male novelists 21st-century British male writers {{UK-journalist-stub