Stuart Higgins (born c.1956)Andy Becket

''The Independent on Sunday'', 13 October 1996 is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...

consultant and former

newspaper editor An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

. In 1972 Higgins left school in Kingswood, on the outskirts of Bristol, and began his career as a reporter at the South West News, an agency founded by Roland Arblaster. He began working for '' The Sun'' in 1979 as their West Country reporter. He was arrested in 1982 by the police after being found with a ''Sun'' photographer "testing security" at

Highgrove House Highgrove House is the family residence of King Charles III and Queen Camilla. It lies southwest of Tetbury in Gloucestershire, England. Built in the late 18th century, Highgrove and its estate were owned by various families until it was ...

, home of

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

. At one point,

Kelvin MacKenzie Kelvin Calder MacKenzie (born 22 October 1946) is an English media executive and a former newspaper editor. He became editor of '' The Sun'' in 1981, by which time the publication was established as Britain's largest circulation newspaper. Aft ...

printed Higgins' direct phone number in ''The Sun'', billed him as the "human sponge" and asked readers to call Higgins to "get things off their chest".Media Monke
"Oscar Pistorius: can the 'Human Sponge' help handle the crisis?"
guardian.co.uk, 15 February 2013 In 1994, Higgins succeeded MacKenzie as editor of the newspaper.David Henck
The case of the Sun editor, sexual harassment and a £500,000 payoff"
''The Guardian'', 12 November 2003 In 1996, Higgins wrote a front page story about an intimate video purporting to feature

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...

with

James Hewitt James Lifford Hewitt (born 30 April 1958) is a British former cavalry officer in the British Army. He came to public attention in the mid-1990s after he disclosed an affair with Diana, Princess of Wales, while she was still married to then-Pri ...

. The video turned out to be a hoax. Higgins left ''The Sun'' in June 1998. On 11 November 2003, Labour MP

Clive Soley Clive Stafford Soley, Baron Soley (born 7 May 1939) is a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1979 to 2005, and has since then served as a Member of the House of Lords. Early life He w ...

, using parliamentary privilege, alleged that

News International News Corp UK & Ireland Limited (trading as News UK, formerly News International and NI Group) is a List of newspapers in the United Kingdom, British newspaper publisher, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the American mass media Conglomerate (c ...

had paid £500,000 'hush money' to a female employee who had accused Higgins of sexual harassment during his time at ''The Sun''. Soley also accused

Rebekah Wade Rebekah Mary Brooks (; born 27 May 1968) is a British media executive and former journalist and newspaper editor. She has been chief executive officer of News UK since 2015. She was previously CEO of News International from 2009 to 2011 and w ...

(now Brooks), then the newspaper's editor, of writing a threatening letter to the MP in order to discourage him from researching the issue. Higgins subsequently set up his own public relations company, but sold the company in 2007.Chris Tryhor
"Higgins' PR firm bought by Fast Track"
guardian.co.uk, 11 December 2007 In February 2013, it was reported that Higgins was in Pretoria, South Africa assisting athlete

Oscar Pistorius Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius (; ; born 22 November 1986) is a South African convicted murderer and former professional sprinter. Both of his feet were amputated when he was 11 months old owing to a congenital defect; he was born missing the o ...

, accused of murdering his girlfriend

Reeva Steenkamp Reeva Rebecca Steenkamp (; 19 August 1983 – 14 February 2013) was a South African model and paralegal. She modeled for ''FHM'' magazine and was the first face of Avon cosmetics in South Africa. Steenkamp once worked as the live roaming presen ...

, in dealing with the press.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Higgins, Stuart 1950s births Living people English newspaper editors English male journalists British public relations people The Sun (United Kingdom) editors