Agency legend destroyed the 'fairy tale of New York'
Nick Hudson was chief reporter on the Tamworth Herald when Annette Witheridge joined the weekly newspaper as a trainee. Here, he reports on the visit to the Press Club by Annette – now a Press agency legend and the journalist who destroyed a “New York fairy tale” and who tipped the domino that brought down a prince’s life as a working royal
Birmingham Press Club members were treated to the 'inside track' of arguably the biggest press scoop of the 21st century that brought shame on the favourite son of the late Queen Elizabeth II. Retired US freelance agency boss Annette Witheridge was one of three women instrumental in bringing down the Duke of York in a story that will forever be dubbed the Prince and the Pervert.
Annette opened up her notebook to the guests at the press club evening in Hockley Social Club, hosted by former ITV anchor Bob Warman – an event at which she received the traditional Press Club bugle after being installed as an Honorary Life Member.
Annette tipped over the first domino that helped seal Prince Andrew's fate – by organising a picture of him walking in New York’s Central Park with convicted paedophile, Jeffrey Epstein in 2010. The picture set off a chain of events that would see the prince end up in a 'car crash' interview with BBC Newsnight journalist Emily Maitlis which finished his life as a working royal.
Aptly along the way, it was women that were behind his downfall – from Annette to Scoop drama producer Sam McAlister.
Annette entertained her press colleagues with a resume of her biggest stories as New York's premier freelance agency boss – chasing pop paedophile Gary Glitter to Cuba, literally tripping over in front of him and the trial of British au pair Louise Woodward who was jailed for shaking a baby to death in Boston, USA.
She spoke of the Stateside reaction to breaking the real story behind the death of John F Kennedy Junior and his wife whose plane crashed off Martha’s Vineyard in 1999. Their marriage had become a nightmare and the son of the most famous US President of the 20th century was on the verge of divorce. She sold the story but faced fierce criticism in the US press for “being British” and "how dare she destroy the fairy tale of New York" – shattering the Kennedy dynasty fantasy.
Two Press Club members at her "tell all" talk in Birmingham this week – myself and former Birmingham Evening Mail business editor Jon Griffin – were at the start of her illustrious career. In 1977, I was chief reporter and news editor of the Tamworth Herald when the Sutton Coldfield-born schoolgirl joined the weekly newspaper at the age of 16 as a trainee.
Jon also saw her journalistic beginnings, working alongside her as the district reporter in Tamworth for the Birmingham publication, which itself once boasted the title of number one regional in Britain with daily sales in excess of 368,000, and later as the town's Staffordshire man for the Wolverhampton Express & Star.
Annette moved from the Herald to the Coventry Evening Telegraph and by the age of 23 onto Fleet Street at the News of the World. Her stories often took her to America, so it came as no surprise when, in January 1995, she moved to New York permanently to set up the Big Apple News press agency.
Her thoughts on THE big story – surely Prince Andrew "could not be stupid enough" to stay at Epstein's Madison Avenue home in what she described as the "street of perverts".
On being played by Shakespearian actress Kate Fleetwood in Scoop, the Netflix film, she was initially surprised she didn't "end up on the cutting room floor" and how much attention to detail was played to what she was wearing when 'staking out' Prince Andrew with photographer Jae Donnelly – Calvin Klein black coat, black boots, the number of rings on her fingers and the watch on her wrist.
Did Epstein commit suicide? "I think he did", she confided.
Other treasured memories . . . Annette was one of the first reporters on the scene when the Twin Towers came down in 2001 and remembers vividly how ex-Tamworth Herald sports editor Bob Paterson rang her to exclaim on hearing her voice at the other end of the phone: "Thank God you're alright."
Shocked and "bitterly disappointed" by the jailing in January 2007 of her good friend, News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman, over the phone hacking scandal. On reflection, how did they know all the things about these people, she said.
Since retiring in 2019 she admits to finding herself in a second career "appearing on documentaries".
As for the future of regional journalism, she "feels sorry" for the wannabe Witheridges of today – working out of bedrooms, missing out on playing cricket in an office of "everlasting laughs" but still with the potential for a "great life". She advises: "Be a pest. Put your foot in the door. Doorstep and above all make phone calls."
Image Bob Warman looks on as Annette blows the Press Club bugle
