Michael Cole (public relations)

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Michael Cole
Born1943 (age 80–81)
Occupations
Employers

Michael Dexter Cole (born March 1943) [1] is a former BBC television journalist and royal correspondent. After leaving the BBC, he worked as director of public affairs for Harrods, and as the spokesman for its owner Mohamed Al Fayed.

Contents

Journalism

Cole began his career in newspapers, before moving to television. [2] After a period with the local news programme for Anglia Television, he worked on the BBC's Look East from the beginning of 1969. [3] In 1973 he was one of three correspondents sent by the BBC to cover the Yom Kippur War from the Israeli side, [4] his first assignment after becoming permanently based in London following brief periods in Northern Ireland. [3] The reforms brought about by then BBC director- general Hugh Greene benefited news coverage according to Cole, but were accompanied by heavy drug use in some BBC departments. [5]

Cole covered Margaret Thatcher's career following her election as Conservative Party leader in 1975, told her on camera that Airey Neave MP had been assassinated in 1979, and was on hand at the rescue of Norman Tebbit after the Brighton's Grand Hotel was bombed by the IRA in 1984. [6]

Royal Correspondent

Cole served as a BBC Royal Correspondent. In 1987, Cole inadvertently revealed to a press correspondents' lunch some of that year's forthcoming Queen's Christmas message, apparently her reference to the Enniskillen bombing on Remembrance Day. [7] [8] [9] According to Cole, he immediately told his employer what had happened, and found the "Cole the Mole" headlines which followed inappropriate. [10] Cole's friend and fellow royal reporter James Whitaker, later said that Cole had spoken only in general terms and did not convey anything which was secret. [11] The BBC apologised to the Queen for the lapse. Cole was not dismissed and was moved to a media and arts remit, remaining with the corporation for another 10 months. [11]

Later career

Mohamed Al Fayed

Cole first met Mohamed Al Fayed while working on a BBC programme about the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, [12] The Uncrowned Jewels in 1987. [13] He joined Harrods after leaving the BBC in 1988, [2] telling journalist Nick Cohen days after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales that he loved Al Fayed like a father. However, Cole was also a victim of bugging because his boss did not trust many of his employees. [14]

In 1997 Cole led negotiations to conclude a settlement to a libel action brought by Al Fayed against Vanity Fair . Al Fayed had sued the magazine following a 1995 article written by the U.K. editor Henry Porter which accused Al Fayed of racism, and covert surveillance of, and sexual misconduct against, Harrods' staff. [15] The BBC returned to the allegations in 2024, following Al Fayed's death the previous year, in a documentary, Al-Fayed: Predator at Harrods which was broadcast on BBC Two. [16] This led to reconsideration of the roles Cole, and other senior Harrods' staff, had played in enabling Al Fayed's sexual abuse. [17] [18] [19]

Cole resigned from Harrods in 1998, taking early retirement at the age of 55. [2] [20] In 2008 he gave evidence to the inquest into the deaths in 1997 of Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Fayed, Mohamed Al Fayed's son. [21]

Lecturing; public relations company

In 2012, he jointly delivered, with Vernon Bogdanor, a Commonwealth Parliamentary Association lecture, The Crown and the Commonwealth: An emblem of dominion or a symbol of free and voluntary association? at Westminster Hall, part of the Palace of Westminster. [22] [23]

He is the chair of Michael Cole & Company, his own public relations and broadcasting company. [24] He has also written a column for the East Anglian Daily Times , [5] and appeared in 1999 as a panellist on the BBC's satirical quiz, Have I Got News for You . [25]

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References

  1. ↑ https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/l9BCNaoxyb9Qu03XLO4-p9szCw4/appointments
  2. 1 2 3 Boggan, Steve (21 February 1998). "Conspiracies abound as Cole quits 'toughest job in PR'" . The Independent. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  3. 1 2 Grimmer, Dan; Cole, Michael (10 November 2015). "Former BBC correspondent Michael Cole on Clive Lewis' 'racism' comments". Eastern Daily Press. Archant Community Media. Archived from the original on 12 November 2015.
  4. ↑ Graves, Keith (5 July 2004). "Inside Egypt with Israeli troops". BBC News. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  5. 1 2 Geater, Paul (7 November 2012). "Suffolk journalist reveals life at the BBC in Savile era". East Anglian Daily Times. Archant Community Media. Archived from the original on 17 February 2017. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  6. ↑ Cole, Michael (9 April 2013). "Gallery: Broadcaster Michael Cole reflects on his time covering the great Margaret Thatcher for the BBC". East Anglian Daily Times. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  7. ↑ "The tradition of the Queen's speech". BBC News. 30 December 1997. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  8. ↑ Davies, Caroline (25 December 2014). "The royal Christmas broadcast: 10 facts". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  9. ↑ Mount, Harry (21 December 2015). "The Queen's speech: a Christmas tradition worth keeping". The Telegraph. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  10. ↑ Vickers, Hugo (2011). Behind Closed Doors: The Tragic Untold Story of the Duchess of Windsor. London: Hutchinson. p. 231. ISBN   9781409036920.
  11. 1 2 Nicholas, Ruth (12 September 1997). "Profile: Michael Cole, Harrods: Coping with a Nation in Grief – Michael Cole Has Had the Unenviable Task of Facing Up To a World in Mourning". PR Week. Haymarket Media Group. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  12. ↑ Gregory, Martyn (2007). Diana: The Last Days. London: Virgin Books. p. 12. ISBN   9780753544310 – via Google Books.
  13. ↑ Gregory, Martyn (3 December 2010). "Buying the Royal Jewels". Daily Beast. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  14. ↑ Cohen, Nick (1999). Cruel Britania. London & New York: Verso. pp. 201, 203. ISBN   9781859842881.
  15. ↑ McArthur, Tom (23 September 2024). "Mohamed Al Fayed: Timeline of sex abuse allegations". BBC News . Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  16. ↑ Cornish-Trestrail, Cassie; Stone, Keaton; Gornall, Erica; Bell, Sarah (19 September 2024). "Mohamed Al Fayed accused of multiple rapes by staff". BBC News . Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  17. ↑ Radford, Mike; Gornall, Erica; Cornish-Trestrail, Cassie; Stone, Keaton (26 September 2024). "How Fayed built a corrupt system of enablers to carry out his sexual abuse". BBC News . Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  18. ↑ Porter, Henry (22 September 2024). ""Remorseless, ruthless, racist": my battle to expose Mohamed Al Fayed". The Guardian . Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  19. ↑ Hyde, Marina (24 September 2024). "Behind every Al Fayed or Diddy, there is a small army of enablers: this column is dedicated to them". The Guardian . Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  20. ↑ "Cole steps down as Harrods spokesman". BBC News. 20 February 1998. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  21. ↑ Pankhurst, Nigel (10 January 2008). "Detailed evidence for Diana inquest". BBC News. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  22. ↑ "The Crown and the Commonwealth: An emblem of dominion or a symbol of free and voluntary association?". UK Parliament. 18 April 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  23. ↑ "The Crown and the Commonwealth – 18 April". Commonwealth Journalists Association. 16 April 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  24. ↑ "Michael Cole & Company – public relations and broadcasting". 25 September 2007. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  25. ↑ "Have I Got News for You Season 18 Episode 5 Gyles Brandreth, Michael Cole". TV.com. Archived from the original on 17 February 2017. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
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