Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is godfather to one of the daughters of Rupert Murdoch, Daily Telegraph revealed in its Monday edition, confirming the very close links that media tycoon has maintained with key members of the British political class.
The statement of the newspaper is based on an interview with Wendi, the younger wife of Rupert Murdoch, published in the October edition of Vogue fashion magazine to be released on Thursday.
“Mrs. Murdoch do not comment directly on Mr. Blair, but the article noted that Miss Kidman (actress Nicole Kidman), Mr. Jackman (Hugh Jackman) and Mr Blair are godparents” to Grace, aged nine, one of the two daughters that the media mogul has with his third wife.
The article says that Tony Blair, “one of the closest friends of Wendi” was “dressed in white” at the ceremony held in March 2010 in Jordan. It doesn’t appear, however, in the photographs taken on that occasion, added the Daily Telegraph.
Tony Blair office refused to comment to AFP. But sources close to former Prime Minister and News Corp., Rupert Murdoch’s group, confirmed that Blair is Grace’s godfather.
Rupert Murdoch’s group is at the center of a political scandal in the UK media that led to the closure this summer of one of his tabloids, “News of the World”, suspected to hack up to 4,000 voicemail boxes.
This case has exposed the links News Corp. had with the British political class. The current Prime Minister David Cameron acknowledged that he had met 25 times in 15 months with executives of the group, who supported his campaign, and his Finance Minister George Osborne met them 16 times.
Also, Cameron hired for a period of time a former editor of News of the World, Andy Coulson as communications director, on Downing Street.
Wendi Deng, aged 42, became known this summer when she jumped in front of his octogenarian husband to stop an attack with shaving foam, at a hearing before a parliamentary committee in London, shown live on TV.