JANET STREET-PORTER: Sorry kids, you’re never too old to put a ring on it

I never thought I would write these words, but I feel a bit sorry for dear old Rupert Murdoch.

The 92-year-old media mogul’s dream of spending his final years cosying up to a glamorous companion, a human hottie in his bed at night rather than an electric blanket, has sadly come to nought.

Only two weeks ago, Rupert Murdoch was being described in an entirely new way- no longer as a hatchet man with a ruthless eye on the balance sheet, the inspiration for telly’s most savage mogul, Succession’s Logan Roy. Now he was a softie, hit by the love bug. Murdoch appeared to have undergone a total transformation, admitting he had unexpectedly found a new partner in later life. Some female reporters were breathlessly dubbing him the ‘last of the romantics’ after he announced he was contemplating marriage number five, just a few months after divorcing wife number four, Jerry Hall.

We’d barely got over the shock of this new lovey-dovey persona when fresh news emerged – the wedding and the engagement were ALL OFF. Murdoch is once again single and free to mingle, as his short-lived engagement to 66-year-old Ann Lesley Smith, a former prison chaplain and radio show host, has been abruptly terminated, apparently by mutual agreement.

At 92, his faculties are still intact and his well-documented appetite for business is undiminished – so what next for this 90-something billionaire who is said to be still hoping for a partner?

It’s too easy to sneer at older people wanting to be loved, wanting to spend their time with someone who is easy on the eye and fun to be around. Society glorifies youth, firm flesh, taut chins and wrinkle-free eyes. Older people are continually plonked in one category, as if we’re all the same. I hate the word ‘community’ – as in the gay community, the older citizens’ community and so on.

People are people at the end of the day and you can’t define us just by our age and who we want to share our bodily fluids with.

In Rupert Murdoch’s case, I can confirm that in person he is charming, funny and very good company. He is also (surprisingly) a bit of a prude who doesn’t like unnecessary nudity, bad language and rude manners – a bit unexpected, given his tabloid newspapers were the first to offer us topless women.

‘Murdoch is once again single and free to mingle, as his short-lived engagement to 66-year-old Ann Lesley Smith, a former prison chaplain and radio show host, has been abruptly terminated, apparently by mutual agreement’ 

Ann Lesley Smith showing off her engagement ring 

Older people’s greatest fear is loneliness, so I understand why – at 92 – a man who wants for nothing materially, might fancy the prospect of marriage number five. A committed Christian, he wouldn’t be happy just living (in sin) with a partner. His children might have had other ideas about the proposed wedding, because every new wife would mean their inheritance might be affected, even with the toughest pre-nuptial agreement. But whatever the family may or may not have said to dad when he announced his unexpected engagement, he will not have taken much notice.

His business advisors might have had other more significant concerns, which could relate to Ann Lesley Smith’s political beliefs and their potential impact on Murdoch business interests.

His bride-to-be was a devout Evangelican Christian who states her views on her radio show, and – while Murdoch himself is a believer – he is not going to sign up to conspiracy theories about Covid and get involved in discussions about banning abortion or other right-wing religious concerns.

Murdoch was said to ‘admire and respect’ Ms Smith, and there is no doubt that their shared beliefs brought them closer together. His former girlfriend was said to be ‘calm and strong’ – appealing characteristics for a man surrounded by a frenetic schedule and competing advisors.

Marriage to Murdoch involves complicated pre-nuptial agreements and lavish pay-offs. His wives do not bad-mouth him. Jerry Hall is said to have received around £50 million when their marriage ended, including a houses in England and France. Wendi Deng, his previous wife, also received a generous settlement. Ms Smith has been married several times too.

Questions have been raised about the court action brought by Ms Smith’s stepdaughters following the death of her third husband, a wealthy country singer – a dispute over the proceeds of the will was settled out of court, with the judge criticising Ms Smith’s handling of affairs.

Janet Street-Porter writes ‘I cancelled my first wedding – 1A as it is known to friends – six months before I was due to walk down the aisle, and seven days after meeting my next fiance and eventual husband number one’

Perhaps Rupert Murdoch’s advisors and family sounded a note of caution about formalising his new relationship so quickly.

Which leaves Rupert still looking for late life love, and Ms Smith deciding whether to hand back the £2 million diamond ring Mr Murdoch chose for hear a few weeks ago.

Of course she must keep the ring.

I have all my engagement rings – I regard them as my just reward for being a brilliant companion who cheered up the bloke in question, enriching and livening up his life for the period we spent together.

If a wedding is cancelled, the bride to be always keeps the ring. I cancelled my first wedding – 1A as it is known to friends – six months before I was due to walk down the aisle, and seven days after meeting my next fiance and eventual husband number one.

The ring from engagement 1A isn’t worth a fortune – a Victorian band of moonstones set in gold – but it reminds me of a charming, lovely man who I was totally unsuitable for, and who I did a favour by ruthlessly cancelling our wedding.

I also have my engagement rings from weddings number two and three – wonderful men, but both ended in amicable divorces (at my request) when love had run its course and we decided it was best to end up friends rather than enemies.

So I hope that Rupert stays on speaking terms with Ms Smith, who seems to have brought him a great deal of peace and happiness in the short time they spent together. Now he has the unenviable task of finding a replacement – and he’s going to be inundated with offers after such a public climbdown.

Cancelling an engagement or a wedding isn’t embarrassing or pathetic, it’s the right thing to do if you believe you’ll meet someone better one day. My mother said that when I called off my engagement and cancelled wedding number one I brought shame on my family.

By the end of marriage number four she sulked in silence.

Growing old in 2023 doesn’t mean older folk should adopt the miserable morality of mum’s generation, when widows and bereaved men just mouldered away in solitary misery. In modern society as long as you’ve got a pulse, then a wedding might be just around the corner!