Occupation Journalist, writer Name Nicholas Davies Nationality British Role Journalist | Period 1961-present Movies Fifty Dead Men Walking Genre Journalism, Biography | |
Notable works Diana : a princess and her troubled marriage (1992)Death of a Tycoon (1993)Dead Men Talking (2003) Books Queen Elizabeth II: A Woman, Diana: The Lonely Princess, Elizabeth: Behind Palace D, Ten‑thirty‑three: The Inside Story of B, Dead Men Talking: Collusion Similar People Janet Fielding, Kari Skogland, Martin McGartland, Natalie Press, Eve Stewart | ||
Nicholas Davies, also known as Nick Davies, is a journalist and author, formerly foreign editor of the Daily Mirror. He was closely associated with Robert Maxwell, and was the centre of considerable UK media attention in 1991 after he was accused in Seymour Hersh's book The Samson Option of involvement in Israeli arms deals and of passing the location of Mordechai Vanunu to Mossad. In response, Maxwell and Davies sued for libel, although Davies did not pursue the case and Mirror Group apologised and settled on behalf of Maxwell after his death.
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Journalistic career
Davies began his career with the Birmingham Post and Mail, and joined Mirror Group Newspapers in 1961 as a foreign correspondent and investigative reporter. He served as foreign editor of the Daily Mirror for 14 years until he was sacked by Maxwell in 1991 at the age of 52. Davies later went on to publish stories of working with Maxwell, as well as books about the British Royal Family and Northern Ireland.
Davies was first in the mass media to identify the victim of the 2007 royal blackmail plot, despite a court order preventing naming in the UK. He wrote a book on Maxwell entitled Death of a Tycoon: An Insider's Account of the Rise and Fall of Robert Maxwell. In it he speculated that Maxwell had been killed and suggested some unlikely culprits. He also detailed his own affair with Maxwell's secretary in his book The Unknown Maxwell.
He was referred to as "Kite" by satirical magazine Private Eye because his stories were supposed to be "fliers". He has been confused with another British journalist of the same name when they were working in the same building.
Controversy
Davies was named by Ari Ben-Menashe as his business partner in Profits of War, in relation to Iran-Contra and the sale of PROMIS, the first computer spyware. The arrangement was also noted in the book Robert Maxwell, Israel's Superspy: The Life and Murder of a Media Mogul by Gordon Thomas. Ben-Menashe later posted seven documents relating to sales of arms by Davies, sometimes signing himself as Davis. Ben-Menashe also claimed Davies was a "major player" in arms sales to Iran and made more than $1.5 million on one deal.
Personal life
In a 1992 article for The Washington Post, Christopher Hitchens describes Davies as a "polo-playing friend of Prince Charles". He did have a close friendship with Diana, Princess of Wales.
From 1982 to 1991, he was married to the Australian actress Janet Fielding, best known for playing the Fourth and Fifth Doctor's companion Tegan Jovanka in Doctor Who. Davies lived in Brighton in 1993.
There are some details of his personal life in his books The Unknown Maxwell and Death of a Tycoon: An Insider's Account of the Rise and Fall of Robert Maxwell.