Rupert Murdoch appeared at Windsor Castle on Wednesday for the royal banquet honoring President Donald Trump, even as his newspaper battles the president in an eleven-figure defamation lawsuit. The 94-year-old media mogul, whose ties with both Trump and the British royal family have been turbulent, was seated on the same side of the table as Queen Camila and the Prince of Wales, according to The Telegraph.
Murdoch was placed between his fifth wife, Elena, and Morgan McSweeney, chief of staff to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. The president did not mention Murdoch during his formal remarks at the event. In July, Trump filed suit against Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal over an article the paper published describing his alleged connection with Jeffrey Epstein.
The article referenced a 2003 birthday letter Trump reportedly sent Epstein, which was released earlier this month with the rest of Epstein’s “birthday book.” The letter contained the outline of a naked woman and a signature stylized to resemble pubic hair. Trump denounced it as “a fake thing” and quickly filed a defamation case seeking no less than $10 billion.
“I look forward to getting Rupert Murdoch to testify in my lawsuit against him and his ‘pile of garbage’ newspaper, the WSJ,” Trump declared on Truth Social. “That will be an interesting experience!!!!”
A federal judge in Florida is reviewing a motion from Murdoch’s legal team to dismiss the lawsuit, due September 22. Meanwhile, Trump has insisted Murdoch provide the court with regular health updates, citing his age and “recent significant health scares.”
Murdoch’s media empire—including Fox News, The New York Post, and The Wall Street Journal—has documented Trump’s trajectory from real estate magnate to television celebrity to president. In the 1990s, Trump was a staple in New York Post gossip columns, and their personal friendship spanned decades, though Murdoch initially withheld support in the 2016 election.
Fox News later became a strong ally of Trump’s political agenda. The network paid nearly $800 million in a settlement over false claims its hosts promoted regarding the 2020 election.
Murdoch’s history with Britain’s establishment is equally complicated. Educated in England, he cultivated political ties with Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s, reportedly gaining her support for his purchase of two London newspapers in exchange for favorable coverage.
But his reputation suffered after accusations of widespread phone hacking by reporters at the Murdoch-owned News of the World, which shut down in 2011.
In January, News Group Newspapers, another Murdoch company, paid more than £1 billion to settle Prince Harry’s phone-hacking lawsuit. The publisher also admitted investigators tied to The Sun engaged in “incidents of unlawful activities” from 1996 to 2011.
Prince Harry was not present at Windsor Castle on Wednesday, where Trump praised Prince William but made no mention of his younger brother.