James Edward Anthony Whitaker (1 October 1940 – 15 February 2012)[1] was an English journalist, specialising in the British royal family.
[2] Born in Cheltenham, elder son of George Edward Dudley Whitaker, OBE (1916–1983), and Mary Evelyn Austin, née Haslett (died 1989).
[8][9] Whitaker was educated at Cheltenham College, then worked as an articled clerk in an accountancy firm, before in 1963, becoming a reporter at the Hounslow, Brentford and Chiswick Post.
In 1966, Whitaker scored his first scoop when he went undercover working as a cloakroom attendant in the newly opened Playboy Club in London.
As a result, the Buckingham Palace Press Secretary, Michael Shea, rang then Mirror's editor Mike Molloy to demand the removal of those involved in the story.