Chapter 81 Crown Prince’s Support

"So Barron, Lord Blair is very troubled by the recent reports in your newspaper. After knowing that I will come to see you today, he expressed the hope that this matter will not continue to be hyped..."

"Your Highness, aren't those reports true? If Lord Blair feels that such reports will embarrass him, then the most important thing he should do is to give the victims an acceptable result as soon as possible instead of blaming it on some terrorists. , wouldn’t that be a joke?”

The person speaking to Barron was His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and the "Lord Blair" he referred to was not the one who lived at No. 10 Downing Street at this time, but the director of Scotland Yard at this time - Ian Blair.

Well, it’s not surprising that this director has the same name as Viscount Bute. After all, there are only a few European and American names that come back and forth...

This is why the kings of England always have rather "peculiar" nicknames, such as "Edward the Long-Legged", "Red-faced William II" and the like...

Because from the Normandy Dynasty in 1066 to the Queen today, there are forty-one British monarchs: eight Edwards, eight Henrys, six Georges, four William, three Richards, two Charles, two One Mary, two Elizabeths, two James...

So after having the nickname, Mom no longer has to worry about me being confused...

Uh... let's get back to the business. The reason why His Royal Highness the Crown Prince mentioned this matter today is because in the past two days of the "Independent" report, Scotland Yard was given a special topic to talk about their recent "rubbish" things. After repeating the bombardment, they are a bunch of losers and cannot be counted on to protect the British people.

Among these reports, of course, there was mention of the "London Star" case - almost four months have passed, and there is still no explanation. The newspaper interviewed the victims of this fraud case, and everyone blamed Scotland Yard. What was done in this case was almost nothing.

There are other cases, including the one that was just disclosed - in February this year, a little girl was kidnapped. As a result, the girl's body was found earlier this month, confirming that the girl had been killed at that time. , but Scotland Yard always thought that the girl was still alive and wasted a lot of investigation time...

Precisely because this case has been a hot topic recently, this report by The Independent aroused the indignation of many people, and Scotland Yard was also under great pressure from public opinion for a while.

"You can rest assured about this, Barron. I have been paying attention to the 'London Star' case. I also understand that you need to get a satisfactory answer. In this way, I will arrange for Sir Dearlove to meet with you about the matter. He knows better than Scotland Yard the latest developments in this case."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

Barron knew that the Sir Dearlove the Crown Prince was talking about was Richard Dearlove. He is now the director of MI6. It seems that he needs to ask this person for more reliable information.

Of course, these matters were just mentioned by His Highness the Prince at the beginning. This was not the main purpose of Barron's meeting with the Crown Prince.

"In addition, what I want to tell you is about ITV Digital."

"Digital terrestrial television?"

After hearing Barron talking about ITV Digital, the Prince of Wales thought for a moment and guessed:

"Are you planning to intervene in this matter? Isn't the BBC already negotiating with them?"

"The BBC alone cannot compete with Sky TV, or the News Corporation behind them. This has been the case with satellite TV from the very beginning. If the BBC had been more decisive back then, how could BSB be acquired by News Corporation? And I I'm worried that the BBC will make this mistake again."

The Prince of Wales also knows that the BBC is negotiating with ITV Digital now, but it is better to say that they are negotiating with the government - the BBC itself has satellite TV stations, and they also understand that building a terrestrial digital TV covering the entire UK has never been possible. Some constructions require huge sums of money. They don't want to bear this risk, so when they take over ITV Digital, they need funding from the government. As for the numbers, I'm afraid they wish they could all be funded by the government...

"But Barron, you have to know that although ITV Digital has three terrestrial digital TV licenses, and the BBC only needs one, the construction plan for terrestrial digital TV requires funds that are not comparable to that of a newspaper company. And according to the information I have received, the government will not be willing to provide additional subsidies in this regard - at least it will be difficult to directly obtain too much funding."

"You don't need to worry about funds. Your Highness, my recent investment has been very successful. I now have a sum of funds on hand to prepare for this, and the subsequent funds can also be solved."

Faced with the Crown Prince’s doubts, Barron said with great confidence:

"Of course, in this regard, you should understand that as a nobleman, I have my own sense of responsibility, just like the "Independent" does, I will safeguard the interests of Britain, rather than like some media, just to gain attention , and do everything possible.”

The Crown Prince naturally understands the implication of Barron's words. News of the World and The Sun, both owned by News Corporation, can be said to be representatives of the unlimited media that Barron mentioned.

"And I don't want to do it overnight. Instead, I plan to cooperate with ITV first to produce program content. After accumulating enough experience, I will really get involved in the television field."

During the process of Barron's purchase of the Independent, the Crown Prince also helped - Barron was not the only one who was interested in buying the newspaper. In the end, INM Group made the decision to sell the Independent Newspaper to Barron. In addition to the condition that Barron assume the newspaper's debts, they were moved by the fact that the crown prince used his influence to negotiate peace, which was also a factor.

Therefore, when he is now preparing to intervene in the transfer of the terrestrial satellite television license owned by ITV Digital, it is also very important to obtain the support of the crown prince and then the royal family.

At least, the royal family can still speak to the British Culture, Media and Sport Special Committee, who can finally have a say in the transfer of terrestrial satellite TV licenses. After all, TV stations in any country are not just for the people. It is just a form of entertainment, but it also represents the transmission of culture and values.

"As long as you meet the corresponding conditions, I will support you in this regard, Barron. After all, we are on the same side."

"Thank you, Your Highness, you know, whether it is newspapers or TV, my purpose is not to make money, but to retain my own voice in these areas of publicity in England, especially now, in these areas, News Corporation When things get aggressive, it’s even more important for us to maintain diversity rather than be controlled by it.”

It must be said that Barron's words really impressed the crown prince. After all, the newspapers and media owned by News Corporation reported a lot of gossip about the royal family, and many of the reports made the royal family a little annoyed.

What impressed him most was probably the reports and hype about Princess Diana back then. If Barron could be on their side, at least for the royal family, there would be more friendship in the public opinion field.