Michael Royston Stares, who died earlier this month at the age of 86, had a reputation in national press newsrooms as a royal scoop specialist – writes Justin Stares.
Highgrove House, the residence of then-Prince Charles, lay in his West Country patch, and he had inside sources.
He reported on the future King’s relationship with Diana in the 1980s — a time of feverish Fleet Street demand for exclusives, which could sell for five or ten thousand pounds.
He was tipped off on the royals’ intimate movements including the paintings they bought and the instructions left for Highgrove House guests. “Due to staff shortages, guests will have to draw their own baths. With apologies,” read one note he revealed.
After marrying he converted his wife, Judith, into a freelance journalist who then specialised in travelling the world with a photographer selling packages for the Sunday colour supplements.
His long freelance career based in Wiltshire followed time on newspapers in the US and the north of England.
Mike spent his entire career chasing hard news and he loved his work and his profession. He took his role as NUJ branch chair seriously and was a founder member of the National Association of Press Associations, which had muscle enough to negotiate as a bloc with national newspapers on rates. He fought for journalists’ rights locally and often reported on these fights for the Press Gazette.
He retired to Swindon and then Ross-on-Wye just as the digital revolution began. While he was one of the early adopters of the Tandy — a laptop that allowed filing digitally rather than over the phone — he did not embrace the online world and never had a social media account.
Among the character traits for which he will be remembered is his modesty, he was quite happy to work without byline.
Mike is survived by Judith and two sons: Justin, a Brussels-based journalist, and Elliott: a Miami-based PR professional.
Funeral service to be held at Forest of Dean Crematorium, Thursday 6th February at 1.30 pm
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