Far from shrinking away from the public gaze over the revelations earlier this month that he indulged in a five-hour sex session with five female prostitutes in a Nazi-style orgy, Max Mosley, the 68-year-old head of motor racing’s governing body, has fiercely defended his actions – calling them merely ‘eccentric’.
Not only that, the multi-millionaire son of the notorious British Fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley has launched what promises to be a prolonged and bitter legal battle against the newspaper concerned, the News of the World, for “invading his privacy”.
The paper has said it will “vigorously” defend itself in the action, which could come to court as early as July this year.
But Mosley – puffed up with sanctimony – is also convinced Britain needs new, “beefed up” privacy laws.
The urbane Mosley, who has built a considerable reputation as President of the Federation International De l’Automobile (FIA), doesn’t deny paying £2,500 for his sadomasochistic exploits.
But he insists it is “entirely false” to suggest there was a Nazi element to his “orgy”, as the paper suggested.
Last week, Mosley’s lawyers failed to win a High Court injunction against the News of the World to stop it republishing the video of his activities on its website.
The judge, Mr Justice Eady, ruled that although the video was “intrusive and demeaning”, it was so widely accessible that the law could not protect him.
Mosley admitted the story had been “appallingly embarrassing” for his family, and that his wife, Jean, was not “best pleased”, and neither were his two adult sons Alexander, 37, and Patrick, 35.
The battle to come will be fought using all his famed Machiavellian legal skills – as well as friends in high places – to press his case for a privacy law.
For Mosley has connections that stretch to the very top of the Labour Government.
“Bernie’s street-smart,” said a leading member of the sport, “but he’s always relied on Mosley’s strengths as a silver-tongued lawyer to get what he wants.”
With all these connections, it’s hardly surprising Mosley is said to be “resolute and unashamed” in his legal action, in spite of calls for him to stand down as President of the FIA from leading manufacturers including BMW and Mercedes-Benz.
Nor he is popular in the pits. “Behind his back, people have been calling him an arrogant autocrat for years,” one insider said, “And they see these accusations of sleaze as a way finally to get rid of him.”
Former world champion driver Sir Jackie Stewart, for one, has called on Mosley to step down, but the two men have a history of disagreement, not least over Mosley’s apparent support for the Ferrari racing team – his position in motor racing means he is supposed to be utterly impartial.
Significantly, Mosley won’t be attending this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona – even though the FIA is to use the race to launch an anti-racism campaign after racist attacks on the British driver Lewis Hamilton.
Mosley’s next major public appearance is likely to take place on June 3 in Paris, when he will appear at an extraordinary general meeting of the FIA.
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