Rupert Murdoch apologises in person to Dowler family

In a humbling moment for the media boss, Rupert Murdoch came to a central London hotel to pay penance – to apologise for the first time to the Dowler family over allegations that the News of the World hacked into their daughter Milly’s phone after she died.

The family arrived half an hour later than him, but after everything that has happened, no one was going to complain.

Just yesterday Rupert Murdoch called the Wall Street Journal – one of his own papers – to insist that News Corp had handled the phone crisis “extremely well in every way possible”. He said there had only been a few minor mistakes.

But today in the hotel, he has had to eat his words and a healthy portion of humble pie. Channel 4 News has been told he even offered to travel to the Dowlers’ home in Surrey. They said they did not want him in the house, so they met at the hotel instead.

Allegations that Milly Dowler’s phone had been hacked set off a chain of events which have brought Rupert Murdoch’s media empire to its knees. Today, he tried to stop the rot by telling the Dowler family and all the other victims of phone hacking that he was deeply sorry.

After the meeting, Rupert Murdoch told waiting press: “As founder of the company I was appalled to find out what had happened and I apologised.”

The Dowler family’s lawyer, Mark Lewis, said: “He was humbled to give a full and sincere apology to the Dowler family.

“The Dowler family told him that his papers should lead the way to set the standards of honesty and decency in the field, and not what had gone on before.

He added: “He apologised many times. I don’t think anybody could have held their head in their hands so many times.”

Rebekah Brooks resigns

Rupert Murdoch is used to having everything his own way – but no longer. He has already abandoned his bid for BSkyB and closed the News of the World.

And this morning he had to sacrifice News International’s chief executive Rebekah Brooks, the paper’s former editor. He and his son James had previously rebuffed her offers to resign.

In a statement, Rebekah Brooks said: “As Chief Executive of the company, I feel a deep sense of responsibility for the people we have hurt and I want to reiterate how sorry I am for what we now know to have taken place.

“I have believed that the right and responsible action has been to lead us through the heat of the crisis. However my desire to remain on the bridge has made me a focal point of the debate.

“Therefore I have given Rupert and James Murdoch my resignation. While it has been a subject of discussion, this time my resignation has been accepted.”

Friendly relationship

And there have been embarrassing revelations today for the prime minister. A list of engagements released by Downing Street show just how frequently he paid court to News Corp executives – and they to him.

He has met Rebekah Brooks five times since May last year. And it has also emerged that David Cameron’s former communications chief Andy Coulson stayed with him at Chequers in March – after the police reopened their inquiry into phone hacking. That inquiry led to the arrest of Mr Coulson last week.

The prime minister will not say sorry for appointing Mr Coulson. But Rupert Murdoch will be apologising again this weekend for what he called “serious wrongdoing” at the News of the World.

He has personally signed a letter which will run as an advert in seven national newspapers. So his humiliation is complete – but the phone hacking scandal is only just beginning.