Embattled BBC chairman Richard Sharp reportedly helped his close friend get a paid role advising the corporation about its editorial standards. Mr Sharp put forward Caroline Daniel, a public relations executive and former editor of the FT Weekend, for a position in the wake of the Martin Bashir scandal, according to the Sunday Times.
He was an usher at her wedding to ex-Emmerdale actor Christopher Villiers in 2019 – with whom he is also close, the paper reports. Mr Sharp, who is already facing pressure to resign over the circumstances surrounding his own appointment, is said to have introduced Ms Daniel to the BBC’s senior independent director who gave her the job.
The appointment left others feeling she had been “shoe-horned” into the role, which paid £15,000 a year for about 15 days’ work, according to the paper. The former Goldman Sachs banker, 67, then reportedly rubber-stamped her selection for a second position last June as an external editorial adviser to the corporation without publicly declaring their personal ties.
