Eyebrows were raised when they were first spotted in public together, watching the All Blacks triumph in the final of the Rugby World Cup in London in October 2015.
It’s a flash in the pan, people said. Only together for publicity, others surmised. So when Jerry Hall and Rupert Murdoch announced their engagement in January 2016, there must have been audible gasps of shock.
“Surely Jerry Hall isn’t that desperate,” wrote one social media commentator.
But three years after deciding to tie the knot, the couple – who have a 25-year age gap – appear to be proving the critics wrong.
They’ll celebrate their third wedding anniversary in March and it seems the honeymoon glow still hasn’t worn off, judging by their public displays of affection during a recent holiday in Barbados.
Friends say Jerry and Rupert have a genuine compatibility Image: Shutterstock
The pair were spotted holding hands while strolling along the beach together, sharing loving looks while swimming, and when media mogul Rupert (87) needed assistance getting to his feet in the surf, former model Jerry (62) was quick to help out.
Rupert has been smitten with Jerry since they first met, just six months before they married. Despite being one of the most powerful businessmen in the world, and having a reputation for being unemotional and tough, Rupert hasn’t been afraid to wear his heart on his sleeve since making Jerry the fourth Mrs Murdoch.
“Rupert’s completely in love,” says author William Shawcross, one of the billionaire’s oldest friends. “He’s very happy.”
Another Murdoch insider says the reason the marriage has been so successful thus far is because “what Rupert has really been looking for all these years is not so much a wife as a First Lady. Someone who will run his life in private and be at his side in public.”
That’s something Jerry is more than capable of doing.
Rupert was 25 when he married his first wife, flight attendant Patricia Booker, in 1956. They had one daughter, Prudence (60), and after they divorced in 1967 he married wife number two, cadet journalist Anna Torv, within a matter of months.
Rupert and Anna had three children – Elisabeth (50), Lachlan (47) and James (46) – before their marriage collapsed after 32 years.
Just 17 days after divorcing Anna in 1999, he married TV executive Wendi Deng (50). Their marriage lasted 14 years and produced two daughters, Grace (17) and Chloe (15).
When he announced they were splitting in June 2013 (allegedly because of her infatuation with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair), he broke with tradition and didn’t immediately move on to someone else. It was just over two years before he got together with Jerry.
Rupert and Jerry still have that honeymoon feeling Image: Getty
She, of course, was best known for her relationships with two famous singers. First up, she was engaged to Roxy Music crooner Bryan Ferry (73), breaking off their two-year relationship in 1977 to take up with Rolling Stones front-man Sir Mick Jagger (75).
They were together for 22 years, becoming parents to daughters Elizabeth (34) and Georgia (26), and sons James (33) and Gabriel (21), before Mick’s constant infidelity proved too much for Jerry.
Jerry’s kids are said to be relaxed about having Rupert Murdoch as their stepfather because he makes their mother, “very happy”, according to Georgia.
Meanwhile, Rupert’s daughter Elisabeth says her father is easily dominated by women, describing him as a “conventionally hen-pecked husband.”
Rupert and Jerry on their wedding day surrounded by all ten of their children from previous marriages.
While Rupert and Jerry may seem like an odd couple, friends say they have a genuine compatibility.
One possible sign of how well the marriage is going is the fact that the day after the wedding, before heading off on honeymoon to France, prolific tweeter Rupert announced that he was taking a break from social media.
“No more tweets for ten days or ever!” he posted. “Feel like the luckiest and happiest man in the world.”
And he hasn’t tweeted since!
