Resolution Statement – 00200-25 Cartland v mirror.co.uk

Summary of Complaint

1. Louise Cartland complained to the Independent Press Standards Organisation that mirror.co.uk breached Clause 1 (Accuracy), Clause 2 (Privacy) and Clause 4 (Intrusion into grief or shock) of the Editors’ Code of Practice in an article headlined “Heartbreak for Dodi Fayed's former lover as daughter found dead at home at 38”, published on 27 February 2024.

2. The article appeared online only, under the sub-headline: “Louise Dyrbusz, who went out with Dodi Fayed in the 1980s, has lost her daughter, […], leaving the family devastated”. It then opened by reporting:

The daughter of Dodi Fayed's former lover has been found dead, it has been reported.

[…] Louise, known as Louise Michaels in Mayfair in the 1980s, had dated Dodi Fayed in the same decade, years before Dodi and Princess Diana died in a car crash in Paris.”

3. The article went on to report a number of quotes from a named individual, who was referred to as the complainant's daughter's "stepfather”. This included: “’She [the complainant] always pleaded poverty, but I have since found she has off-shore accounts which contain maybe hundreds of thousands of pounds’.” The article also referred to the complainant as being left “heartbroken”.

4. The complainant said that the article was inaccurate in breach of Clause 1 because she had never been acquainted with Dodi Fayed, and had certainly not been his former lover. She said this was a fabrication by a former partner, and this had previously been the subject of libel proceedings. She also disputed that she had any “off-shore” bank accounts.

5. She also complained that the article breached Clause 2. She said that she had not been contacted prior to the article’s publication, which had allowed the publication of falsehoods which, she considered, had been provided to the publication maliciously.

6. The complainant also complained that the publication of the article breached Clause 4. She said that she had not been aware of her daughter’s death, and had been informed of it when she had read about it in the press - both in the article under complaint, and in articles published by a different newspaper. Given that she was not aware of her daughter’s death at the time, she also disputed, under Clause 1, the description of her in the article as “heartbroken”.

Relevant Clause Provisions

Clause 1 (Accuracy)

i) The Press must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information or images, including headlines not supported by the text.

ii) A significant inaccuracy, misleading statement or distortion must be corrected, promptly and with due prominence, and — where appropriate — an apology published. In cases involving IPSO, due prominence should be as required by the regulator.

iii) A fair opportunity to reply to significant inaccuracies should be given, when reasonably called for.

iv) The Press, while free to editorialise and campaign, must distinguish clearly between comment, conjecture and fact.

Mediated Outcome

7. The complaint was not resolved in direct correspondence between the parties. Therefore, IPSO began its investigation into the matter. Following this the publication offered to remove the online article.

8. In response, the complainant requested that the publication: remove the online article; remove any other versions syndicated by other newspapers within the same publisher; circulate an internal note to editorial staff making clear she has never been acquainted with Dodi Fayed; and issue a private letter of apology to her.

9. The publication agreed to the complainant’s request.

10. As the complaint was successfully mediated, the Complaints Committee did not make a determination as to whether there had been any breach of the Code.

Date complaint received: 17/01/2025

Date complaint concluded by IPSO: 04/04/2025