Mohsin's royal scoop

Mohsin Ali was rightly proud of his OBE, after a long career at the very heart of diplomacy and world affairs. He had encyclopaedic knowledge of treaties, pacts and the like but he was also self-effacing and, when Reuters finally permitted bylines, happy to share them with more junior colleagues. 

An avid raconteur, he once told how in 1952 he broke the news of the death of King George VI, father of the present Queen Elizabeth. Mohsin, then a junior reporter on Reuters' diplomatic desk at 85 Fleet Street, was "one of about six staff, led by the wife of the Foreign Office spokesman!”. He had acquired a contact, V K Krishna Menon, at the Indian High Commission. Following protocol, news of the royal death was first conveyed to Princess Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip, on holiday in Kenya, then to the British Empire and the rest of the world through the London diplomatic corps, and finally almost as an afterthought to the news media. Krishna Menon, however, 'phoned Mohsin and gave him a huge scoop on the news, on condition the source was not named. Mohsin attributed the flash to "usually reliable sources". An outraged Krishna Menon 'phoned again asking Mohsin, "How dare you call me 'usually' reliable? I am always reliable." Krishna Menon later rose to the heights in Indian politics. Many of the contacts Mohsin cultivated later became ambassadors or government ministers. 

Mohsin was a generous host. My wife and I used to stay at his house in Richmond when back on home leave, and bought it from him when he moved to Washington to marry Dolores. Known as Eagle House (a large stone eagle adorned the front), it was familiar to many Reuter reporters and editors invited to dinner parties along with Mohsin's contacts. 

Post-Reuters, Mohsin stayed in touch with many of his old colleagues, ennobling some with titles (I was "Sir Peter", others became Lords). He often promoted informal online forums, eliciting opinions on current affairs issues but, ever objective, withholding his own.  ■