People who encounter Rebekah Brooks, nee Wade, tend to recall two things: her mane of red hair and her "terrifying" ambition. But it seems she may end up best remembered for claims that News of the World journalists hacked into the voicemail of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler when Brooks was editor in 2002.
Brooks ended up chief executive of News International, the company that runs Rupert Murdoch's British papers, having joined the organisation as a secretary in 1989.
She grew up in Daresbury, Cheshire. According to a 2003 BBC profile, she was only 14, attending Appleton Hall County Grammar School, when she decided that she would become a journalist.
In 1998, at the age of 30, she succeeded in becoming deputy editor of the Sun. At that time she was known for her feminism, apparently trying on several occasions to persuade editor David Yelland to scrap the paper's famous Page 3 topless photos.
She was made editor of the News of the World - the Sun's sister Sunday paper – in 2000 and stayed in the role until 2003 before returning to edit the Sun. Her feminist sympathies seemed to have waned. On her first day as editor Page 3 showed a nubile young woman as usual – named in the picture caption 'Rebekah from Wapping'.
It was in those intervening three years at the NotW that Brooks became well-known to the point of infamy.
In 2002, her marriage to EastEnders actor Ross Kemp elevated her to the position of gossip-column fodder, with attention paid to her friendship with Tony and Cherie Blair (she is now closer to David Cameron).
As NoW editor, she took the decision to 'name and shame' known sex-offenders, publishing their photos and names in the paper. She argued that it was to protect the children. Sales soared, but Brooks was accused of driving paedophiles underground and whipping up moby fury which culminated in a paediatrician having her house vandalised.
In November 2005, Brooks missed her scheduled appearance at the Woman of the Year awards because she was being held in a police cell, arrested after an alleged assault on her husband. Charges were dropped and she kept her job.
Brooks, then Wade, divorced Ross Kemp in 2009 and married former racehorse trainer and author Charlie Brooks, taking his surname.
But what is Brooks actually like? What drives her? One former Downing Street apparatchik told The First Post about an encounter with her at a fringe event at a Labour Party conference several years ago that offers an intriguing insight.
"A group of politicians were assailed by various families of victims of horrific crimes sitting in the front row about not being tough enough [on crime]. The whole thing had been orchestrated by Rebekah, who sat opposite me towards the back.
"The place was full of Sun hacks, and the atmosphere was febrile from the off. I'll never forget the way she strained forward in her chair as the fireworks went off, and the very strange light in her eyes."
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