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Rupert Mackeson

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sir Rupert Mackeson, 2nd Baronet (born 16 November 1941) is a British author and former soldier.

Background and education

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Mackeson is the son of Sir Harry Mackeson, 1st Baronet, and his wife Alethea Cecil Chetwynd-Talbot. His grandfather Henry Mackeson was the founder of the Mackeson brewery.

He was educated at Harrow School, Trinity College, Dublin and Sandhurst.

Career

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After serving four years in the Royal Horse Guards, Mackeson began working in the City of London. When he left the army, Mackeson found employment running a London bank with strong ties to the Mafia,[1] which Mackeson freely admits. "I ran a Mafia controlled financial institution," he declared in The Guardian.[2] Since he "did not want to end up under Blackfriars Bridge,"[2] when the "aggravation"[2] of running a "mobbed up" bank became too much for him, Mackeson relocated to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), which was then under the control of a white-minority government.[2] There, Mackeson began a career in smuggling. In order to "curry favor with Mrs.Thatcher", the Rhodesian authorities arrested him and imprisoned him in the Khami prison camp.[1] Within a day, Mackeson was removed from the prison for inciting a riot.[1] When the Rhodesian authorities attempted to extradite him to the UK, Mackeson punched his guard in the nose while on board a plane, forcing the plane to land.[3] When he was finally transported back to the UK, the judge presiding over the case ruled that it was an illegal extradition—a kidnapping, in essence—and had him freed.[4]

Since release, Mackeson has become a writer of books about racing, writing under his own name and also as Rupert Collens. Bet Like a Man (2001) is a novel about the cloning of a Derby winner. He also writes for the Racing Post and runs a mobile bookshop and art gallery which operates on British racecourses.[5][6]

Books as Rupert Mackeson

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  • Great Racing Gambles and Frauds
  • Flat Racing Scams and Scandals (Metro Publishing, 2004) ISBN 978-1-84358-042-3
  • Bet Like a Man (Eye Ltd, Bridgnorth, 2001) ISBN 1-903070-13-9

Books as Rupert Collens

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  • 50 Cheltenham Gold Cups
  • Cecil Aldin's Dogs and Hounds
  • 25 Legal Luminaries from Vanity Fair
  • Snaffles: His Life and Works (with John Welcome)
  • Snaffles on Racing and Point to Pointing (with John Welcome)
  • Snaffles on Hunting (with John Welcome)

References

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  1. ^ a b c Armytage, Marcus (6 December 2001). "Racing Diary: Mackeson a man of many parts". Retrieved 25 July 2018 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  2. ^ a b c d Buckley, Will (9 December 2001). "Mackeson turns his hand to fiction". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  3. ^ "6 Epic Crime Sprees That Shouldn't Have Been Possible". Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  4. ^ "The Glasgow Herald - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  5. ^ "Back again". 20 November 2001. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  6. ^ Buckley, Will (9 December 2001). "Mackeson turns his hand to fiction". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Baronet
(of Hythe)
1964–present
Incumbent