John McCarthy has been spotted in the Royal Box at Wimbledon with his former girlfriend Jill Morrell.
The journalist, 67, became known worldwide in 1986, when he was taken hostage by Islamic jihadists in Beirut and held in brutal captivity for more than five years.
His then-girlfriend Jill campaigned tirelessly to ensure his plight was not forgotten back home.
The couple had been together for around three years when John went to Beirut on a two-month posting as a journalist with the WTN news agency. They had found a home they wanted to buy together, and had decided they would get married at some point.
But instead, John was kidnapped on his way to Beirut airport and a flight home.
John McCarthy was spotted in the Royal Box at Wimbledon today, alongside her former girlfriend Jill Morrell
Jill became a public figure due to her ceaseless campaigning (alongside a number of John’s friends) and although John was eventually freed, the couple’s relationship sadly floundered four years after he’d returned.
However, while the two may no longer be a couple, their joint sighting at the All England Club today suggests they are friends.
Writing for the MailOnline in 2009, Jill revealed: ‘I am in touch with John and am very glad that things have worked out for him personally and professionally after everything he has been through, but he and his family live in Suffolk so I don’t see him very much.’
She also opened up about how his kidnapping dominated many years. As ‘there was only silence from his kidnappers’ during most of the time, Jill said she ‘lived with the stress of not knowing whether he was alive or dead’.
While carrying out the campaign for his freedom, Jill continued to work, however, life was far from normal.
‘I got used to doing regular interviews with reporters, making speeches, travelling to the Middle East and meeting anyone who might help, including Yasser Arafat, the former leader of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, Prime Minister John Major and even the Queen,’ she said.
However, she yearned for the normal life they had shared before the kidnapping.
Despite John’s eventual release, the kidnapping cast a shadow over the couple’s life for many years, and the couple ended up splitting.
The couple are pictured in 1991, following John’s release. Sadly, the relationship came to an end around eight years later
John McCarthy is pictured stepping off a Royal Air Force VC 10 transport plane at Lyneham military airport following his release in August 1991
Discussing some of the reasons their relationship hadn’t worked out, Jill said: ‘There were many happy times. Yet everyday things as simple as going to the supermarket became stressful. We were recognisable and people, all of them well-meaning, approached us much of the time.’
She added that on top of the public pressure, the two had also struggled with personal difficulties in the final year of their relationship, including family illness.
While John went onto marry photographer Anna Ottewill in 1999, by 2009, Jill lamented that she had not met a long term partner.
She wrote: ‘I have had a number of relationships, and some of them brought happiness, but I have not settled down into a lasting one and have not had children, something I always assumed I would do.’
However, she has continued her advocacy work in the intervening years with significant success, including getting involved in the successful campaign to free the Bridgewater Four – seeing the three surviving men released from jail after being imprisoned for 18 years over a murder they did not commit.
She also returned to her journalist career (saying her job at Associated Press Television News meant she could be ‘just another employee and get on with my job’) then went on to work with charities.
John and Jill are just two of the high-profile figures who have been spotted watching the tennis from Wimbledon’s Royal Box this year.
While Jill Morrell (pictured) is no longer in a relationship with John, their appearance today suggests they are still friends
The special area, which boasts around 80 seats, is often frequented by members of the Royal Family, as well as celebrities, and other notable guests.
So far this year, guests in the Royal Box include Queen Camilla, and Zara and Mike Tindall among others.
Tennis fans in the Royal Box today included actor and comedian Rob Brydon, who was snapped grinning as he took in the atmosphere.
Judy Murray, who is well-known in the tennis world as a coach as well as the mother of professional tennis players Jamie and Sir Andy Murray, also took a sought-after seat in the stand.
Another tennis legend in the box today was Billie Jean King, who was accompanied by her wife Ilana Kloss, another former tennis player.