The allegation from radio DJ Paul Gambaccini yesterday that Jimmy Savile might have been a necrophiliac as well as a child molester gave the on-going story an extraordinary new angle.
But if Twitter speculation is to believed, talk of Savile’s alleged necrophilia is nothing new.
The social networking site is abuzz with the suggestion that necrophiliac and paedophile character Freddy Royle in Irvine Welsh’s 1996 work Ecstasy was based on Savile.
Welsh, 54, gave credence to those claims by retweeting the speculation by several users on the spooky similarities between the character and Savile.
One user retweeted by Welsh, Edgar Blamm, said: “Again, I would ask that you check out @WelshIrvine’s novella ‘Ecstasy’. Accurate savile caricature. In 1996.”
Another, Dean Gilfillan, tweeted: “Going to have to jump on the Freddy Royle/Jimmy SaVILE bandwagon…”
Welsh also retweeted a message from columnist Suzanne Moore asking who Freddy Royle is based on.
Ecstasy is a collection of three short narratives; in the first, “Lorraine Goes to Livingston”, Freddy Royle was a chat-show host and “distinguished friend” at St Hubbin’s Hospital.
In one passage, Welsh writes: “The thing was, Freddy brought millions of pounds into the place with his fund-raising activities. This brought kudos to the trustees, and made St Hubbin’s Hospital a flagship for the arm’s-length trusts from the NHS. All they had to do was keep schtumm and indulge Sir Freddy with the odd body.”
And another description of Royle says: “Freddy was finding it hard to maintain steady breathing. He examined the corpse. She’s bain a roight pretty un n arl, he rasped in his Somerset drawl, - caar accident oi presumes?”
Welsh has not confirmed that his character was based on Savile.
