Sarah Hughes

Sarah Hughes (28 November 1972 – 5 April 2021), was a British journalist, known to her readers by the pseudonym 'Lady Sarah'. She wrote for several British national newspapers including The Telegraph, The Independent, inews, and the Observer and Guardian, in which she published regular reviews of television series including Line of Duty, Peaky Blinders, Indian Summers and the Game of Thrones.

Earlier in her career Hughes worked in the United States and wrote on basketball and college football for the New York Daily News. She subsequently published on horse racing and football. In 2004, while working for The Independent, she co-authored a report on abuses by United Nations peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which led to being shortlisted for an Amnesty International award, and later to an investigation of the allegations.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, Hughes wrote a series of articles for The Observer, reporting regularly on life during lockdown after being diagnosed with advanced breast cancer.

Early life and education Sarah Hughes, who was of Catholic faith, was born on 28 November 1972 in London, the daughter of Sean P. F. Hughes, an orthopaedic surgeon and his wife Felicity, a microbiologist. She was the eldest of their three children (two daughters and one son). After completing her early education in Edinburgh she sat A levels at Woldingham, Surrey, and subsequently attended St Andrews University, where she graduated MA in modern history. and won their feature writer of the year award twice in a row. It was one of several early case reports following more than 30 interviews with girls in a refugee camp in Bunia and one under the care of United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and other journalists subsequently followed with further similar reports. Their work was described by Simon Cottle, professor of media and communication, as "journalism taking its responsibility to report seriously", and the exchange of sex-for-food. It led to an investigation of MONUC (a United Nations mission in the DRC), by the UN's Office of Internal Oversight.

Later career

Hughes later specialised in journalism pertaining to television and entertainment, becoming known to her readers by the pseudonym 'Lady Sarah'. She published regular reviews on television series including Line of Duty, Peaky Blinders and Indian Summers, and contributed to The Guardian's regular blog on Game of Thrones.

Hughes also wrote several reviews of books, including The Mirror & the Light by Hilary Mantel, An American Marriage by Tayari Jones, and Deborah Orr's Motherwell: A Girlhood. In 2017, she co-authored, with her father, the Keat's Memorial Lecture, on the influence of John Keats's medical training on his poetry, delivered at the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries.

Some of her articles focused on her personal experiences, including the births of her stillborns and her diagnosis of breast cancer. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, she published a series of articles for The Observer reporting regularly on life during lockdown after being told that her breast cancer had now advanced . Her account in November 2020, included her fear of "missing out as life ticks away, the challenges of accessing treatment, and fears about cancer research funding".

Personal and family Hughes married Kris with whom she had two children.

Hughes's obituary noted that she enjoyed horse racing; Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Punchestown in Kildare and Cheltenham. She is survived by her husband and two children. It includes chapters by Tyce and Tilly Bagshawe, and ends with a note from her husband.

Sarah Hughes Trust Lecture and prize A lecture in Hughes' memory is delivered annually at the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM). The inaugural lecture was delivered in December 2021 by Jed Mercurio, as a conversation with health and social care editor at Channel 4 News, Victoria MacDonald. The following year it was given by Marina Warner, and then Nicholas Roe in 2023. The first prize, in 2022, was won by BBC journalists, Rachel Schraer and Jack Goodman, for their work in revealing scientific errors that led to some people using ivermectin to treat COVID-19. The following year, the award was given to The Times reporter Helen Puttick for revealing misinformation on some NHS waiting times.

Lecture

Prize

Selected publications (Co-authored with Kate Holt) (Co-authored with Kate Holt) (Co-authored with S. P. F. Hughes)