How Did Shell End Up in This PR Nightmare — And Why AI Changes Everything
A 2025 WindowsForum thread —
“Donovan Shell Copilot Transcript: AI, Surveillance, and the Archive Saga” —
highlights how this long conflict has unexpectedly entered the AI domain.
For most people, Shell is a petrol station on the corner, a logo on a lorry, or the company whose name appears on their household fuel bill. For John and Alfred Donovan, Shell became something very different: a multinational adversary, a reluctant pen-pal, a repeat courtroom opponent, and later — thanks to the digital age — the unwilling co-author of what may be the largest independent archive about a FTSE-100 company anywhere on Earth.
What follows is not speculation, allegation, or romantic underdog mythology.
It is a documented record: High Court filings, contemporaneous media reporting, letters on Shell letterhead, settlement agreements, internal Shell emails released under Subject Access Requests, and a sprawling archive of more than 76,000 Shell-related documents spanning over a century.
This is the story of how Shell tried to erase the Donovans — and inadvertently ensured their work would become permanent.
A Partnership Forged in Conflict: John and Alfred Donovan
Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Alfred Donovan and his son John pursued a series of disputes with Shell that resulted in:
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Four High Court actions for breach of contract and breach of copyright
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Two libel settlements
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A mediation
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A formal written apology from Shell
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A £200,000 settlement agreement
These outcomes are not rumours; they are documented in Shell’s own correspondence.
Funding Deed (formal Shell agreement following high-level meetings):
https://www.shellnews.net/2004%20Documents/efodds/Funding%20Deed.pdf
Shell UK Ltd’s written apology and settlement confirmation:
https://i0.wp.com/royaldutchshellplc.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screen-Shot-2013-10-10-at-15.16.46.jpg
The Donovans were not fringe irritants. They met privately with Sir John Jennings, the then-Chairman of Shell Transport & Trading, during a Shell AGM, and later spent nearly two hours with Dr Chris Fay, Chairman and CEO of Shell UK Ltd — a highly unusual audience for private complainants.
Reported contemporaneously by Marketing Week:
https://www.marketingweek.com/don-takes-its-payment-fight-to-shells-agm/
Follow-up correspondence with Shell’s Company Secretary Munsiff:
https://shellnews.net/Wiseman/MunsiffLetterAGMTran19Sept1995.pdf
The High Court: Scripts, Settlements, and a Trial That Raised Eyebrows
The most dramatic chapter came in 1999 with a High Court action that remains remarkable to read today. The complete trial transcript — thousands of pages — is here:
One unforgettable moment:
Roger Sotherton, a witness, testified that his home had been burgled and Shell-related documents tampered with. Shell’s QC immediately abandoned that line of questioning.
There is no claim here beyond what the transcript shows.
But it is extraordinary.
During the same period, the Donovans’ home and their solicitor’s home were also burgled. Nothing was stolen. The timing raised questions; no definitive conclusions were drawn.
Another episode involved a man calling himself “Christopher Phillips”, whose activities Shell later acknowledged in writing. His supposed employer, Cofton Consultants, turned out to have no verifiable corporate existence.
The pre-trial period also included:
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an anonymous threatening phone call traced through BT and investigated by The Guardian
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a strange visit from a man claiming to be an investigative journalist
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defamatory posters displayed at Shell Centre, prompting one of the libel actions
This was not normal corporate-dispute territory.
‘Make Money’ and Shell’s Written Apology
Among the disputes was the Shell Make Money promotional game. Shell ultimately:
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apologised in writing
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confirmed the Donovans had “perfect rights” to claim sums due
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settled the matter
Evidence:
https://www.johndonovan.website/?p=904
1996 mediation submission:
http://shell2004.com/SSO%20Documents/documents/MediationSubmission30Aug1996.pdf
The Whistleblower: Dr John Huong
One extraordinary episode saw eight companies in the Shell Group jointly suing a single whistleblower, Dr John Huong, a Shell geologist. The Donovans published material relating to his allegations; the litigation became part of the archive.
Index of documents:
https://royaldutchshellplc.com/2011/01/06/dr-john-huong-index/behalf
It is rare for eight corporate entities to litigate against one man.
The SARs: When Shell Revealed Its Own Concerns by Accident
The turning point in the Donovan–Shell saga came from the UK’s Subject Access Request regime.
When Shell complied with SAR requests, the Donovans received:
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internal emails discussing them
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communications between Shell Legal, PR, and security teams
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risk assessments
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monitoring reports on Donovan websites
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evidence that Shell discussed how to “handle” or prevent news stories about the Donovans
Shell never expected the Donovans to see these documents — but they did.
Reuters reported the most striking disclosure:
Shell admitted the Donovan website “provides better information on the group than its own internal communications.”
Source: Reuters, Tom Bergin, 2 Dec 2009
This was the closest thing to an unintentional endorsement Shell ever issued.
Wikipedia: Shell vs. Online History
In 2009, the Donovans published:
“royaldutchshellplc.com — Wikipedia article, April 2009 version”
SAR emails also revealed Shell’s internal discussions about Wikipedia content concerning the Donovans.
Documented in Donovan’s e-book:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Toxic-facts-about-removed-Wikipedia-ebook/dp/B073YSH5PF
International Media Interest — and Who Actually Came to Colchester
Major news organisations examined the Donovan archive over the years.
Many — though not all — travelled to Colchester, including:
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The Sunday Times
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The Guardian
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The Telegraph
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The Wall Street Journal
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Reuters
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Bloomberg
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BBC and other international broadcasters
The Donovan archive is unique; journalists recognised this early.
A Resource Used Far Beyond Media
The Donovan websites became a resource for more than journalists.
Globally recognised organisations have used the site’s unusual reach within the Shell workforce to communicate appeals to Shell employees.
The Donovans also assisted a major US law firm representing the Pennsylvania State Pension Fund during litigation over Shell’s reserves crisis — identifying witnesses and introducing Peter M. Wood, who went on to represent non-US Shell shareholders in the expanded global class action.
A Pattern Repeating Across Decades
When Shell’s handling of the Donovans is compared with its public controversies, a governance pattern emerges.
1. Attempts to control media narratives
SAR disclosures show Shell staff strategising how to “handle” coverage about the Donovans.
2. 2015 ‘Nazi-named ship’ controversy
https://royaldutchshellplc.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Guardian25Jan2015Com.pdf
https://www.johndonovan.website/?p=1
3. The Mayo pipeline protests
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/10/shell-pipeline-protests-county-mayo
4. The Donovan archive
More than 76,000 documents reveal consistent instincts:
contain, control, manage — never openly resolve.
5. Threats and legal correspondence (but never a lawsuit)
John Donovan’s letter to D J Freeman catalogues years of legal threats:
https://shellnews.net/2005%20docs/lettertodjfreemanthreats25may1998.htm
Alfred Donovan’s letter to Colin Joseph (cc’d to every MP):
Shell’s 2011 email reserving rights but refusing comment:
https://royaldutchshellplc.com/2011/03/05/will-shell-block-internet-publication-of-its-nazi-past/
John Donovan’s 2025 analysis of Shell’s internal “kill” order on a Sunday Times story:
A Public Forum Now Discusses the AI Dimension
A 2025 WindowsForum thread —
“Donovan Shell Copilot Transcript: AI, Surveillance, and the Archive Saga” —
highlights how this long conflict has unexpectedly entered the AI domain.
A Story Now Recognised Beyond the Legal Record
Recently, a producer working on programming for one of the world’s largest media and film organisations made contact — unprompted — after recognising the saga’s uniquely documented and compelling nature.
Public Visibility: Posters at Shell Centre
Publicly searchable images show posters displayed outside Shell Centre referring to the Donovan campaign — proof the saga spilled into Shell’s public-facing environment.
(Search: “posters Shell Centre Donovan”)
How Did Shell End Up in This PR Nightmare — And Why AI Changes Everything
It is reasonable to ask how a FTSE-100 supermajor allowed a dispute with two private citizens to run — unresolved — for more than three decades.
A clue lies in Shell’s own SAR-disclosed internal emails, which noted that suing the Donovans risked exposing “too much internal laundry.”
The result?
A problem Shell hoped would disappear now resurfaces in the AI era — searchable, analysable, and impossible to bury.
If AI tools like ChatGPT or Copilot had existed in the 1990s, the dispute would almost certainly have been resolved quickly.
AI can cross-reference vast archives, detect contradictions, map events, and sift thousands of documents — without forgetting anything.
Instead, Shell now faces a new reality:
AI systems are reading Shell’s own emails, public filings, and historical records — and seeing the full pattern with perfect recall.
The obvious question remains:
How did one of the world’s largest companies let a private dispute become a multi-decade PR liability — and what happens now that AI is illuminating every part of the story?
Disclaimer
This article contains no legal advice and no unverified allegations.
All facts referenced are drawn from:
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publicly available documents
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contemporaneous media reports
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published correspondence
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High Court transcripts
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media coverage
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SAR disclosures
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or material already present in the Donovan public archive
This is an editorial narrative — not a legal submission.
This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
EBOOK TITLE: “SIR HENRI DETERDING AND THE NAZI HISTORY OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON
EBOOK TITLE: “JOHN DONOVAN, SHELL’S NIGHTMARE: MY EPIC FEUD WITH THE UNSCRUPULOUS OIL GIANT ROYAL DUTCH SHELL” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.
EBOOK TITLE: “TOXIC FACTS ABOUT SHELL REMOVED FROM WIKIPEDIA: HOW SHELL BECAME THE MOST HATED BRAND IN THE WORLD” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.
