A blockbuster cover story published overnight in New York magazine lifts the lid on why Lachlan Murdoch walked out on his father’s media empire – and dramatically increases the tensions among Rupert Murdoch’s children over who will inherit the family’s stake in News Corporation.

The story, The Boy Who Wouldn’t Be King by Steve Fishman, is an amazing soap opera saga which appears to have the imprimatur of Lachlan Murdoch, who is quoted widely both directly and indirectly.

It claims that Lachlan Murdoch quit News Corporation after his father had overruled his decision not to make a police series for Fox TV. According to the story, the CEO of Fox News, Roger Ailes, complained about Lachlan’s decision directly to Rupert Murdoch – who allegedly told Ailes: “Do the show … don’t listen to Lachlan.”

When Lachlan Murdoch heard about his father’s decision, he flew from New York to Los Angeles to confront his father over lunch. The story goes on:

At lunch, Rupert was attentive, receptive. He could think of a couple ways to address the problem. Different reporting lines, tinkering with the organization chart.

“Look, that’s not going to work,” Lachlan interrupted.

As their talk progressed, both became emotional. Lachlan hadn’t spent a lot of time thinking of himself apart from the company, or apart from his dad. It seemed to shake him. It’s just difficult to sort of uncouple your life and your identity from the company, he thought. But that’s what he now proposed. “I have to do my own thing,” Lachlan told his dad. “I have to be my own man.” Then the heir apparent walked away.

According to the New York story, Lachlan “took offence at being taken for chairman-in-training.” In recent times, it says, he could “feel his happiness sinking.” While he had a big title, “he wondered about the extent of his real power.” And Fishman claims that Lachlan clashed consistently with Peter Chernin, the News Corp chief operating officer.

The story also claims that Lachlan “aggressively” resisted the move to shift News Corp’s domicile from Australia to New York – “violently,” it quotes an “insider” as saying. “I certainly was the only person in the company who argued against the domicile change,” Lachlan is quoted as telling an associate.

The story is very flattering about Lachlan Murdoch who, says Fishman, “managed to strike the press as a regular guy, genuinely interested in others, nice.” It goes on: “There’s a lack of showiness, of conceit, of pretension: regular-guy qualities that Lachlan likes to think of as Australian.”

And the story suggests that James Murdoch, who is currently CEO of British Sky Broadcasting, which is 35% owned by News Corp, remains a likely successor to Rupert Murdoch. It cites an anecdote told by an executive who worked for James, who “recalls the day James spotted a newspaper article on his desk talking of Lachlan’s ascension.” According to New York, “James grabbed the article from the exec’s desk. ‘He tore it up, crushed it into a ball, and stomped it on the ground,’ recalls the exec. ‘It’s not f*cking true,’ James announced.”

Rupert Murdoch is quoted as telling a friend: “James, is going to be putting in a pretty strong bid … [he is]doing brilliantly . . .”