No 10 blocked release of Tony Blair’s call with French president after Princess Diana’s death
Newly released government files have revealed that Downing Street refused to publish details of a meeting between Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in Paris.
Documents published at the National Archives at Kew, west London, reveal that Number 10 was happy to release dozens of other official documents relating to Diana’s death and the arrangements made for her funeral under the Freedom of Information Act.
But officials decided that publishing a memo outlining a discussion between Mr Blair and Mr Chirac was “not fundamentally in the public interest” because it could “limit the candor” of future talks between world leaders.
Diana died in the early hours of August 31, 1997, when the car in which she was traveling with her partner Dodi Fayed, who was killed along with his driver, crashed into the Pont de l’Alma road tunnel during a high-speed pursuit by photographers.
It took several hours for aides to contact Mr. Chirac and inform him of what had happened, leading to intense speculation about his whereabouts.
His driver later claimed that he was with a mistress.
Eight years later, the request for disclosure of UK government files was among the first requests considered under the FoI Act, which came into force at the beginning of 2005.
Most of the articles covered by the request were assessed as non-exceptional.
One official wrote: “I see no embarrassment for us as this shows that Number 10 is continuing to work in unique and unexpected circumstances and that much of the information is already public in one form or another.”
But when it comes to the debate between Mr Blair and the president, the dossier states: “It is vital that the Prime Minister’s discussions with other world leaders remain essentially confidential.
“Revealing the details of these conversations could limit the candor of such conversations in the future. This is fundamentally not in the public interest.”
There is nothing in the file to indicate whether sensitivity regarding the movements of the president, who is currently in the Elysee Palace, during the night was a factor in the decision.
Among the documents published was a series of telegrams from the British ambassador to France, Sir Michael Jay, describing the scenes of the night and the social pain that followed.
“French authorities, starting with the president, handled last night’s events with extraordinary generosity, efficiency and sensitivity. Emergency services and hospital staff did their best to save the princess’ life,” he wrote.
“The wider public reaction has been one of great sadness due to the great love felt for the princess, as evidenced by the reaction of the crowd as the cortege left the hospital this evening.”
