Blair-Chirac call after Diana’s death kept under wraps
Downing Street has refused to publish details of a meeting between prime minister Tony Blair and French president Jacques Chirac following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in Paris, according to newly declassified British government files.
Documents published in the National Archives No. It shows that 10 was happy to release dozens of other official documents relating to Diana’s death and the arrangements for her funeral under the Freedom of Information Act.
But officials decided it was “not fundamentally in the public interest” to publish a memo outlining a discussion between Blair and Chirac.
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 Chirac to let him know what was happening, leading to intense speculation about Chirac’s 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 don’t see anything embarrassing for us as this shows that No. 10 is continuing to work under unique and unexpected circumstances and much of the information is already public in one form or another.”
However, when it came to the discussion between Blair and the president, the following statements were included in the file: “It is vital that the Prime Minister’s conversations with other world leaders are confidential in nature.
“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 no information in the dossier about whether sensitivity about the president’s movements overnight, who was still in the Elysee Palace, was a factor in the decision.
Among the newspapers published were telegrams from the British ambassador to France, 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.”
“The wider public response 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.”
