The public can now hear, for the first time, transcripts of private calls between former British prime minister Tony Blair and ex-U.S. president Bill Clinton, who had multiple phone conversations over the years, and one specific chat about the death of Princess Diana. Diana died in a car crash on Aug. 31, 1997 — along with then-boyfriend Dodi al-Fayed — after being pursued by paparazzi through the streets of Paris.
In the hours after her death, on Sept.1, 1997, Blair told Clinton that her death was like a “star falling,” and the two shared their concerns about the futures of her sons, princes William and Harry. The call transcripts reveal a very personal and friendly relationship between the two former world leaders.
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The details of the September 1997 call were released on Jan. 6, amid 500 heavily redacted pages in reply to a Freedom of Information request.
Blair says that he “will personally miss her,” and it’s a “grim business, a very grim business.”
Clinton replies “It’s awful, it’s really awful. We’re up here in Martha’s Vineyard vacationing, and we’re with a lot of people who knew her.”
The transcripts also show that the pair felt compassion and sympathy for the security guard who was with Diana at the time of her death.
Clinton and Blair also talked about other pressing world issues at the time, including the ongoing pressure from former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and the volatility in Northern Ireland. But it’s not all seriousness. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. The duo is jovial and friendly; they even congratulate each other on their roles as peace promoters, calling themselves “shrinks” of the world.
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There are strange inside jokes and out-there anecdotes, including Clinton’s story about a meal with then-Russian president Boris Yeltsin, who apparently served a 24-course smorgasbord complete with “moose lips.”
The complete (still redacted) transcripts can be read here, in the Clinton Presidential Records Mandatory Declassification Review.
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