Alastair Campbell: Tony Blair was ‘p----d off’ at Princess Diana’s interest in me
Alastair Campbell has claimed that Sir Tony Blair was “p----d off” when Diana, Princess of Wales used a dinner with him to ask if she could meet his campaign director.
Mr Campbell said that the former prime minister was left angered after the first thing the late Princess said upon meeting the then Labour leader was: “What’s Alastair Campbell really like? I’d love to meet him.”
Speaking on the Table Manners podcast on Wednesday, Mr Campbell said the encounter left Mr Blair “really p----d off” because he was left thinking: “I’m meant to be the main guy.”
He recounted that Sir Tony and his wife Cherie had met the Princess at a dinner party in Chelsea that they were invited to by a “posh establishment” individual.
While talking to Sir Tony at the dinner, the Princess apparently requested to meet Mr Campbell that night after the meal.
The 65-year-old said their encounter that evening was so successful that it led to more dinners between Mr Campbell and his partner, the Princess and the Blairs.
Mr Campbell described on the podcast how their meeting took place, saying: “It was local elections night so Terry, Tony’s driver, came to pick me up about 9pm.
“We had to be at our old headquarters for when the exit polls and all that came out.
“We arrived at this posh Belgravia or Chelsea house, I ring on the bell and say: ‘Would you tell Mr Blair that his car’s here and we’ve got to go.’”
‘There’s somebody that wants to see you’
He then recounted that he got back into the car, awaiting the Blairs’ return, when there was a tap on the window.
“Next thing, tap on the window and Tony’s standing there,” the father-of-three continued.
“He says: ‘There’s somebody that wants to see you.’
“Do you know what her first words were? Her first words to him were: ‘What’s Alastair Campbell really like? I’d love to meet him.’
“He was really p----d off, so p----d off.”
Mr Campbell, who now hosts the successful podcast The Rest is Politics, said that the Princess came outside to meet him shortly after.
“So we’re standing there in the middle of the road with cars whizzing by, chatting in the street,” he added.
“Tony was standing there like: ‘I’m meant to be the main guy, what’s going on here?’
“Diana said: ‘God, wouldn’t this be a great picture?’”
Mr Campbell then admitted that his partner, Fiona Millar, had told him she thought the Princess had “fancied” him.
Their initial meeting led to more dinners altogether, with Mr Campbell adding: “Tony couldn’t decide whether he was a statesman or a flirt - I had no such trouble.
“At one point she said: ‘I hear you drink a lot of tea.’
“I said: ‘I do drink a lot of tea, yes.’
“She said: ‘I’d love to make you a cup of tea.’
“She made me a cup of tea - it was a perfect cup of tea.”
