Diana Left Tony Blair’s Advisor Besotted

Princess Diana’s Charm Left Tony Blair’s Advisor “Besotted,” Reveals New Book

A new book by royal author Valentine Low, Power and the Palace, offers a glimpse into the intriguing interactions between Princess Diana and key political figures, including Tony Blair and his team.

According to the Daily Mail, Low recalls a dinner at Hyde Park Gardens following local elections, where Diana dined with Tony and Cherie Blair. It was during this evening that press officer Alastair Campbell arrived to escort Blair to Labour headquarters.

Low notes that Diana praised Campbell’s professional skills, even joking that she wished her own press officer were as talented. When Blair introduced the two, it sparked a brief but memorable encounter.

Campbell later described the meeting in his diary, writing that he was “lost in the beauty” of Diana and found her “absolutely, spellbindingly, drop-dead gorgeous.” Colleagues also noticed his fascination; Jonathan Powell, Blair’s chief of staff, recalled that Diana left Campbell “a bit besotted.” Another Labour insider labeled his reaction “ridiculous,” noting Campbell even wondered if Diana “really fancied” him.

Diana and Campbell crossed paths again in January 1997 at a dinner in Hackney with the Blairs and Campbell’s partner, Fiona. Low describes the atmosphere as initially tense, with Blair unsure how to balance flirtation and protocol. While Campbell remained enchanted—he once admitted in his diary that he adored her laugh—Blair was more measured, acknowledging Diana’s charm and emotional intelligence in his memoirs, but also describing her as “manipulative and determined.”

Tragically, just months later, in August 1997, Princess Diana died in a car crash in Paris. Following her death, Blair, with Campbell’s support, famously dubbed her “the people’s princess,” a phrase that has since become inseparable from her legacy.