The latest tranche of files to be released to the National Archives reveals another tantalising peek at communications at the heart of Government.
The files relate chiefly to Tony Blair’s time in Number 10, and feature Peter Mandelson’s quest to return to the fold having twice resigned, concern about the Blairs’ discounted wardrobe, preparation for Mr Blair’s appearance at a film awards bash, and a cheery birthday greeting from Vladimir Putin.
They also contain details about an apparent bid to persuade ministers in John Major’s administration to renew the Queen’s beloved royal yacht Britannia.
Aide rebuffed Palace’s royal yacht plan with Queen jibe
Buckingham Palace hosted a slap-up meal for senior Government officials onboard the ailing royal yacht Britannia in a bid to woo support for a multi-million-pound replacement, new files show.
The lobbying tactic was deployed in May 1993 as part of efforts to persuade the John Major’s Government to fork out roughly £50 million of taxpayer money on a new model, after 39 years’ service.
Cabinet Secretary Sir Robin Butler was among the delegation invited to a ‘splendid lunch’ on board Britannia where former lord mayor of London, Sir Hugh Bidwell, and the Earl of Limerick, a senior banker, set about stating the value of the yacht to UK business.
Yet one senior official later saw through efforts by the Palace to appear relaxed about the yacht’s future, and remarked that the suggestion the Queen was ‘indifferent’ to the outcome of a review ‘hardly rings true’, according to documents released by the National Archives in London.
Queen Elizabeth II wept as the royal yacht Britannia was decommissioned in Portsmouth in 1997, where she was accompanied by (left to right) Prince Charles, Prince Philip and Prince Andrew
By 1993 it was apparent that Britannia, pictured here in 2022 having long been taken out of service, was reaching the end of its life, but John Major’s Conservative government had yet to decide whether to invest in a new yacht
Prince Charles and Princess Diana on board the Britannia as they set off for their honeymoonin 1981
The negotiations came at a tricky time for the Royals, with public support waning – particularly after the recent divorces of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, and Princess Anne and Mark Phillips, Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson’s split, and the £36 million taxpayer-funded restoration of Windsor Castle following a fire.
The Queen notably described 1992 as her ‘annus horribilis’ in that year’s Christmas Day speech to the nation.
Mr Major was due to announce the Queen was going to start paying taxes for the first time, prompting the monarch’s private secretary Sir Robert Fellowes to seize an opportunity to secure what would amount to a show of support for a new yacht.
He asked the Prime Minister’s principal private secretary Alex Allan if Mr Major would insert a passage referring to the importance of Britannia as well as the Queen’s flight and the royal train.
However, there was concern the proposed remarks could be ‘prejudicial’ to any future decisions.
And Nicolas Bevan, the official heading the working group set up to consider the future of the yacht, said: ‘For example to say that the royal yacht has been of inestimable value to this country will not be a helpful remark if ministers in due course decide not to replace Britannia.
‘Equally it hardly rings true to suggest that it is a matter of complete indifference to the Queen as to whether Britannia is replaced or not.’
The Queen, who rarely displayed any emotion in public, was seen to shed a tear when the yacht was decommissioned in 1997, without a replacement.
Blair warned over discount on designer clothes
Tony Blair was advised to repay thousands of pounds in discounts he received on designer clothes in an echo of the expenses scandal that engulfed Keir Starmer during his early days in office.
Papers released to the National Archives show that No 10 officials recommended the New Labour Prime Minister should pay back more than £7,600 on items bought from Paul Smith and Nicole Farhi.
Mr Blair and his wife Cherie were able to get items at heavily reduced rates because of discounts negotiated by style adviser Carole Caplin.
But officials were concerned the cut-price clothes would not send the right message to the public.
No 10 officials recommended Tony Blair, pictured with wife Cherie, should pay back more than £7,600 on items bought from Nicole Farhi and Paul Smith
The discounts were negotiated by Mrs Blair’s friend and style adviser, Carole Caplin
According to newly released National Archives files, the Blairs spent £8,021.50 with one designer alone – Nicole Farhi – when the retail price would have been £20,855, between July 2001 to December 2002.
Initially, officials advised that Mr Blair should repay the discounts he received in full – around £10,000 – and that Mrs Blair should pay back half the benefits she obtained – £28,000.
Clare Sumner, a No 10 official, wrote: ‘We are not arguing that anything has been done wrong, indeed nothing has. The issue is one of public perception.’
However, after discussions with the cabinet secretary Sir Andrew Turnbull it was agreed that Mrs Blair did not receive any ‘preferential or beneficial treatment’ in her role as the wife of the Prime Minister.
It was agreed, though, that suppliers would in future have to sign confidentiality agreements to ensure there was no incentive for them to provide goods cheaply in order to exploit the fact the Prime Minister’s wife wore their clothes.
Lord Alli – who donated spectacles as well as suits to Sir Keir – was given a sought-after Downing Street security pass shortly after Labour’s general election win, but has since returned it
Officials said they still believed the PM should pay the full amount, advising him to write cheques for £1,116 to Paul Smith and £6,532 to Nicole Farhi.
Ms Sumner wrote: ‘For you, we still think the simplest thing is to pay for your clothes in full and that Carole should be made aware of this for the future.’
Last year Sir Keir was caught up in a freebies row after it emerged he received clothes from Lord Alli in 2023/24.
Sir Keir previously registered them as being ‘for the private office of the Leader of the Opposition’.
But, amid scrutiny over the lavish gifts bestowed on senior Labour figures by Lord Alli, they were later re-categorised as donations in kind of clothing.
Lord Alli – who donated spectacles as well as suits to Sir Keir – was given a sought-after Downing Street security pass shortly after Labour’s general election win.
The Labour peer has since handed back the pass.
‘At least you’ve seen Bridget Jones, Prime Minister…’
While his love of football and Britpop music was well known, Tony Blair was perhaps lacking when it came to other aspects of popular culture.
Or so Downing Street aides seemed to believe.
And they were prepared to take no chances ahead of the Prime Minister’s appearance at the Evening Standard British Film Awards 2001 – providing him with a crib sheet on the A-listers sitting alongside him at the swanky do.
Mr Blair was due to present the ceremony’s first award, for Best Screenplay, before exiting stage left leaving little time for any silver screen blind spot to be exposed.
Tony Blair at the Evening Standard British Film Awards 2001, where he was sat on a table with Dame Maggie Smith and Pierce Brosnan
Kate Winslet, pictured in 2011, also attended the Evening Standard awards ceremony
Documents released to the National Archives in London show aide Kate Garvey gave her boss a rundown on his tablemates, which included the likes of Titanic star Kate Winslet, James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan, and national treasure Dame Maggie Smith.
It said Bafta winner Winslet was ‘currently dating Sam Mendes’, while Brosnan was ‘currently filming the new James Bond’.
American film director and screenwriter Robert Altman, Mr Blair was told, was ‘outspoken in his views’ against US President George Bush.
Mr Blair was also given copies of some of that year’s most celebrated films to watch, including Gosford Park and Iris, starring Winslet.
Newcastle fan Mr Blair had previously demonstrated his footballing ability alongside England great Kevin Keegan
The briefing note suggested the Prime Minister – who had previously been pictured partying with Oasis’s Noel Gallagher in Downing Street, and playing head tennis with Newcastle United boss Kevin Keegan – would stay only for the main course and to present the first award.
‘It’s been won by Richard Curtis, Helen Fielding and Andrew Davies for Bridget Jones’s Diary,’ the note added, ‘Which I think at least you’ve seen!’
Mr Blair’s attendance was agreed ‘principally as a thank-you’ to outgoing Standard editor Max Hastings, despite the belief that Alexander Walker, the newspaper’s film critic had ‘been particularly poisonous’ about the way Lottery money had been spent on British film.
Mandelson urged BBC grandee to get back into power
Peter Mandelson used the support of BBC grandee Lord Birt to secure a return to government after twice being forced to resign.
Newly released papers show the long-time Tony Blair ally was approaching his 50th birthday and was desperate for another stint in a New Labour cabinet.
Mr Mandelson – now Lord – was forced to quit as Northern Ireland secretary in January 2001 following claims he helped secure a UK passport for a controversial Indian businessman in return for sponsoring the Millennium Dome, and over an undeclared home loan from fellow Labour minister Geoffrey Robinson.
Peter – now Lord – Mandelson, pictured right, a close ally of Mr Blair had twice resigned from the Government, but wanted to return to the fold before his 50th birthday
In April 2003, however, former BBC director general Lord Birt – who was serving as a senior policy adviser in No 10 – wrote to the Prime Minister urging him to accept Mr Mandelson back into the fold.
He wrote: ‘He’s approaching 50 – and he is sorely conscious that time is passing and he has yet to fulfil his promise.
‘As you know, Peter’s deepest wish is to return to government. He stresses that he has already proved to be a capable minister, and that he would be a strong ally for you in cabinet.’
He was announced as the UK’s next European commissioner later that year.
He was subsequently awarded a life peerage in 2008 and is currently the British Ambassador to the United States.
‘Happy birthday, Tony. Sincerely yours, V Putin’
It is customary for presidents and prime ministers the world over to congratulate one another on election victories, milestones and other successes.
And newly released files show that even despotic Vladimir Putin was capable of such pleasantries.
Indeed Tony Blair was on the receiving end of the Russian President’s uncharacteristic bonhomie when he received a cheerful message from Putin marking his 48th birthday in 2001.
Putin wrote: ‘Dear Tony, Accept my sincere congratulations on your birthday and heartfelt wishes of good health, happiness, success and wellbeing to you and your family.
The birthday message to the Prime Minister from Vladimir Putin
‘With great warmth I recollect our last meeting in Stockholm. I am convinced that regular contacts between us will further facilitate the development of Russian-British relations, strengthening international security and stability. I am looking forward to a new meeting with you in Genoa.’
The original note was written in Russian, and was signed, without a signature: Sincerely yours, V Putin.
An accompanying handwritten note from a Downing Street mandarin added: ‘Prime Minister, the Russians are big on birthdays!’
Putin was only a year into his first term as Russian president at the time, long before he annexed Crimea and then invaded Ukraine.
Files released by the National Archives in London show Messers Blair and Putin appeared to enjoy a cordial relationship at the time – with the Russian leader afforded a state visit to the UK in 2003.
