Well, Alan Clark he aint.
The publication today of Alastair Campbell’s diaries looks set to be a colossal damp squib. I haven’t read the 794-page book, but judging from the extracts he’s posted on his website Campbell’s observations are almost comically uninteresting. Here he is, for example, on meeting the Princess of Wales in 1995:
“She’s standing there absolutely, spellbindingly, drop-dead gorgeous, in a way that the millions of photos didn’t quite get.
“She said ‘Hello’, held out her hand and said she was really pleased to meet me, so I mumbled something back about being more pleased.
“‘It would make a very funny picture if there were any paparazzi in those trees,’ she said.” This is the sort of thing you’d expect Adrian Mole to record in his diaries, not the man dubbed Britain’s “real” deputy Prime Minister.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in