The nature of power

The weirdest moment on A Royal Recovery (Radio Four, Tuesday) was not hearing the astonished reaction of the Palace to the dramatic flip in public opinion in the days and weeks following the death of Princess Diana or the simmering hostility and blatant criticism of the Queen from Joe Public, but listening once again to the gushing tones of TB. He already sounds like yesterday’s man. The former PM must surely have regretted that all-too-quotable ‘the people’s princess’, but we were also reminded of a later occasion when he toasted the Queen at a formal lunch to celebrate her golden jubilee in 2002. ‘I am as proud as proud can be to be your prime minister today,’ he drooled with not a trace of estuary English, ‘offering this tribute on behalf of the country. You are our Queen. We respect and cherish you…You are simply the best of British.’

What was striking was the astonishing insubstantiality of his words, as if he was too overwhelmed by the occasion to remember his own position as PM vis-à-vis the monarch.