Hillary Clinton warned over 'nasty' palace politics at Diana funeral
Hillary Clinton was warned by US diplomats not to take questions from the press before the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales in case she became ensnared in nasty palace politics, new documents have shown.
In a separate aside, it is noted that the British Embassy in Washington had asked whether Tim Knatchbull, the grandson of Lord Mountbatten who was assassinated by the IRA, could hitch a ride on the First Ladys plane. The document does not relate if the request was met or not.
The travails of the British Royal Family were also reflected in a gossipy June 1999 email exchange between two State Department officials which refers to the then Sophie Rhys-Jones and the screwed up royal family.
The new documents covers a wide range of areas in the Clinton presidency, including a 1998 official visit by Tony and Cherie Blair, the Rwanda Genocide and multiple drafts of Bill Clintons speech accepting that George W Bush had won the disputed 2000 presidential election.
Much of the contents remains redacted on national security grounds, including talking points and conversations ahead of the Blairs 1998 visit.
Some phrases immediately date the documents to the era of Third Way politics and Cool Britannia, such as Mr Gore introducing Mr Blair as a politican nearly as popular as the Spice Girls.
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Hillary Clinton warned over 'nasty' palace politics at Diana funeral