The relationships between the late Queen Elizabeth II and the Prime Ministers who led the government during her reign—15 of them during her 70 years on the throne—have always been a source of interest. While the queen was generally circumspect about her feelings on particular PMs the public have gleaned certain impressions over the years. Elizabeth's first PM, Winston Churchill, was widely regarded as her favorite, and though the queen never made any open statements to the effect, rumors have long held one of her least favorites as Tony Blair.
Serving ten years as PM, including, famously during the tumultuous period following the death of Princess Diana, just months into his first term, it's no surprise that Blair plays a notable role in the latest season of The Crown. Blair, like his fellow former PM John Major, spoke out against his portrayal on the series ahead of its previous season 5, calling it "complete and utter rubbish," but what was the former Labour leader's relationship with the royal family really like?
Blair first took on the role of PM in May 1997, just days before his 44th birthday, making him the youngest Prime Minister since 1812 and the first of Elizabeth's reign to be born after she took the throne. Oxford educated Blair was known for his charisma and more "modern" attitude, encouraging those around him to simply refer to his as Tony (the queen, more of a traditionalist, reportedly demurred the request.)
Indeed, the impression that Blair and his family were less deferential to the royal family than previous PMs is often cited as one of the main issues in the relationship. Per a 2007 article in The Telegraph, Blair was the first of Elizabeth's PMs to move the day of their weekly audiences at Buckingham Palace from Tuesday to Wednesday afternoons, in order to prepare for the weekly Prime Minister's Questions session at the House of Commons, also held on Wednesdays. "In genteel royal circles," the publication noted, "the word 'surprise' indicates that the Queen was seriously annoyed."
However, Blair himself revealed that the royal family wasn't always as formal as their reputation suggested. Recalling a time he had visited Balmoral to Today in 2022, Blair said, "They lay the table, they serve the food, they do the washing up afterward. And I was still obviously a very new prime minister, very nervous being there, and it was a completely surreal event where the Queen was serving me the food, and I wasn't allowed to even go and get the plate."
Blair's wife, Cherie, also appeared to rub the queen the wrong way. Reportedly "everything but a passionate monarchist," Cherie did not curtsey to Elizabeth on her first visit to Balmoral in 1997, according to GQ, and also broke a bit of royal protocol by wearing a pantsuit. In 2003, she caused something of a stir when she was seen yawning while seated near Elizabeth during the Braemar Highland Games, which was felt to indicate a lack of respect.
Blair's private interests weren't especially in line with the royal family's either—the queen was famous for her love of the outdoors, horses, and dogs, while Blair favored beach vacations and his sporting interests leaned toward tennis and and football. Consequently, the Blairs tended to keep their visits to the royal family's beloved holiday escape Balmoral short.
The most frequently cited reason for Blair's perceived disfavor with the queen occurred very early in his first term as PM. Just months after he took up the position, Princess Diana, the ex-wife of then-Prince Charles and mother of Princes William and Harry, was tragically killed in a car accident in Paris. Elizabeth was slow to make a public response to the situation, leading to criticism of the royal family, and Blair, who coined the term "the people's princess" about the late Diana, has generally been credited with pushing her to make a more public statement. The queen did, ultimately, address the nation as both the monarch and "as a grandmother," on September 5, almost a week after Diana's passing.
The incident was dramatized in the 2006 film The Queen, starring Helen Mirren and written by Peter Morgan, who also helms The Crown.
While Blair's aides at the time supposedly boasted that Blair's administration had "saved" the monarchy, in 2022, following Elizabeth's death, Blair told Today that the queen, "didn't need me to tell her" that the nation needed comfort, saying, "She sensed it, and then she responded, and when she responded, she responded perfectly. She got the tone absolutely right."
"It was difficult," he explained, "but here's the thing, she was trying to balance what she had to do as a queen and what she had to do as a grandmother, and she was acutely aware that she had two young, young children who had lost their mother in terrible circumstances, and who were grieving and who needed to be looked after. In the end, she understood, because always her duty came first."
Blair caused a bit of controversy himself when he published his memoir A Journey: My Political Life, revealing information from private discussions with the queen and times spent with the royal family—a breach of conventional protocol. (Blair was also accused of plagiarizing certain moments from Morgan's The Queen in the book, though Blair said he had never seen the film.) Nonetheless, Blair was awarded the title of Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, the highest possible rank, by the queen in June 2022.
Upon the death of the long-reigning monarch, Blair shared that he felt Elizabeth, "personified everything which makes us proud to be British," saying, "The Queen has been part of my life for all of my life. From the moment I waved my little flag as I watched her, as a child, be driven through the streets of Durham, to the honour of being her prime minister, to my last meeting with her and then lunching with her at Windsor Castle for the Garter ceremony just a few months ago, she has been an enduring presence of strength and stability. At that lunch, we sat next to each other and she was on sparkling form as we talked - warm, gracious, humorous and spirited. " He added, "She was not only respected but loved. Respected because of the qualities of duty, decency, integrity and fidelity which she embodied. And loved because of the love and affection she bestowed on us."
As for the new King Charles, Blair stated, "I think he'll be a great monarch. I think that he's a very caring person. He was way ahead of his time. He was talking about climate change when most people didn't even know what the word meant." He also said, "I think he's got all of that experience, and he's watched his mother, and he knows now he's in a different position."
Lauren Hubbard is a freelance writer and Town & Country contributor who covers beauty, shopping, entertainment, travel, home decor, wine, and cocktails.
