How William and Harry’s quiet calm shamed showboating Blair

Alastair campbell can’t help himself. the former political spokesman for New labour was pontificating on Diana, 7 Days (BBC1), an analysis of the week following the Princess’s death in 1997.

‘i get asked so many times,’ he boasted, ‘ “was it you or tony Blair who came up with [the phrase] the People’s Princess?” i’ve no memory of discussing it whatsoever.’

Yet a few minutes later he was contradicting himself and claiming that he and the PM talked all night, wrestling with the fear that Blair’s statement could damage the monarchy: ‘We were sensitive to this idea that if you say she is the People’s Princess, does that mean the royals aren’t the people?’

so which is true? the popular myth, after all, as peddled in the 2006 film the Queen, is that an out-oftouch royal Family was rescued by Blair’s populist instincts.

But as Campbell proudly revealed: ‘instinctively, i’ve always been a republican.’ Perhaps the PM’s unctuous performance for the cameras, as he wrung his hands and choked back sobs, was more calculated to undermine the monarchy than defend it.

From today’s perspective, Blair’s showboating looks like rancid insincerity. the Queen’s determination to protect her bereaved grandsons is the reaction of a elderly lioness guarding the pride’s cubs.

in a revealing snippet of news footage, as the royals met public mourners outside Buckingham Palace, one woman called out: ‘look after those boys, Ma’am.’

Prince Philip retorted tetchily: ‘that’s what we’ve been doing.’

Despite the self-aggrandisement of Blair and Campbell, this 90-minute documentary offered many revealing insights into that week of national shock and grief.

Diana’s sisters, sarah and Jane, spoke in detail, as did her brother, Charles — though Earl spencer’s reflections seem suspect sometimes, too, squeezed through a sieve of self-interest.

Most interesting of all were the memories and musings of Diana’s sons, the two princes. this is not the first time in recent months that William or Harry has talked about her death, but we had the sense that all previous comments had been rehearsals for this.

Both mentioned the conflict between duty and loss. William candidly confessed that, even at 15, he knew how to wear a mask — ‘the game face . . . otherwise you’re a walking mess’.

there was a hint of that professional detachment as he offered a soundbite about the day of the funeral: ‘i felt like she was almost walking alongside us.’

Harry’s remarks were more raw and tormented, one moment on the verge of tears (though he insisted he is physically incapable, since his mother’s death, of crying in public) and the next laughing at himself, sheepishly embarrassed.

Neither of them, thank goodness, has succumbed to the glib tV style adopted by explorer levison Wood in From Russia To Iran: Crossing The Wild Frontier (C4). these days he’s less of an adventurer, more of a smarmy presenter on the One show.

Donning cossack’s cloaks as he trekked across the badlands of Dagestan, he quipped: ‘this may look like something from a really bad fancy dress party . . . which one do you think suits me?’

as villagers argued about local legends of Noah and his ark, levison rolled his eyes at the camera. He might think he’s Marco Polo, but this was pure Paul O’Grady . . . or maybe Marc O’Polo.

then he took a bath in crude oil. the fumes, he proclaimed, can make a man lose consciousness in 12 minutes. so can this show.