Tony Blair, who had only been prime minister for four months, addressed reporters that morning from his home constituency in County Durham.
While he was “utterly devastated,” Blair said, “We are today a nation, in Britain, in a state of shock, in mourning, in grief that is so deeply painful for us.”
He called Diana “a wonderful, and a warm, human being” whose own life “was often sadly touched by tragedy.”
“You know how difficult things were for her from time to time, I’m sure we could only guess at,” Blair continued, “but the people everywhere—not just here in Britain, everywhere—they kept faith with Princess Diana. They liked her, they loved her, they regarded her as one of the people. She was the People’s Princess. And that’s how she will stay, how she will remain, in our hearts and in our memories, forever.”