Prime Minister Tony Blair's Relationship with the Royal Family in Photos
Over the course of her historic 70 year reign, the late Queen Elizabeth II worked with 15 Prime Ministers, and while she shared unique relationships with each, the decade of Tony Blair's tenure at 10 Downing Street undeniably marked some particularly important moments for the royal family, including the queen's Golden Jubilee, the dawning of a new millennium, and perhaps most notably, the tragic death of Princess Diana. Indeed, Diana's passing, which occurred just months into Blair's first term as PM, is considered by many such a defining moment in his relationship with the royal family that it's a central element to the 2006 Oscar nominated film The Queen by Peter Morgan.
Considering that Morgan is also at the helm of The Crown, it's hardly a surprise that Blair—who was made a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter by Elizabeth in 2022—also plays a role in the Netflix series's new season as the show delves into Diana's final days and the continuation of the royal family.
Here, we take a look back at some of Tony Blair's moments with the royal family over the years.
1997
In the summer of 1997, Blair joined then-Prince Charles in Hong Kong for a ceremony marking the official handover of the territory from British rule to China. They were joined by international dignitaries, including Chris Patten, who served as Britain's final governor of Hong Kong.
1997
Chinese President Jiang Zemin also attended the ceremony, which marks the end of a 99 year lease of Hong Kong's territory to the British, first signed in 1898.
1999
At a fundraising campaign for Charles's charitable organization the Prince's Trust, Blair and the future king were all smiles when they met up again.
"I think he'll be a great monarch," Blair said on Today after Charles's 2022 accession. "I think that he's a very caring person." He added, "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."
1999
Later that year, Blair joined the queen and Charles for a tribute to the Prince's Trust at Buckingham Palace. Blair was the first PM to be born after Elizabeth took the throne.
1999
Blair and Elizabeth celebrated the start of the new millennium together on New Year's Eve 1999.
2000
For Commonwealth Day, Blair joined Elizabeth, Charles, and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan for a special commemorative service at Westminster Abbey.
2000
Elizabeth, and her husband, Prince Philip, Ducke of Edinburgh, listened to Blair's speech for the opening of the 46th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference.
2002
For the first official engagement of her Golden Jubilee, celebrating her 50th anniversary on the throne, Elizabeth attended a dinner at the Prime Minister's residence.
May 20, 2002
As part of his role as PM, Blair had regular audiences with the queen. Here, the two are seen at Buckingham Palace.
"When I was appointed PM I remember she said to me," Blair recalled in 2022, "Her first words to me ''my first prime minister was Winston [Churchill] and that was before you were born'." He added "For someone of my generation she was all we had known and we had grown up with her and therefore when you are suddenly her prime minister it's a pretty humbling moment."
2003
Blair, Elizabeth, and John Howard, the Prime Minister of Australia, attended a dedication for a new memorial honoring the more than the 100,000 Australians who died in WWI and WWII.
2003
At an event at Buckingham Palace, Blair and the queen greeted one another with smiles.
Over the years, rumor has held that the two didn't share a particularly warm relationship—some have even claimed that Blair was her least favorite PM, though the queen, of course, never made any such statements.
2004
Charles and Blair clearly found some common ground at a lecture for The Prince Of Wales Business And The Environment Programme.
"He was way ahead of his time," Blair said of the royal on Today after Charles became king. "He was talking about climate change when most people didn't even know what the word meant."
2004
At an arrival ceremony for the President of South Korea, Queen Elizabeth II and Tony Blair shared a laugh.
2005
After the Labour Party won a third term in office, Queen Elizabeth received Blair at Buckingham Palace to congratulate him on his party's success.
2005
For a banquet ahead of a humanitarian summit, the queen joined Blair and French President Jacques Chirac for a set of photos at Gleneagles.
2005
During the 40th anniversary celebration of the Queen's Award for Enterprise, Elizabeth and Prince Philip welcomed Blair to Buckingham Palace.
2007
To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the end of the Falkland Islands War, Blair and Charles joined in watching a flypast in London.
2008
At a special service at St Paul's Cathederal in London following the end of his term as Prime Minister, Blair, the future Queen Camilla, former PM Margaret Thatcher, and then-Prince Charles watched a march for Northern Ireland Operations.
July 24, 2012
"She was warm and humorous.," Blair said about Queen Elizabeth in 2022. "She kept a very keen and sharp eye on the country and how it was changing and what its people thought right up until the end."
Here, Blair is seen with the queen and fellow former PMs David Cameron, Sir John Major, and Gordon Brown ahead of a Diamond Jubilee lunch at 10 Downing Street.
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