New Delhi, Nov 10 (IANS) Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi has shared several interesting anecdotes involving prominent world leaders and members of the British royal family in her newly released memoir, “Belonging: A Journey Of Love”.
Among the revelations is an account of former US President Bill Clinton’s 2000 visit to India, during which Gandhi observed that despite the Monica Lewinsky scandal having largely subsided, “old habits die hard”.
Recalling a reception hosted by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Clinton’s honour, Gandhi wrote that she noticed the then US President occasionally and discreetly looking at some of the more striking women present at the gathering.
The memoir, which was released recently, also offers glimpses into Gandhi’s interactions with several international personalities, including former French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the late Princess Diana. She has described these encounters in considerable detail, sharing personal observations and conversations that took place during their meetings.
Recounting Clinton’s 2000 visit, Gandhi said the former US President was staying at the Sheraton hotel along with his daughter, Chelsea, and members of his delegation. She recalled visiting him with India’s then External Affairs Minister and described him as friendly, informal, and confident.
“President Bill Clinton was staying at the Sheraton hotel with his daughter, Chelsea, and his delegation in 2000 when I called on him with our foreign minister. Friendly, informal, and exuding confidence, he appeared more keen to give us his own views and predictions about Kashmir- ‘a nuclear flashpoint’, in his words, ‘one of the most dangerous places on earth’–than to pay attention to our point of view,” Gandhi wrote in her book.
Gandhi then went on to recall Clinton’s conduct at the reception organised by Vajpayee, making a reference to the controversy surrounding his relationship with Monica Lewinsky, which had attracted widespread international attention.
“The Monica Lewinsky scandal had subsided a little by then, but old habits die hard; at the reception held by Prime Minister Vajpayee in his honour, I noticed him every now and then surreptitiously sizing up the more striking women present,” Gandhi noted in her memoir.
She also recounted an amusing episode from Sarkozy’s 2008 visit to India, when the French President travelled to the country without his then partner, Carla Bruni. According to Gandhi, there were reports that Sarkozy had been advised against bringing Bruni because the two were not married at the time, which could have created an awkward situation during official engagements.
“It was said that he (Sarkozy) had been advised not to bring her (Bruni) because they were unmarried, which would have been awkward at official functions. Seated at the banquet table, I was amused when the wife of our Vice President Mohammad Ansari, seated next to him, proceeded to quiz him good-naturedly about his marital plans. Was he going to get married? And if so, had the date been decided? Was he missing her?” Gandhi recalled.
“President Sarkozy seemed unperturbed by the cross-examination, even eager to share details of his love life, answering all her questions while continuously messaging his Carla on his phone,” she wrote.
Gandhi said she met the couple again a few years later at a private dinner hosted by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife. By that time, Sarkozy and Bruni had married and arrived together at the gathering.
Recalling their appearance, Gandhi said, “By this time, President Sarkozy and Carla Bruni had tied the knot and made their appearance together. He was obviously besotted with his tall and beautiful wife of Italian and French descent, who had been a popular singer and songwriter in Europe, as well as a top model. All eyes were on her as she glided into the room in an elegant long gown, graceful and slim, demure and blue-eyed.”
“She spoke cordially but infrequently — while her husband held forth, expounding his views to our Prime Minister on what India should do in what I felt was a rather arrogant manner, unmindful of the fact that he was talking to someone more senior, more experienced and more knowledgeable,” she added.
Apart from her interactions with international political leaders, Gandhi has devoted considerable space in the memoir to her meetings with the British royal family, particularly Princess Diana.
She recalled that members of the British royal family had shared a longstanding friendship with the Nehru-Gandhi family across generations and that her husband, former Prime Minister late Rajiv Gandhi, had enjoyed a good relationship with Prince Charles.
However, she described Princess Diana as the most captivating personality in the royal family, remembering her beauty, charm, and magnetic presence.
“The real star of that family had of course been Princess Diana: tall and slim, with large blue eyes, an enchanting smile, and a magnetic personality. I can never forget how ravishing she was as a bride when Rajiv and I attended their wedding in 1981. But when they came to India in 1992, it was evident that things were not going well in the marriage,” Sonia Gandhi wrote.
Gandhi also recalled a meeting with the royal couple during their 1992 visit to India, on the same day Diana famously posed alone on a bench in front of the Taj Mahal, which Gandhi referred to as the ‘love bench’.
“Prince Charles was forthcoming and amusing, but she appeared morose, though looking wonderful in a striking red and purple two-piece suit. We chatted about what she had seen and liked on her visit,” Gandhi recalled.
She further narrated how her mother, who was visiting at the time, was eager to meet the famous princess. Her daughter, Priyanka Gandhi, also insisted that her ‘Nonna’ (grandmother) be introduced to Diana.
Gandhi said Diana noticed that her mother was unusually quiet and asked about the reason. Priyanka immediately explained that her grandmother had been instructed not to speak because she only knew Italian.
The response prompted Diana to burst into laughter before she warmly greeted Gandhi’s mother in Italian, making an effort to pronounce the words with the appropriate accent.
The former Congress President also recalled the warmth with which Diana interacted with her mother even as the royal couple prepared to leave.
“After tea and more chat, we were seeing them off to their car when she stopped halfway, turned back to wave to my mother, and called out, ‘Ciao. Nonna!’ After I presented the royal couple with my book Rajiv, she wrote to me, telling me how much she had admired my husband,” Gandhi recalled.
Gandhi also shared another memory of meeting Diana in London, where she had been invited for tea with the royal couple. She remembered that Diana arrived wearing a black suit with a white collar and jokingly remarked, “I am feeling like a crow!”
Another encounter took place at a hairdresser’s, where Gandhi unexpectedly found herself sitting next to the princess. She said she recognised Diana and decided to pass her a small handwritten note, intending to write a simple greeting.
However, Gandhi soon realised that she had made a spelling mistake, writing ‘Hye’ instead of ‘Hi’. By the time she noticed the error, Diana had already placed the note inside her handbag, leaving Gandhi wishing she could somehow retrieve it.
“How I wished I could have snatched back the note! But it was too late; she had already put it into her handbag. She turned to me with a smile of recognition, and we exchanged a few words in hushed tones, not wanting to attract attention,” Gandhi wrote.
She said that this was the last occasion on which she met Princess Diana.
“There was a lot of criticism of her at that time: She was spoilt and complaining; she had everything; why was she behaving as if she had been wronged? I must say I felt for her throughout, and still do,” Sonia Gandhi wrote in her memoir.
–IANS
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