Leaders' chat after Di tragedy was kept secret

DOWNING Street refused to release details of a conversation between Tony Blair and French president Jacques Chirac following the death in Paris of Princess Diana.

- BY GAVIN CORDON

No10 was asked to reveal what was said in the wake of the 1997 car crash when the 2005 Freedom of Information Act came into effect eight years later.

It took Mr Chirac's aides several hours to contact him to inform of the tragedy, leading to intense speculation as to his whereabouts. His chauffeur later claimed the president had been with a mistress.