Tony Blair’s autobiography reveals fresh details about his life and tellingly his relationship with the Royal Family, especially with the late Princess of Wales, Diana.

The then-Labour prime minister had brief conversations with Princess Diana but dedicates more than 20 pages to her in the memoir.

One of the more famous mentions come in the aftermath of her tragic death where the former leader dubbed Diana “the people’s princess” which has since stuck.

He also reveals details about his relationship with other royals, including the Queen and her only daughter Princess Anne.

However, Mr Blair doesn’t hold back and draws an unfavourable image of the Princess Royal, calling her “stunningly rude” after an encounter in his premiership.

He says Princess Anne was “indifferent” to him and “hated” his government for enacting the fox-hunting ban. He described the Princess Royal as being a “chip off the old block” of her father Prince Philip, who “doesn’t give a damn what people think of him”.

Mr Blair says: “During our first time at Balmoral, Princess Anne called Cherie ‘Mrs Blair” and Cherie (being Cherie) said ‘Please call me Cherie’.”

“‘Actually I prefer Mrs Blair’, Anne replied. At one level, it is stunningly rude and discordant in our democratic age.”

Readers may take the account with a pinch of salt considering other anecdotes by the former prime minister have been debunked.

For instance, he shares tales of Diana confiding in him about her relationship with Dodi Fayed. He says that Diana was a guest at Chequers a few weeks before her death.

“She didn’t like it and I could feel the wilful side of her bridling,” he wrote. “However she didn’t refuse to talk about it, so we did and also what she might do.”

But at the time, Diana hadn’t yet met Mr Fayed nor had a romance with him, so the dates don’t match up to the account.