Does Tom Fletcher have some tales. The former British ambassador to Lebanon, and advisor to Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron, has just published Naked Diplomacy, a treatise on the future of international relations peppered with amusing anecdotes. He gives us a full interview in the latest issue of British GQ and, below, tells an exclusive story that you won't find in his book...
The one about Obama and the baby poo
“I was giving Obama a tour of Number Ten on his first visit, and showed him these moon particles that Nixon had sent to Harold Wilson. I thought it would be quite a poignant moment – perhaps Obama might say something about conquering Mars or some other visionary statement. He leaned down towards me to see them and then kind of recoiled a bit. I thought it was strange, though we carried on as though nothing had happened. But it played on my mind for the rest of the day: why did he recoil – was it because I had mentioned Nixon? And it was only when I got home that night that I realised I had shit on my tie. I had been changing my child’s nappy that morning and my tie had dangled in it. And the poor guy had clearly got a whiff. I still worry to this day that his view of British hospitality and hygiene was damaged from that moment on. It was the end of the special relationship and it was all my fault!”
Click here for another exclusive Tom Fletcher anecdote
Naked Diplomacy (William Collins, £18.99) is out now
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