Yesterday, just hours before it was to be previewed at the Hay Festival, the Noble and Right Honourable (LOL) The Baron Mandelson of Blah Blah Blah in the Blah, etc, withdrew permission for Hannah Rothschild to show a documentary she has made of him.
Hannah, who is the daughter of Lord Rothschild, followed Mandelson from October 2009 up to last month's general election to make this film which was supposed to tell the story of the man who was the power behind Brown’s throne.
The film was even called ‘’The Real PM’’ but whether that was short for Peter Mandelson or Prime Minister was not clear. It was set to show intimate details of his personal life and his work. But with only a day to go before clips of the documentary were to preview at the literary festival, Mandelson decided that she couldn’t use the footage.
The festival organizers apparently sent an email to journalists yesterday saying: "Hannah Rothschild's film The Real PM: A Portrait of the Real Peter Mandelson has been withdrawn on the insistence of the subject."
We ordinary people were supposed t
o be able to see the show within a couple of months as BBC had arranged to screen it. Now no one knows if that will go ahead.
Mandelson has (of course) written his memoirs which are to be published during the summer. So perhaps Peter has decided that if people watched the film they might not spend their money on his book. He has arranged too, for it to come out before Tony Blair's autobiography ‘The Journey’ which is due in September. (Is there nothing that bloke won’t do for money?)
Mandelson's book is supposed to be "frank, honest and revealing... a dramatic first-hand narrative", and that it will "lay bare Peter Mandelson's intimate, complex relationship with Britain's two New Labour prime ministers".
Actually, I hate to say it, but I reckon it will make fascinating reading.... Let’s be honest he was the real brains behind a whole chapter in our lives, like him or loathe him.
But it does leave poor old Hannah with a film she has spent 10 months making, and no way that she can show it.... Not that that will be a financial worry to her despite the fact that it must have cost tens of thousands and more to make. Being a Rothschild means that the loss will doubtless be able to be swallowed. (Oh and it leaves Tony with a book that he may not be able to sell quite so readily... As Spook would say...wee shame.)
Hannah, who is the daughter of Lord Rothschild, followed Mandelson from October 2009 up to last month's general election to make this film which was supposed to tell the story of the man who was the power behind Brown’s throne.
The film was even called ‘’The Real PM’’ but whether that was short for Peter Mandelson or Prime Minister was not clear. It was set to show intimate details of his personal life and his work. But with only a day to go before clips of the documentary were to preview at the literary festival, Mandelson decided that she couldn’t use the footage.
The festival organizers apparently sent an email to journalists yesterday saying: "Hannah Rothschild's film The Real PM: A Portrait of the Real Peter Mandelson has been withdrawn on the insistence of the subject."
We ordinary people were supposed t
o be able to see the show within a couple of months as BBC had arranged to screen it. Now no one knows if that will go ahead.Mandelson has (of course) written his memoirs which are to be published during the summer. So perhaps Peter has decided that if people watched the film they might not spend their money on his book. He has arranged too, for it to come out before Tony Blair's autobiography ‘The Journey’ which is due in September. (Is there nothing that bloke won’t do for money?)
Mandelson's book is supposed to be "frank, honest and revealing... a dramatic first-hand narrative", and that it will "lay bare Peter Mandelson's intimate, complex relationship with Britain's two New Labour prime ministers".
Actually, I hate to say it, but I reckon it will make fascinating reading.... Let’s be honest he was the real brains behind a whole chapter in our lives, like him or loathe him.
But it does leave poor old Hannah with a film she has spent 10 months making, and no way that she can show it.... Not that that will be a financial worry to her despite the fact that it must have cost tens of thousands and more to make. Being a Rothschild means that the loss will doubtless be able to be swallowed. (Oh and it leaves Tony with a book that he may not be able to sell quite so readily... As Spook would say...wee shame.)
