Old habits die hard: What Sonia Gandhi noticed about Bill Clinton at 2000 reception

Sonia Gandhi recounts candid interactions with Bill Clinton, Nicolas Sarkozy and Princess Diana. The memoir offers personal glimpses of powerful global figures beyond their public personas.Bill Clinton visited India in 2000. (File photo)New Delhi,Nov 10, 2026 12:09 ISTThe Monica Lewinsky scandal had subsided by the time Bill Clinton visited India in 2000, but “old habits die hard,” Sonia Gandhi writes in her memoir, recalling that the then US president occasionally appeared to be “surreptitiously sizing up the more striking women” at a reception, news agency Press Trust of India reported.The account is among several recollections of Gandhi’s interactions with world leaders and public figures, including former French president Nicolas Sarkozy and Princess Diana, in her newly released book, Belonging: A Journey Of Love.Gandhi writes at length about a reception hosted in Clinton’s honour by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.“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,” she says. “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 writes.Gandhi also recounts Sarkozy’s 2008 visit to India without his then partner, Carla Bruni. She writes that Sarkozy had reportedly been advised not to bring Bruni because they were unmarried, which could have made official functions awkward. At a banquet, the wife of then Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari, who was seated next to Sarkozy, asked him about his marriage plans, whether a date had been decided and if he was missing Bruni.“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,” Gandhi says.Gandhi met the couple again at a private dinner hosted by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife some years later. By then, Sarkozy and Bruni were married. Gandhi describes Bruni, a singer, songwriter and former model, as graceful and elegant.“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,” Gandhi writes.The memoir also includes Gandhi’s memories of the British royal family, particularly Princess Diana. She says members of the British royal family and her family had been friends over generations, and that Rajiv Gandhi had got along well with Prince Charles.“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,” Gandhi writes.On the day Diana posed alone on what Gandhi calls the “love bench” in front of the Taj Mahal, the royal couple visited the Gandhis for late tea. Gandhi recalls Prince Charles as forthcoming and amusing, while Diana appeared morose despite looking striking in a red and purple two-piece suit.Gandhi’s mother, who was visiting at the time, wanted to meet Diana. Her daughter Priyanka insisted that her “Nonna”, or grandmother, be introduced. When Diana asked why Gandhi’s mother was so quiet, Priyanka replied that her mother had told her not to speak because she knew only Italian.“Diana burst out laughing and turned immediately to my mother, holding out her hand, ‘Piacere, come stai?’ (‘Pleased to meet you, how are you?’), trying to pronounce the words in the correct Italian accent, though using the informal form of address, but with such warmth and charm that we all melted,” Gandhi writes.As the royal couple left, Diana turned back, waved to Gandhi’s mother and called out, “Ciao, Nonna!” Gandhi also presented the couple with her book Rajiv, after which Diana wrote to her saying how much she had admired Rajiv Gandhi.Gandhi later met Diana in London, where she was invited for tea. Diana arrived in a black suit with a white collar and said, “I am feeling like a crow!”They met again at a hairdresser’s, where Gandhi noticed Diana sitting next to her. “I scribbled a word and passed it on to her, and the next second realised that instead of ‘Hi’, I had written ‘Hye’. 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 recalls, adding that it was their last meeting.Reflecting on the criticism Diana faced, Gandhi writes: “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.”- Ends