UK knew of former French president’s ill health for 10 years, papers reveal

The British diplomat noted François Mitterrand’s ‘oddness in demeanour’ and ‘remarkably pallid’ skin. Photograph: John Stillwell/PA

A British diplomat raised concerns about the secret extent of French president François Mitterrand’s ill health a decade before the statesman’s terminal prognosis was made public, newly released official papers reveal.

Sir Reginald Hibbert, the UK government’s ambassador in Paris, apprised Whitehall colleagues in December 1981 with “talk about the president’s health which seemed to me to carry a certain amount of conviction”.