Bill Clinton with Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.
Going Dutch on a lunch date with Bill - a big one
Tim Cornwell Deputy Foreign Editor
Lunch with Bill Clinton comes cheaper than a presidential pardon - but would still set you back more than $10,000 (£7,000).
That was what a dozen guests paid for the privilege of a more or less intimate luncheon with the former president in the Netherlands yesterday, when Mr Clinton made his first foray outside the United States since leaving the White House.
Nosy reporters with money on their minds were barred from Mr Clinton’s address to European businessmen, who paid up to 3,000 guilders (£800) a seat to hear a 45-minute talk on "Reshaping the Future".
But before the speech, a chosen few paid nearly ten times that sum to sit at one of three tables for lunch with the ex-leader of the free world.
"He was very relaxed. It was like talking to your neighbour about the fence, " said Harry Mens, a Dutch businessman. "It was worth the money."
Mr Clinton’s speech addressed the lofty topic of the potential role of business in contributing towards the development of emerging economies. Far more interesting to the diners, perhaps, was the minor revelation that his allergies have been acting up.
He spoke about the US economy, denounced President George Bush’s tax plan as "a short term solution" and revealed that he was sleeping more now that he’s out of office, Mr Mens said.
True to the time-stretching schedule of his days in office, Mr Clinton arrived 30 minutes late at the hotel in The Hague. He strode past a battery of journalists with little more than a wave.
At the request of Mr Clinton’s office, organisers cancelled invitations to the press. Their spokesman blamed the media ban on the uproar over Mr Clinton’s pardon for the fugitive financier Marc Rich. A Dutch reporter who shouted a question was evicted.
After the speech, Mr Clinton was to meet Queen Beatrix and later the prime minister, Wim Kok.
Shrugging off questions over the pardons-for-cash scandal, Mr Clinton has now set about cashing in on his name with a will. Some corporate audiences turned up their noses at the former President, cancelling appearances or at least refusing to applaud. However, the "come-back kid" has bounced back in typically brazen style, and his speaking fee said to run at an average of $100,000 (£70,000) a pop.
An unexpected boost has come in a string of new polls from New York City. They show he could, if he wished, be the hands-down winner of the lack-lustre Mayor’s race.
Lunch with Bill still cheaper than one of his presidential pardons! - Europeans pay $10,000 to hear Bill now getting better sleep
-- Ain't Gonna Happen (Not Here Not@ever.com), March 14, 2001