Royal Biographer, Reporter and Celebrity Wrangler Diane Clehane Dies
Royal biographer, reporter and publicist Diane Clehane died Monday.
Clehane, 61, had been undergoing treatment for an illness, according to a Facebook post by her husband Jim Donovan. The cause of death at White Plains Hospital was not immediately known Tuesday, according to a spokesperson for the family.
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Funeral services will be held Friday at 10:30 a.m. at St. Michael the Archangel Church in Greenwich, CT.
For more than 20 years, Clehane covered the arcs and tenors of the British royal family and often made television and personal appearances discussing the latest developments in “the Firm.” Clehane routinely offered commentary to NBC’s “Today” show, NBC News and CBS News. A New York Times bestselling author, Clehane penned the books “Imagining Diana,” “Diana: The Secrets of Her Style” and “The Royal Women” about Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and some of the other women of the House of Windsor. Clehane summed up the public’s unquenchable thirst for royal information last year as being “a brief escape from our somewhat bleak reality at the moment. It’s fun and it takes people out of themselves and is completely different from their own lives.”
Diners at the media-and-celebrity-centric restaurant Michael’s in Midtown could always count on seeing Clehane seated there with a subject. As was often the case with the ever-productive Clehane, those weekly lunches were working ones for her Adweek column “Wednesdays at Michael’s.”
Born in New York City, Clehane graduated magna cum laude from the University of Massachusetts with a double major in journalism and sociology. There, she dug into reporting as a staff writer for The Collegian and acted as a campus tour guide on UMass’ sprawling campus. She also was involved in Greek life serving as vice president of Alpha Chi Omega.
Despite running in buzzy circles for work, she was known to be the consummate professional — detail-minded and professional. Clehane covered a lot of ground and called things as she saw them, unaffected by the glare of celebrity.
Always at work on something, her portfolio included countless articles for such publications as Vanity Fair, People, Worth, Newsweek, Forbes, Variety and other national outlets. By her own account, her recurring royal coverage for the digital lifestyle site Best Life led to one million-plus hits for stories on MSN and Yahoo.
Celebrity culture was another area of expertise for Clehane, whose Greenwich, Connecticut-based business Madeline Communications shared a name with her beloved daughter, both named for the children’s story book character. For 25 years, Clehane was the director of media relations and advertising for the Fashion Group International. Before resigning from that post last year to focus more on her royal coverage, she was the ringleader for the organization’s “Night of Stars,” an annual gala that attracted such big-wattage names as Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, Jennifer Lopez, Meryl Streep, Nicki Minaj, Kerry Washington, Olivier Rousteing, Vera Wang, Rick Owens, Iman, Prince, “Stars Wars’” creator George Lucas, Michael Douglas, Sarah Jessica Parker and others. Announcing her resignation from FGI last year, Clehane said the great surprise and fun had always been meeting the celebrities and seeing what they were really like. “I’ve seen the good, the bad and the really badly behaved. Luckily, [the really badly behaved] have been in short supply,” Clehane told WWD.
Recalling the speculation that swirled about what antics Miley Cyrus might get up to at “Night of Stars,” following her risqué performance with Robin Thicke at the MTV Awards in 2012, Clehane said, “She could not have been nicer or more professional. It was ‘Yes, ma’am. Yes, whatever you would like me to do ma’am.’”
Clehane also countered Lopez’s reputation for being high maintenance, describing the Grammy winner as “without a doubt one of the loveliest people I have ever dealt with at the event.”
Her own straight shooting style was evident in a 2015 red carpet exchange with Streep, who presented an award to Alber Elbaz that year. The Oscar-winning actress rushed over to Clehane and said, “‘I love that necklace. Is it Alber’s?’” Clehane replied, “As a matter of fact, it’s $39.99 from Zara and I picked it up on the way here.’ She said to me, ‘I’m going there tomorrow to get that necklace,’ which I thought was really cute.”
Last year Clehane also recalled one of the more lackluster moments in terms of celebrity attendance. Years ago, when “Night of Stars” was held atop the Rainbow Room in Rockefeller Center as a “Salute to Film and Fashion,” Clehane said she greeted Annette Bening upon her arrival, as she always did with celebrity guests. “I said, ‘Hello Miss Bening…’ She didn’t even let me finish. She said, ‘Here’s my coat. Where can I get a drink?’ Hmm, nice, very nice.”
All in all though, Clehane told WWD that she found that celebrities are really just people and made a significant difference in making that event what it was. “Hollywood’s participation of celebrities is really what elevated it [and gave it the] kind of awareness that it has today where everybody covers it: ‘Entertainment Tonight,’ ‘Access Hollywood’ and all those outlets that would not have given it a second thought had it not been for the A-listers who were there,” Clehane said last year. “And it was great fun. I always enjoyed that part of it. It’s been a lot of work but great.”
Announcing her exit from FGI last year, Clehane addressed the disorienting times that the pandemic had caused and the importance of clarity. She said, “It’s time to really look forward and to think about the things that you really want to do. You look at how you’ve been spending your time in the last year and you really have to do the things you love. At the moment, that’s pretty much all we have — the love of the people that we have in our lives and the love of what we do. That has to make sense. Otherwise, what are we doing?”
An active member and committee co-chair of the Junior League of Greenwich, Clehane previously worked as the media relations director for Adopt a Dog of Greenwich.
Her friends were stunned Tuesday by the news.
Steve Millington, general manager of Michael’s, where she wrote her Wednesday column dishing with celebrities, authors and media personalities, said, “It’s terrible. I can’t even understand. It really blindsided me. As we pick up, I was expecting to have her walk in the door and bring her goofy, fun and energetic self to me. I knew her so well and we were very good friends.”
Millington said she wrote the column every Wednesday for 15 years. “She was a great supporter of ours and loved the energy and good times — a kooky lady, but loving and fun. I remember when she adopted her daughter from the same place [Spence-Chapin] I adopted my children. She was such a talented writer, witty and fun. She sparred with people,” he said.
He said the column lifted Michael’s profile. “It gave us a real edge on a lot of other restaurants as our lunch business was always colossal with everybody and everybody’s grandmother here. She would pick out the mood of the day. We would have Obama here one day, the next day, Laura Bush would be here, and the next day Tom Wolfe would be here. Diane would bring a mixed group of English people to talk about Princess Di. She was so knowledgeable about the subject,” Millington said.
Judy Twersky, owner of a PR and communications firm, said: “I am devastated. Diane was a loyal friend and client. She had drive, talent, looks, style, perfect hair at all times — and a wicked sense of humor! Michael’s will never be the same.”
Susan Silver, a former TV sitcom writer, said, “Diane was a Mary Tyler Moore fan, and I wrote the book about my life as a writer there. She had her own table at Michael’s and interviewed me [for Adweek’s weekly ‘Lunch’ column] and did a great write-up. She was such a devoted mother. I’d never seen anything like it, that relationship she had with her daughter and that she brought Madeline back from China. It’s devastating. We didn’t know [about her illness] to be there for support.”
Meredith Paley, vice president of public relations at Talbots, spoke of Clehane’s devotion to the brand as a fan and as a supporter of its annual Dress for Success charitable initiative. “She also was very quick to explain in her witty and descriptive way her favorite Talbots cardigans, patterns, prints and sheath dresses. Her spirit and her passion about everything in her orbit — her family, fashion, and of course, the royal family, will be very missed,” Paley said.
Teri Agins, an author and former fashion industry reporter for the Wall Street Journal, said: “Diane was the consummate nose-for-news celebrity reporter — zeroing in on those juicy tidbits, always with a big smile. It was always a kick seeing your bold-faced name featured in her social column from Michael’s.”
Deborah Cavanagh, brand marketing consultant for Lane Bryant, described Clehane as “not only a vibrant, brilliant journalist and advocate of fashion, and authority on all things royal,” but also an incredible, dedicated mom and role model to Madeline,” adding that her Facebook posts shared birthdays, holidays and what to watch (and not watch.) She believed in cardinals and the ever-present spirit of those that have passed,” Cavanagh said. “I’m certain that she will stay with us in her spirit.”
Clehane is survived by her husband and daughter. In lieu of flowers, the family requested that any donations be made in her name to the American Cancer Society or Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
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