Blanche d’Alpuget dies aged 82 as Anthony Albanese pays tribute to Bob Hawke’s widow and acclaimed author

Australia is mourning acclaimed author and Bob Hawke’s widow Blanche d’Alpuget, who has died aged 82.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese led tributes to the celebrated writer on Wednesday, remembering a woman whose life was defined by literature, politics and a famous love story with one of Australia’s most recognisable leaders.

“With the passing of Blanche d’Alpuget overnight, Australia has lost a true one-off,” Mr Albanese said.

“As a writer, she was at home in fiction as she was in non-fiction, working in each realm with a keen eye for every telling detail that opened up the humanity of her subject to her readers.”

Born and raised as an only child in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, d’Alpuget briefly entered journalism before travelling overseas and living in England, France, Indonesia and Malaysia.

She returned to Australia aged 30 and established herself as a formidable literary figure, producing novels, essays and biographies that often delved into power, politics and human relationships.

Her 1977 biography of Australian arbitrator, academic and diplomat Sir Richard Kirby received critical acclaim, while her biography of Hawke won the New South Wales Premier’s Award.

Across her career, d’Alpuget also received the PEN Golden Jubilee Award, The Age Book of the Year and the Australasian Prize for Commonwealth Literature.

But it was her relationship with Hawke that would also place her firmly in the public spotlight.

The pair first met in Jakarta in 1970 before reconnecting when d’Alpuget was enlisted to write the then-prime minister’s biography.

Their romance began years before Hawke divorced his first wife Hazel in 1995, with Hawke and d’Alpuget marrying shortly afterwards.

The relationship initially attracted criticism from the public and Hawke’s family, although tensions eased in later years.

Mr Albanese described d’Alpuget’s biographies as “comprehensive and definitive – most famously those she wrote of Bob Hawke, who became her great love and ultimately her husband.”

The couple remained together until Hawke’s death in 2019.

D’Alpuget later turned her attention to historical fiction, writing a five-part series centred on Henry II, Eleanor of Aquitaine and the power struggles and dysfunctional family dynamics surrounding their reign.

She remained a public figure into her later years, continuing to give interviews and discuss her writing, public image and life following the loss of her husband.

D’Alpuget is survived by her son Louis Pratt, three Hawke stepchildren and a number of step-grandchildren.

Before her death, she asked her family to share one final message.

“Our highest calling and greatest achievement is love, the rule of life. Love one another.”

Mr Albanese said the words were a fitting final reflection from the acclaimed author.

“Our hearts right now with her family and all who loved her,” he said.

“May Blanche d’Alpuget rest in peace.”