He commented that the sale did not go through and that he was not granted any preferential treatment. However, Foreign Office Minister Baroness Symons gave advice to Mills on the political climate surrounding the project. It was subsequently disclosed that as a consequence of these dealings, Jowell had been excluded from Cabinet papers and talks on Iran since 2003. Mills has three children from his first marriage, including the journalist Eleanor Mills, editorial director of "The Sunday Times". Mills and Jowell have a son and daughter. In 2009, the couple owned houses in Warwickshire and in Kentish Town in north London. Jowell died on 12 May 2018, aged 70. David Mills's brother John Mills is chairman of JML (John Mills Limited) and was formerly a Labour councillor in Camden. John Mills is one of the largest donors to the Labour Party, and was married to Dame Barbara Mills QC, Director of Public Prosecutions from 1992 to 1998, until her death in 2011.