Cherie had an ‘incredible instinct’ for offending people, says Tony Blair

LONDON - Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has revealed in his memoirs that wife Cherie had an ‘incredible instinct’ for offending people, especially the powerful ones.

Blair sought to dispel some commonly held notions about his wife, insisting that she got along just fine with the Queen, and did not take showers with her controversial “lifestyle guru” Carole Caplin.

Blair, a leading barrister and part-time judge had quite an explosive relationship with the media during her decade in Downing Street.

She was accused of meddling in politics and criticised for buying two flats in Bristol in 2002 using the help of Caplin’s conman boyfriend, Peter Foster.

But Blair praised Cherie, saying that she had made some good choices.

“She chose, rightly in my view, to remain a person with a career rather than become a political wife,” The Scotsman quoted Blair as saying.

“I am not sure in retrospect that it’s possible, given the degree of scrutiny today,” he added.

Blair also describes how his wife adapted to her new position in the public spotlight after Labour was swept into power in 1997.

“Cherie decided to remake her image: get fit, look good, carry herself like the well-known figure she was becoming,” he wrote.

“In this, Carole Caplin was a great support, as she was to me when fitness became more of a preoccupation. She did a superb job for Cherie, made her look and feel good when Cherie was suddenly transported from one world (professional Bar) to another (tabloid press).” (ANI)