Book claims to lift lid on Blairs' strange practises

Cherie Blair

Even by the standards of the alternative therapies said to be used by Cherie Blair, seeking enlightenment by submitting her husband's toenail clippings to a health guru's pendulum takes New Age obsession to a higher level.

Cherie Blair, a senior human rights lawyer, has been the subject of a succession of claims about her fondness for weird and wonderful treatments, ranging from a Mayan rebirthing ceremony to eating strawberry leaves to cure swollen ankles, since she entered Downing Street in 1997.

But a new book about the Blairs yesterday brought tales of mumbo-jumbo worship inside the prime ministerial household to new heights.

Downing Street felt moved to issue a forthright denial, describing the contents of Tony And Cherie, A Special Relationship as "gossip and fantasy".

The book, written by journalist Paul Scott, uses alleged conversations with members of the couple's entourage to paint a picture of Cherie Blair as ambitious and intelligent but in the thrall of a series of eyebrow-raising practices.

She supposedly uses "white witchcraft" to cast a circle around her and create a "sacred space" while her husband carries a grey velvet pouch around with him wherever he goes, containing a fraying piece of red ribbon and rolled up paper.

One technique said to be used by Cherie Blair was to take a number of small jars containing hair and nail clippings belonging to herself and her husband to Jack Temple, a gardener turned health guru. Temple, who died in 2004, is claimed to have "dowsed" the jars by waving a pendulum over them to detect "poisons and blockages" that could affect the couple.

Quoting a number of unnamed "Blair court insiders", the book, which has failed to secure a newspaper serialisation, said: "Temple told Cherie that his pendulum could tell her when it was a good time or bad time to make major decisions."

Scott, who spent five years researching the book, claims that Cherie Blair would fax sheets of A4 paper to Temple listing decisions she needed to make, which he would list in order of importance according to the "vibe" he received from the prime ministerial nail clippings.

The author said he had written the book because the couple had sought to portray themselves differently in the public eye. Scott, who has written for the Daily Mail, said: "The Blairs have sold themselves as a couple and as a sort of celebrity couple to gain votes. It is important ... we know what goes on behind the scenes."

The couple's relationship with Carole Caplin, a former glamour model turned lifestyle adviser, is also revisited in the book, which claims that Caplin personally bathed Cherie Blair as part of her service.

Scott claims that Cherie Blair has also been locked in a feud with Princess Anne since they first met in the wake of Labour's landslide election victory in 1997. Cherie Blair is alleged to have said "Do call me Cherie", to which the Princess is said to have replied, "Actually, let's not go that way; let's stick to Mrs Blair".

On another occasion, the Princess is claimed to have turned her back on Cherie Blair, prompting her to remark: "That bitch completely blanked me."

Downing Street reversed its usual policy of silence on the Blairs' private life. A spokeswoman said: "This is a mixture of recycled gossip and pure fantasy; in particular the remarks about Mrs Blair and the royal family, which are totally untrue. The [author] is somebody the Blairs have never heard of and is unknown to anyone close to them."

- INDEPENDENT