Cherie gets lobster off the G8 menu

Cherie Blair

LONDON - Tony Blair's wife Cherie has been accused of acting like the "first lady" of Downing Street after meddling with the menu and seating arrangements for the G8 summit in Scotland.

The menu for a banquet, to be attended by the Queen and world leaders, was approved by Buckingham Palace. It included lobster, lamb and chocolate pudding, which the Queen likes.

But the arrangements were not to the tastes of the British Prime Minister's wife, who was not pleased to discover that she will be sitting with the leaders' spouses at an overspill table.

Royal sources said Cherie Blair was also unhappy that the spouses were not allowed to eat the same menu as the leaders. "She was behaving like the first lady. She was unhappy about the seating arrangements, and then she started unpicking the menu. Apparently, she didn't want to have lobster," said a Palace source.

Her objections led to a hurried re-write, and it is understood that lobster will be off the menu.

The heads of the eight leading industrialised countries will be at the summit, including US President George W Bush.

- INDEPENDENT