The prime minister's wife has made an emotional appeal for sympathy, telling the people of Britain "I'm not Superwoman." Choking back tears, Cherie said that the pressures of being a mother, charity worker, politician's wife and her own career as a barrister were almost too much to manage.
"Sometimes I would like to crawl away and hide, but I will not," she said. Cherie has been at the centre of a storm of controversy over her links with convicted criminal Peter Foster, who helped her buy two flats in Bristol.
She admitted to having made mistakes by letting the Australian con-man get involved in her financial affairs. Apologising for the trouble she has caused her husband's government, Mrs Blair also conceded that she was wrong to mislead the Downing Street press office in the hope of protecting her family's privacy.
Her statement, made at a charity appearance, may win over the hearts of many women in Britain, but the press remains sceptical. The admission that she looked up court lists to find out what judge would be hearing Foster's extradition case provoked questions as to just how much she intended to help him. The 40-year-old fraudster has served time in British and US prisons and has also been named in a £1.4 million slimming pill scam in Australia.
"If I had known the full details of Mr Foster's past, I would not have allowed myself to get into this situation," insisted a tearful Cherie. Only time will tell, however, whether her badly tarnished reputation can recover.
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