Cherie Blair's autobiography revelations

Cherie Blair's revelations over Tony's decision to announce miscarriage early

Cherie Blair has revealed she was shocked that husband Tony made the news of their miscarriage public, hours after it happened.

The revelations come after extracts of her new autobiography, Speaking for Myself, are serialised in The Times. Cherie revealed that Tony and his communications chief, Alistair Campbell, insisted on notifying the media almost immediately after the loss in 2002.

Cherie's emotional description of losing her baby at the age of 47 divulged how her husband and Campbell spoke over the phone about the announcement as Cherie lay in pain and still bleeding. The reason they made it public so early on was apparently so that a delay in their holiday did not spark false speculation of an early invasion of Iraq.

Cherie writes: 'I couldn?t believe it. There I was, bleeding, and they were talking about what was going to be the line to the press. I put down the receiver and lay there staring at the ceiling as pain began to grip.'

The former Prime Minister's wife also revealed that their fourth child, Leo, was conceived while they were guests of the Queen at Balmoral. In her usual honest tone, Cherie explained she had not packed her contraceptive.