Cherie's freebie Melbourne shopping spree
"CHERIE Blair, wife of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, indulged in a wild Melbourne shopping spree - and did not spend a cent.
Last week's shopping frenzy, prompted by a friendly invitation to streetwear giant Globe International in Port Melbourne, saw her walk away with 68 trendy designer clothing items. The free haul is believed to be worth about $5000. Mrs Blair, a top QC, earns an estimated $640,000 a year.
Most of the pricey streetwear was for the Blairs' children Nicky, 17, Kathryn, 15, and Leo, 2, who were with their mother. Euan Blair, 19, was not there.
Witnesses said the children were insatiable.
"It was an invitation to pick out a few items and they walked out with 70 pieces in five boxes," one said. "All we seemed to hear that day was: 'We want that one, mummy! And that one, mummy! Oh, and that one, mummy!' "
Mrs Blair was in Melbourne to speak at an international law conference and was invited to the Globe showrooms at a charity event early last week."
Steak and fine wine for Cherie
Details of the slap-up dinner emerged after revelations that the British Prime Minister's wife and children helped themselves to $5000 worth of street wear at a Melbourne clothing warehouse last week.
Seven security officers arrived three hours early to check the venue. (I presume they were Dopey, Sneezy, Grumpy etc, the hotel's security officers and that their job was to make sure everything was nailed down so that the scavenging piranha Blairs couldn't strip the joint bare.)
The rest of the group, including Mrs Blair's casually dressed (no doubt courtesy of the previous day's shopping blitzkreig) children, Nicky, 17, and Kathryn, 15, and the Thomsons, turned up at 6pm.
John Lacey, owner of the Hunt Club Hotel in Merrijig, said Mrs Blair had a wonderful Easter Saturday evening, tucking into a succulent eye fillet steak - "the cream of the crop" - and a complimentary $62 bottle of the pub's finest wine, St Henri shiraz.
"She is not a free-loader at all," Mr Lacey said. "She is just lovely. She really is a pleasant person, completely natural.
"She was very obliging, agreeing to pose for a picture behind the bar.
Oh dear, Cherie luv! Needed a bit more Vaseline on the lens.
Our damn harsh unforgiving Australian light can be a right bugger.
"And one of her security people even came down the next day with a signed photo of her and Tony Blair, saying 'thank you'."
WELL BUGGER ME! That was SO generous ... and modest!
UPDATE: "Cherie Blair will be forced to pay for her controversial Melbourne "shopping" spree because of UK rules regarding gifts to MPs.
Mrs Blair, wife of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, left Australia recently with a $5000 haul of clothing courtesy of Melbourne streetwear giant Globe International.
But the scandal-prone QC will have to pay up or hand the 68 trendy designs (five boxes full of T-shirts, knits, polo shirts, shorts, bags, jackets, mini-skirts, belts, jeans, sweaters, hoodies, knits and underwear, books, an alarm clock, necklaces, socks, a lunchbox, pyjamas, boxer shorts, a beach play set and pillow cases) back to the Port Melbourne designer."
Bugger me again ... the last time I robbed a bank, then had second thoughts and returned the 6 guineas I'd nicked Mr. Plod wasn't impressed and hauled me off to the slammer anyways.
Cherie, do you know anything about the concept of "Caesar's wife"? If you don't, ask your hubby Tiberius.
