Cherie Blair had `heated arguments with George Bush

Less than a week after Tony Blair stepped down as Prime Minister, a Pandoras Box seems to have opened about his wife Cherie.

London, July 2 : Less than a week after Tony Blair stepped down as Prime Minister, a Pandora's Box seems to have opened about his wife Cherie.

According to a Daily Mail report, Cherie is said to have had "heated arguments" with U.S.President George Bush, when the latter visited "Chequers", the British Prime Ministerial weeked retreat.

The paper quoted U.S.First Lady Laura Bush as saying that Cherie Blair "had different views to him (George Bush), yes. I remember one occasion at Chequers when it became quite heated. I am not going to tell you what it was about."

Cherie, according to the paper, also confides in an hour-long documentary to be aired on BBC1 on Wednesday, that she tried to talk Tony Blair out of resigning as Prime Minister, adding she was not very keen on him standing down and making way for Gordon Brown.

During the documentary titled "The Real Cherie", Cherie attempts to defend herself about the Cheriegate affair, her friendship with lifestyle guru Carole Caplin and her controversial foreign lecture tours.

But she refuses to accept that she has done anything wrong and at one point declares: "I'm not bonkers." hen she is tackled on the allegation that she has for years exploited her position as the wife of a Prime Minister to make money, Cherie Blair loses her patience.

"We have to put this in perspective. I am a barrister, I speak for my living, but I also make many, many speeches for charity. I probably make 100 to 120 speeches a year and of those ten are for payment."

She also discusses her interest in alternative therapies and clairvoyance. She used to consult the late Jack Temple, a healer whose methods included dangling a crystal over a jar of his clients' toenail clippings, and asked for help from the spirit world via Sylvia Caplin, mother of Carole.

Blair also leaves herself open to allegations of hypocrisy by discussing such personal issues as her miscarriage and the birth of her youngest son Leo, despite her constant complaints about media intrusion.

Blair reveals that she often brought home meals from Chequers to be reheated.

The programme includes scores of behind-the-scenes pictures never before seen by the public. Many feature young Leo Blair mingling with Sir Cliff Richard and Virginia Wade, being pushed in a buggy by Bill Clinton and posing with his father and George Bush.

ANI