“Despite seven homes, a highly paid job and a multi-million-pound fortune, Cherie Blair has never been one to pass up a bargain.
While her husband was Prime Minister, she famously shopped for 99p trinkets on eBay and has scooped up freebies at every turn.
Now Mrs Blair has again been using the internet auction site. And this time, astonishingly, she was selling a copy of her husband’s autograph – for the princely sum of £10.
For richer, for poorer: Cherie Blair (above) has admitted selling her husband Tony’s autograph on eBay
Somewhat embarrassingly, Tony Blair’s scrawled signature was originally on offer for £25 – but required two price cuts before attracting its one and only bid. The identity of the eventual buyer is unknown.
The autograph was in the form of a ‘bookplate’ page which fits into copies of Mr Blair’s recently published memoirs, A Journey.
Mrs Blair’s eBay listing said: ‘This bookplate has been signed by the former prime minister. This item fits perfectly in to Tony Blair’s new book. This is a hand-signed bookplate and not a (sic) autopen or copy.’
It is not the first time the couple have been accused of cashing in on their years in Downing Street. Last year, Mr Blair was charging fans hundreds of pounds to be photographed with him.
For sale: The signed bookplate on sale on the eBay website. Mrs Blair has regularly used the site to buy and sell items in the past
Yesterday Mrs Blair, a barrister and part-time judge, admitted she had sold her husband’s signature, but insisted she had not done it to make money.
Offering a bizarre explanation, her spokesman said: ‘She refunded the money as soon as it was sold. She only did it to make a point.
‘She was cross that other people were selling his autograph on eBay, when you can get one for free.
A Journey: Cherie was selling a bookplate for Tony’s tome
‘So she was trying to undermine the market, and as soon as someone bought it, she refunded the person straight away.’
Mrs Blair does not use her name on her eBay account, so potential buyers would not have known who was offering the autograph for sale.
However, she was unmasked by antiques dealer Paul Hurworth, who regularly uses the site. A year ago, he sold a silver butter knife and glass dish to the same account for £24.99.
When the transaction was completed, his records revealed it was registered to Mrs Blair at the couple’s London residence.
Mr Hurworth, 35, of Pickering, North Yorkshire, said: ‘I realised who I had been dealing with last year and kept an eye on the account out of curiosity.
‘But I was astonished when I saw the Blair signature. It was first on offer for £25 but when there were no takers, it was reduced to £20 and then finally a tenner. The normal fear is making sure the item is genuine – but there is obviously no problem in this case. It seems odd she would do something like this to try to get some point across.
‘Why would she keep reducing the price if she wasn’t trying to sell it? No matter how you look at it, it’s an embarrassing thing to do for a tenner when you’re worth millions.’
Since leaving No?10 in 2007, Mr Blair has made an estimated £60million through speaking tours and business appointments. The couple have amassed a property portfolio worth around £15million.”
