Cherie Blair Is Fury At Claims Husband Tony Had Affair With Rupert Murdoch's Ex-Wife Wendi Deng!
Blairs dismiss rumours of his affair with Murdoch's wife as "completely untrue"
She had been bracing herself for yesterday’s bombshell claims – but Cherie Blair was still said to be fuming last night.
It is believed the ferociously protective barrister first learned of the rumours linking her husband with Rupert Murdoch’s stunning ex-wife Wendi Deng a fortnight ago.
But both Cherie, 59, and the 60-year-old former PM were described as angry and confused after seeing what they regard as unfounded slurs.
A source close to Mr Blair said rumours of an affair with Wendi were categorically untrue.
Another insider pointed out that Mr Murdoch's split with Chinese-born US businesswoman Wendi, 44, was officially a "no fault" divorce action.
And Mr Blair has been left doubly baffled by the rumours – after meeting Mr Murdoch just weeks before the split from his wife was announced.
The meeting, which happened after Mr Blair last met Wendi, was friendly and Mr Blair was given no indication anything was wrong, it was claimed.
The insider added: “He has seen Murdoch since he’s seen Wendi and he didn’t have any sense of him being p****d off or anything like that. This was days or weeks – not months – before the split was announced.”
Another friend of Mr Blair’s added that he had seen Cherie a couple of weeks ago and she had been fine.
He added: “I don’t believe these rumours for one minute. The marriage is still strong.”
Mr Blair’s relationship with the media mogul is said to have collapsed in acrimony and suspicion after Mr Murdoch split from third wife Wendi earlier this year.
Mr Murdoch, 82, was allegedly left seething after discovering Mr Blair twice stayed at his £12million California cattle ranch with Wendi without him knowing.
The ex-PM is said to have stayed overnight with her in October last year and again in April. The pair also allegedly had “multiple encounters” without Mr Murdoch’s knowledge.
A senior Labour figure who mixes regularly with Mr Blair’s crowd said he had picked up no gossip and would have expected to have heard something if there was any sign of trouble in their 33-year marriage.
A former colleague who was a Downing Street adviser in the Labour era suggested Cherie would not have taken the rumours well.
He said: “You can imagine how uncomfortable it must’ve been for him to tell her. She can’t be happy at the public speculation about her husband. Who would be?”
Others close to Mr Blair have gone further. One of his old allies insisted he and Wendi were just good friends and said any talk of an affair was wrong.
And the pal added: “Rupert Murdoch is putting out ridiculous stories about Wendi and Tony which are not true. It is the ravings of a sad old man.”
But a trusted lieutenant of Mr Murdoch claimed the News Corporation mogul felt “betrayed”.
He said: “Whatever the truth, Rupert believes Blair was too close to Wendi.”
A key player in the Murdoch empire claimed a company email audit uncovered “intimate” messages between Mr Blair and Wendi – fuelling the tycoon’s suspicions.
The executive said: “For better or worse there was a relationship between Rupert and Tony which enabled New Labour to be more successful than it had ever been.
“That relationship is over, finished.”
Another friend of Mr Murdoch confirmed: “He will have nothing more to do with Tony Blair. Not ever.”
A separate source added: “Rupert has been thorough, careful and has not acted lightly. If you think that Rupert made a decision to end his marriage and a long term friendship without just cause, you are sorely mistaken.”
Mr Murdoch’s official spokesman in New York last night refused to be drawn on the allegations of a rift between the two powerful men, and said: “We have no comment on this.”
Mr Blair and Mr Murdoch had been close friends after the TV and newspaper boss backed New Labour for three elections, until finally switching back to the Tories in 2010. The former Labour leader was even godfather to the tycoon’s daughter Grace in 2010.
Cherie was also close to Wendi, who helped promote a Chinese version of her biography in Beijing in 2009.
But claims of an affair have been rife since Mr Murdoch first filed for divorce in June. It followed a tweet from BBC journalist Robert Peston, who said: “Am told that undisclosed reasons for Murdoch divorcing Deng are jaw-dropping and hate myself for wanting to know what they are.”
At the time a spokesperson for Mr Blair denied an affair with Wendi.
Despite efforts by Mr Blair to contact Mr Murdoch, he has refused to speak to him since he filed for divorce.
A friend of Mr Blair was reported yesterday as saying that the former PM and Wendi had never met alone. The friend said: “There were always others around. They are friends and Blair is godfather to one of the couple’s children, for heaven’s sake.”
Mr Murdoch met Wendi in 1997 when he visited Shanghai on business and wanted a translator and guide.
Wendi, who worked at the Murdoch-owned Star TV, the Asian satellite network, got the job and he later remarked: “Who wouldn’t fall in love with a beautiful woman like that?”
She famously leapt to Mr Murdoch’s defence in 2011, flinging herself at a protester who tried to hit him in the face with a foam-pie during the phone-hacking inquiry in 2011.
The Blairs, meanwhile, have shown no signs of strain when seen publicly recently. They were pictured hand in hand at the wedding of their son Euan in September, and were also together at a recent remembrance service.
The couple fell for each other on the top deck of a No 74 bus, according to their biographies. Cherie wrote: “By the time we got off we knew each other better than when we’d got on. And even better the next morning.”
In a 2011 interview, Cherie admitted: “Even after more than 30 years he still excites me, in all possible ways.” A Daily Mirror report.
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