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| FEATURES | BY MICHAEL MANN |
 Clare Latimer: ‘I was a useful smokescreen’  John Major: ‘Never spoke to me again’ |
Clare makes the accusation when giving her side of the story for the first time in a three-page feature in the latest issue of Good Housekeeping magazine, revealing that on one occasion she burst into tears at a No 10 reception. She tells how she was closer to Major’s duped wife Norma during the media frenzy about the so-called affair 11 years ago, once holding Norma’s hand to give her support as Major faced the press when he became Prime Minister. “In the autumn of 2002, the whole story blew up again when Edwina Currie revealed she’d had an affair with John Major,” says Clare, who lives in Primrose Hill. “I felt terribly relieved – the truth will always out in the end, and in my case it took 10 years for it to do so. “On reflection, I believe I was used as a decoy. It was convenient for John Major that the press turned their attention towards me, instead of discovering the real identity of his mistress. “I was a useful smokescreen. I’m cross about that, but at least it explains a lot about what happened and I understand it better now. The whole experience has changed my life for ever. “I used to be quite flirtatious but now I’m far more cautious unless I’m with my closest friends. “And I’m certainly more cynical – I’ve been exposed to the depths human nature can sink to, and I no longer take what people tell me at face value. “If I could turn the clock back, I’d certainly rather it had never happened. I still feel quite bitter that I was accused of something I was never guilty of, but in some ways the experience has made me a stronger and more confident person. “Having lived through that, I believe I can tackle anything life throws at me.” Clare recalls that the whispers started when Major was Chancellor of the Exchequer. “At the time, I was very friendly with both him and his wife, Norma,” she says. “I’m quite a cheeky, open person; he’s very flirtatious and we got on well. “But I was always closer to Norma. The day John Major became Prime Minister, I was in the kitchen at No 11 Downing Street, holding her hand as he faced the press outside.” She talks of the media frenzy that followed, and reveals: “Over this period, my home was burgled three times and the police couldn’t explain it. The burglaries didn’t add up, as money and valuables had been left lying around. Now I’m convinced the house must have been raided by journalists. “The whole thing was ghastly. I felt very threatened and frightened, but I had to deal with it completely alone. “Eventually, the pressure got too much and one day, when I was catering for a party at No 10, I caught sight of John Major across the room and burst into tears in front of hundreds of people. “It was so humiliating and, while I don’t think anyone in the Prime Minister’s immediate parliamentary circle believed the rumours, it must surely have made others wonder.” When 400 journalists besieged her catering company in Regent’s Park Road, Primrose Hill, she hid downstairs and called the Downing Street press office for advice. “Their response was: ‘We have our own problems. Don’t trouble us again’ ” says Clare. “It was pretty tough, to put it mildly.” And of the final betrayal, she adds: “John Major himself cut me dead, and never spoke to me again from the day the story broke, which was upsetting because I’d been close to the Majors.” |
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