A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace announced today that following Tony Blair`s resignation as Prime Minister, he has graciously agreed to take up residency in Kensington Palace.
     The spokesperson went on to say that Her Majesty had been thinking for some time that someone should fill the gap left by the tragic death of Princess Diana. When she heard that Mr Blair was stepping down as our leader, she immediately thought of Cherie Blair. Her Majesty is well aware that the British people desperately need a figurehead who they can love and say silly and soppy things about. 
     It is understood from Palace sources that Cherie was over the moon when given the news and immediately went out on a shopping spree for thirty or forty new dresses and booked several dancing lesson sessions. Mr Blair, it is believed, is more than pleased that his wife will be taking over from him as the most loved person in the British Isles.
      Prince Charles meanwhile was said to be furious. `Mummy should have asked Camilla,`he said petulantly this afternoon.  It is thought however that he calmed down when his mother promised him the throne in ten or twenty years time, as a consolation.
      Finally, it is rumoured that Mr Brown has suggested that as one of Cherie`s first Public engagements she should go on an oversees trip to see first hand the mine fields of Afghanistan....