Cherie caught with her pants "on" in Balmoral

LONDON, NOV 8: Cherie Blair raised royal eyebrows by wearing pants to Balmoral Castle, a move that the Lord Chancellor in her husband's Gov...

LONDON, NOV 8: Cherie Blair raised royal eyebrows by wearing pants to Balmoral Castle, a move that the Lord Chancellor in her husband’s Government might well envy.

According to the Spectator magazine, the wife of British Prime Minister Tony Blair offended royal sensibilities by wearing trousers on a short visit in September to Balmoral, the royal family’s Scottish retreat.

The Queen Mother is still mortified that Cherie not only turned up at Balmoral in trousers, but also “neglected curtsy to the Queen,” Robert Hardman, the Daily Telegraph’s royal correspondent, said in a report for the Spectator.

Not so, said Buckingham Palace.

“I am afraid this story is a bit of media-generated nonsense,” said Palace spokeswoman Penny Russell-Smith.

“There is no sort of etiquette or rules of protocol on how to dress or how to behave with members of the royal family except to be yourself, and hopefully to be polite,” she said.

Lord Chancellor Derry Irvine, meanwhile, said in an interview with the Times that he would like to give up the black tights, short pants and elaborate wig that he has to wear in the House of Lords every day.

In an interview published yesterday, Irvine said he would be happier wearing a simple black robe over his trousers, like justices in other European countries.

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He complained especially about “the ludicrous silk tights which I have to wear every day, despite having got the business of pulling them on down to a fine art”.