Cherie Blair told BBC television that the future prime minister popped the question in 1979 as she was tidying a villa in Tuscany.

"I'd cleaned the toilet and he suddenly announced when I was on my knees that maybe we should get married," the human rights lawyer told the programme "The Real Cherie Blair," which is to be broadcast Wednesday.

"So you agreed to marry him while you were cleaning the toilet?" the interviewer asked.

"Yes, lovely. It was terribly romantic!" she said.

The programme also reveals that Blair calls his wife "the bolshie Scouser," a reference to her Liverpool, north-west England roots and often outspoken views.

The Blairs later went on to have four children, including son Leo in 2000 who was the first child to be born to a serving prime minister in more than 150 years.

Blair, 54, left office after 10 years on Wednesday, handing over power to Gordon Brown.

 

近日一部新电视纪录片曝出英国前任首相布莱尔向夫人切丽的求婚史，据说当时在意大利度假的切丽正在打扫卫生间。

切丽·布莱尔在接受BBC电视台的采访时说，1979年的一天，布莱尔向她求了婚，当时她正在意大利托斯卡纳的别墅打扫卫生。

这位人权律师在节目中说：“当时我正跪着洗厕所，他突然说，我们是不是该结婚了。” 这期名为《切丽·布莱尔二三事》的节目将于本周三播出。

主持人问她：“所以，你在洗厕所的时候就答应嫁给他了？”

她回答说：“是的，很有情调！当时可真是浪漫极了！”

另据节目曝光，布莱尔称呼切丽为“利物浦的布尔什维克”，因为原籍为英格兰西北部利物浦的切丽常常直言不讳。

布莱尔夫妇生了四个孩子，而在2000年出生的儿子里奥是英国150多年来首相在任期间生的第一个孩子。

54岁的布莱尔担任首相十年，他已于上周三卸任，由戈登·布朗接任首相一职。