Major 'faces legal action' over affair

Mrs Currie admitted the affair in her diaries

The disclosure of John Major's four-year love affair with Edwina Currie may trigger a legal challenge from a magazine he successfully took action against for alleging he had been unfaithful to his wife.

Lawyers for the now defunct satirical magazine Scallywag say they are considering what action they could take to recover costs incurred in 1993 when Mr Major, then prime minister, issued a writ for libel.

The publishing company and the estate of the editor are considering whether to commence legal proceedings to recover losses and expenses

Solicitor David Price

And Clare Latimer, the 10 Downing Street caterer falsely named as his lover, has joined the fray.

She claims Mr Major used her as a "decoy" to prevent what would have been the more politically damaging exposure of the affair he had with Mrs Currie from 1984 to 1988.

Mr Major issued the writ against Scallywag - and subsequently New Statesman and Society magazines - arguing the accusations of adultery amounted to a serious attack on his reputation.

The magazine pledged not to repeat the allegations but its financial position never recovered and it subsequently folded.

The editor, Simon Regan, died two years ago.

'Serious attack'

Speaking after details emerged on Saturday of the four-year liaison between Mr Major and Mrs Currie, the magazine's then solicitor David Price said there was a possibility the publishers and the estate of the editor would take action to recover losses they incurred at the time.

He said: "John Major's claim against my clients, their printers and distributors was on the basis that it was a serious attack on his reputation to accuse him of adultery.

"It's apparent from what has become public in the last day that this was a false premise.

I knew I was innocent and so therefore I assumed that he had had an affair with somebody.

Clare Latimer

"The publishing company and the estate of the editor are considering whether to commence legal proceedings to recover losses and expenses caused by John Major's original defamation claim."

Ms Latimer told ITV that she was not surprised to learn that Mr Major had actually had an affair with somebody else.

She said she believed that he had allowed the rumours about his affair with her to circulate unchecked - even though they were having a devastating effect on her own life - to cover his real affair with Mrs Currie.

When the rumours first began, Mr Major was chancellor and the disclosure of his relationship with the flamboyant Mrs Currie could have destroyed his chances of succeeding Margaret Thatcher as prime minister.

"I think I have been used as a decoy and extremely unfairly," she said.

'Ashamed'

Ms Latimer said that she believed she had been singled out because she was sometimes alone with him at No 11 after receptions when she had done the catering.

"It was a very odd story because I knew I hadn't had an affair with him, there is no smoke without fire. I knew I was innocent and so therefore I assumed that he had had an affair with somebody."

Mr Major confirmed the affair after Mrs Currie disclosed details to The Times, ahead of the newspaper's serialisation of her diaries.

He said his wife Norma was aware of the affair and had forgiven him, but it was the "one event in my life of which I am most ashamed."

Publishers expect sales of Mrs Currie's diaries, priced at £18.99, to top 100,000 by Christmas.