The Games? It was Cherie who won it, says Tony Blair

Evening Standard

Tony Blair may not have been invited to William and Kate's wedding but he is reasonably confident he will be in the Olympic stadium next July when the Games start.

In fact, he's so confident that he did not even bother applying for tickets. "I guess," he says, "there's a chance I may get some. I would like to see some of the athletics, the 100 metres final obviously. And I hope that I will get invited at least to the Opening Ceremony."

We are sitting in what will be the royal box of the Olympic stadium. The former Prime Minister, making his first visit to the stadium, has been shown round by Seb Coe, the chairman of 2012, and Blair has just told me: "This is much more intimate than a normal stadium, very cosy, don't you think? When I compare it with the Beijing Olympic Stadium, here you can feel very close to the athletes."

Then he reflects on the moment it all started.