People - Here, There and Everywhere
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Cherie cashes in on the Blair years
Cherie Blair's deal with Little, Brown to publish her memoirs raises two questions: first, why is she writing under her family name, and second, what is she going to write about Gordon Brown?
Estimates of her fee run as high as £1.5m but insiders say it is actually a lot less. Whatever the sum, it was enough to get Cherie gushing: "So much has 
happened - things that my grandma could never have dreamt of - that it feels wrong somehow just to let it pass as if the journey had no meaning."
Cherie Blair: The Autobiography, to be published next October, will include details of her childhood in working-class Liverpool and her career as a human rights QC, as well as life at 10 Downing Street. "I feel so privileged to have traveled so far," she says.
But Cherie has always practised as a barrister - and co-wrote her last book The Goldfish Bowl - under the name Cherie Booth. Why the change? Publisher Ursula Mackenzie would only say: "If you've got two names, which one do you use? I think whichever she chose there would be questions."
More important, how diplomatic will Cherie be about her and her husband's relationship with Gordon Brown; she made little attempt to hide her contempt for him during the Number 10 years.
Meanwhile husband Tony and his US lawyer Robert Barnett are under pressure to strike a deal for his memoirs ahead of the all-important Frankfurt Book Fair on October 10.
Birleys bury the hatchet at funeral
THE FAMILY OF the late nightclub magnate Mark Birley (below) yesterday laid aside their differences to present a united front for his funeral. Among the 500 mourners, gathered at St Paul's Church in Knightsbridge, was his ex-wife Annabel, after whom 
he named his nightclub, with her daughter from her second marriage to Sir James Goldsmith, Jemima Khan, as well as Baroness Thatcher, and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent.
His daughter India Jane, and his son Robin were also in attendance, despite Birley latterly becoming estranged from Robin, and changing his will in favour of India Jane. Says a friend: "It is widely believed that Mark and Robin were on the verge of a reconciliation when he died, so it is said that some people think India Jane should make things right, and give Robin a bit more of the £120m fortune their father left in his will. After all, there is enough money to go round."
September 21: Annie Lennox (above), Corinne Bailey Rae, Beth Orton, Marc Almond and James Morrison perform at Peace One Day, a concert at the Royal Albert Hall, London.
September 21-23: Jeremy Paxman, Boris Johnson, Irvine Welsh and Mike Atherton are expected to appear at the Henley Literary Festival, Oxfordshire.
September 22: Seamus Heaney and Andrew Motion discuss Heaney's production of The Burial at Thebes, Barbican, London.
Fiddy stays away as Kanye beats him again at Mobos
IN LAST NIGHT'S London musical showdown, the Mobo Awards trumped the Vodafone Live Music Awards. Kanye West cemented his trouncing of fellow rapper 50 Cent, and Amy Winehouse was the night's overall winner, landing two 'top female artist' gongs - one at each event.
Yesterday evening was always (continued below ad)
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(continued from above ad) going to be hectic, with the two ceremonies going head to head. Organisers of both were unsure as to which stars would grace them with their presence: all they knew for sure was that Fiddy Cent had pulled out - as The First Post reported - in the light of West's album selling better than his. Just as well he did, since he would not have enjoyed witnessing the Music of Black Origin Award for best hip-hop artist going to West, the crowning glory for his record.
Amy Winehouse confirmed she would attend the Mobos - where she won Best Female Artist - only 48 hours before the event started. Although she won Best Live Female at the Vodafone event at Earls Court, she failed to attend.
Instead, the 24-year-old singer stayed at the Mobos' O2 arena where, after a set in which she sang Tears Dry on their Own and even remembered most of the words, she retired backstage. There her contract had stipulated chicken drumsticks, Haribo sweets, Smirnoff or Zubrowka Vodka, two bottles of Veuve Clicquot (chilled) and two bottles of Jack Daniels. These last were written in red and marked essential.
There was also a moment of victory for jazz. Last year, saxophonist Soweto Kinch performed an impromptu protest outside the Mobos after being told that jazz no longer deserved a place at Britain's biggest black music awards ceremony. Organisers admitted they were mistaken, reinstated the award, and gave it to Kinch. He said: "What is music of black origin without jazz? It was a shocking omission and a wise judgment to bring it back."
The sayings of Jose Mourinho
RUSSIAN OWNER Roman Abramovich may not miss his coach's boasts - nor his excuses - following his departure this morning from Chelsea FC, apparently with £20m in compensation, but football fans surely will. Here are some of Jose Mourinho's classics:
"Please don't call me arrogant, but I'm European champion and I think I'm a special one." - on his own talents, October 2005
"I am more scared of bird flu than football. What is 
football compared with life? I have to buy some masks and stuff - maybe for my team as well." - on Chelsea's lead over Manchester United slipping to seven points, April 2006
"Look, we're not entertaining? I don't care, we win." - on Chelsea's performances, September 2006
"Young players are a little bit like melons. Only when you open and taste the melon are you 100 per cent sure that the melon is good. Sometimes you have beautiful melons but they don't taste very good and some other melons are a bit ugly and when you open them, the taste is fantastic." - on young players, June 2007
"Omelette, eggs. No eggs, no omelettes. It depends on the quality of the eggs. In the supermarket you have eggs, class one, class two, class three. Some are more expensive than others, and some give you better omelettes. When the class one eggs are in Waitrose and you cannot go there, you have a problem." - on his Chelsea squad, September 17, 2007
Borrell still razor sharp after Kirsten
RAZORLIGHT SINGER Johnny Borrell is hardly nursing a broken heart after his break-up from Spider-Man actress Kirsten Dunst.
First, lanky Borrell had a merry time trotting round the V&A gala evening on Tuesday night, chatting up the waitresses. Then, he was an attentive presence at the side of fun-loving Harrods heiress Camilla Fayed (above) at the party thrown by China Tang at the Dorchester Hotel yesterday.
The 27-year-old rock star made no secret of his enthusiasm for the 22-year-old daughter of Mohamed Fayed. "He and Camilla had eyes only for each other, and left together arm in arm in the small hours," an onlooker tells me.
Scientist Richard Dawkins has won the $750,000 (£375,000) Holberg International Memorial Prize... A US court has granted $125,000 bail to OJ Simpson who faces charges of armed robbery... Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck has come top of the Good Food Guide's 40 best restaurants, knocking Gordon Ramsay's flagship eaterie to number two... TV presenter Gail Porter, who suffers from hair loss illness alopecia, has just had her dog Missy diagnosed with the same complaint...
Cartier last night threw a party to launch Inde Mysterieuse, its new luxury collection, "inspired by the mystery of India". Guests at the bash, held in Lancaster House, included actress and model Monica Bellucci, Tom Aitken, Baroness Thatcher, Princess Michael of Kent, Sir David Frost, Christian Louboutin, Alex Wurfel (above) and Trinny Woodall.
After a five-year sabbatical from London Fashion Week - he has been showing in New York - Matthew Williamson's show opened to thunderous applause after an 
audience member began singing. It turned out to be Prince, who leapt onto the catwalk for a dazzling performance, and whose twin dancers led the models out, cart wheeling along the runway. The clothes were just as fabulous with bright embroidered dresses, sexy short shorts and funky Aztec prints on jackets, bright vests and backless dresses. "You don't have to be beautiful to turn me on," sang Prince at the end. Maybe not, but it helps.
Betty Jackson showed a collection of bright, uplifting, woman-friendly couture. Relaxed prints and flowing fabrics were sculpted into classy, knee-length dresses and shorts for a modern Riviera look. Smart and sassy black and cream cotton combos were paired with vertiginous platform wedges - so expect to be at least three inches taller next season.
New talent Richard Nicoll has showed before with Fashion East and New Generation but this year he's flying solo. With celeb fans including Sophia Coppola, Tracy Emin, Bjork and Kylie, he had nothing to worry about and sent a collection of young, fresh and urban designs down the runway.
Giles Deacon sent out one of prettiest collections of fashion week last night. Models with dishevelled ringlets had an air of deshabille, sporting fluttering silk dresses in lilacs and greys, with thin spaghetti straps and bags decorated with loops of silken thread.
But there were edgier numbers too. "I wanted to do something super-romantic, but it had to have a twist somewhere," said Deacon of his satin prom dresses printed with Bambi, blood dripping from the deer's throat.
The British model of the moment Agyness Deyn even dyed her peroxide bob flame-red for the show. She was accompanied on the catwalk by Carmen Kass and Jessica Stam.
Pics from the catwalk shows, Saturday to Monday, from Catwalkqueen.tv 
