Levy welcomes Blair, wedding guest of honour

The former Prime Minister was at the £10million home of Labour's chief fundraiser for the wedding of the peer's son Daniel.

Mr Blair smiled broadly as he arrived with his wife Cherie, who appeared to be carrying their wedding gift wrapped in striped paper.

His relations with Lord Levy may have cooled in the course of the 16-month honours inquiry, but yesterday Mr Blair found himself on a select guest list of the "very closest of friends and family".

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The Blairs arrived with Work and Pensions Secretary Peter Hain and his wife Elizabeth - the only Cabinet minister to be invited to the wedding of 39-year-old Daniel and Valentina Kozina, an interior design student from Belarus.

They were joined by a clutch of highprofile Labour supporters, including Star Trek actor Patrick Stewart and music mogul Pete Waterman.

Many of the 200 guests at the lavish ceremony were ferried in golf buggies from a car park at a neighbouring hall.

But the Blairs were able to avoid the convoy - their chauffeur was one of only a few allowed to park on Lord Levy's drive, leaving them with just a short stroll to the marquees.

After the lunchtime wedding Daniel, who works for a Washington thinktank, his bride and their guests were entertained by a string quartet and a jazz band late into the night.

But the Blairs did not stay late because they had to get up early today. The couple and their children were due to fly to the Caribbean for another lazy summer at Sir Cliff Richard's villa on Barbados, where the temperature is currently 88f (31c).

It is only seven months since they were in Miami, enjoying the generous hospitality of Bee Gee Robin Gibb at his seafront mansion for a New Year break.

Now he is out of Downing Street, Mr Blair is not obliged to reveal whether his latest break is a freebie or being paid for.

In the past, the Blairs have said they pay a donation to charity in lieu of Sir Cliff's generous hospitality. It is the family's fifth summer running at the singer's £3million villa.

A Blair spokesman said: "I'm not going to comment on his private holiday arrangements."

The break will be a chance for the Blair family to reunite under one roof. With building work still going on at their new home in London's Connaught Square, only Mrs Blair has been living there.

Mr Blair, 54, has been in spending time in the Middle East for his new role as a peacemaker.

Their children Euan, 23, Nicky, 21, Kathryn, 19, and Leo, seven, have been staying elsewhere.