I won't resign over book - Cherie

Mrs Blair expressed "sadness" after top barrister Gerald Butler QC branded her revelations "inappropriate" but added defiantly: "I enjoy the law and intend to continue to practise."

She also rejected criticism for writing about the death of Dr David Kelly, saying it would have been "impossible" not to feature the Government scientist in her book.

The wife of former Prime Minister Tony Blair is said to have received a £1 million advance for her autobiography, which goes into great detail about life behind the famous Number 10 door. It paints unflattering portraits of some top political figures including Gordon Brown, who is described as "rattling the keys" over Mr Blair in his rush to take charge of Downing Street.

But Mrs Blair, a high-flying QC, insisted she merely wanted to tell her story.

"One of my motivations in writing the book is, for the last 13 years really, since Tony became leader of the Labour Party, many people have written about me, have spoken about me but I have not spoken for myself," she told BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour.

"For me it was a time to look back on the last 50 years."

In her memoirs, Mrs Blair speaks of her husband's "shock" on learning of Dr Kelly's death and how the couple invited his widow to Chequers so they could say "how personally sorry they were about what happened".

But on Wednesday, Derek Vawdrey, brother of Dr Kelly's widow Janice, told the Daily Mail Downing Street was responsible for his death and that Mrs Blair should be "ashamed of herself" for using his suicide to bolster her husband's image.

Mrs Blair told Woman's Hour: "I'm sorry he feels like that but it's very much a part of the story. We met the Kelly family later and I really don't want to say any more about it than I said in the book."