After winning a landslide victory in 1997, Tony Blair served as prime minister until 2006. In the final season of The Crown, which tackles the years 1997 to 2005, Tony Blair is played by Bertie Carvel and his wife Cherie Blair is played by Lydia Leonard.
They both briefly appeared in season five of the hit Netflix show, but play more significant roles in the final season. In part one, for example, Princess Diana brings Prince William and Prince Harry to Chequers to play with the Blair's children – Euan, Kathryn, Leo and Nicky. This is so the late princess could ask Tony Blair to leverage support from the Queen and allow her to maintain a prominent role in public life after her divorce.
After seeing the newly elected Tony Blair deal with aftermath of Princess Diana's death in part one, the final few episodes cover several other major events in Tony Blair's premiership, including the war in Kosovo in 1999, the Iraq war in 2003 and his attempts to reform the royal family (something Cherie was in favour of).
Lydia Leonard, who plays the prime minister's wife, has also starred in shows such as Ten Percent and Bring Up The Bodies. While Bertie Carvel has previously starred in Doctor Foster, The Sister and Dalgliesh.
Tony and Cherie Blair met in 1976 while Cherie was studying to be a barrister. They have been married since 1980 and have four children together – the youngest of which, Leo, was the first child to be born to the wife of a serving prime minister in 150 years.
Controversially, Cherie Blair is said to have refused to curtsey for the Queen because of her political views, instead opting for a hand shake. And the Queen is rumoured to have said, 'I can almost feel Mrs Blair's knees stiffening when I come into the room.' This tension is depicted in season six, part two, when Cherie and Tony Blair discuss their views on the royal family and how it can be reformed – with Cherie taking a more republican stance.
The friction between the Labour leader and the monarchy is also explored when a census revealed that the public felt the monarchy was increasingly out of touch. The Crown suggests that Queen Elizabeth II struggled to accept this fact and viewed Tony Blair as a threat to her status as sovereign (which is bizarrely shown when the Queen has a nightmare where Tony Blair is crowned King).
Who was Cherie Blair's father?
As people make their way through the latest series of The Crown over Christmas, it seems they also have other questions around Cherie Blair. 'Who was Cherie Blair's father' is a breakout search term.
Cherie Blair's father was the actor and political campaigner, Anthony Booth. He married Gale Smith, a graduate from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, in 1952 and had daughters Lynsey and Cherie with her, before leaving her to move in with producer Julie Allen, with whom he had two more girls.
He is well known for playing Malcolm Wilkinson in Coronation Street from 1960-1961 and had a host of other film and TV roles during the decade. His television career had a revival later in life, with roles in Holby City, The Bill and Mersey Beat.
He was also an active member of the Labour party, after joining when he was 15 - and he even criticised Blair's government when he came into power in 1997.
Anthony was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2004 and had also suffered heart problems. He passed away in September 2017.