Lifestyle adviser Carole Caplin is demanding damages of up to £250,000 for alleged libel over a story in the Daily Mail.
Caplin claims a story headed: “Will Carole Caplin lift the lid on Blairs’ marriage?” and “Carole’s £1m question: Will she tell all about Blairs’ tax secrets?” published last September was defamatory.
The front page story, which continued on page 13, was accompanied by three photographs of her, and Caplin is also suing over a website version of the same story.
She says in her writ that the story claimed that there were strong grounds to suspect she would disclose details of Cherie Blair’s sex life with Tony Blair for money, and she would blow the lid off their marriage and finish them.
Caplin says she has been seriously defamed, hurt and embarrassed by the story. She is also seeking aggravated damages from publisher Associated Newspapers, citing the nature, gravity and prominence of the allegations, and the hurt and embarrassment she has suffered.
According to the writ, no proper effort was made to put the claims to her before publication. It alleges that although the paper contacted her representative, there were no questions about financial difficulties, a book, the Blairs, or sex secrets, and the conversation was solely about her gym.
Caplin claims her agent’s responses were misrepresented, and there was no basis on which to allege she intended to sell a book about the Blairs’ sex lives.
The writ says that the Daily Mail has refused to apologise or retract the claims, and that the website story remains online.
Caplin is also seeking an injunction banning repetition of the allegations at the heart of her claim.
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