By Anita Singh
Wendi Deng, the former wife of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, allegedly developed a passionate obsession with former British prime minister Tony Blair and wrote a note in which she rhapsodised about his "good body and really really good legs [and] Butt".
Miss Deng is said to have become infatuated with Mr Blair while she was still married to Mr Murdoch.
In the note, Chinese-born Miss Deng is alleged to have written in broken English: "Oh, s***, oh, s***. Whatever why I'm so so missing Tony. Because he is so so charming and his clothes are so good.
"He has such good body and he has really really good legs Butt… And he is slim tall and good skin. Pierce blue eyes which I love. Love his eyes. Also I love his power on the stage … and what else and what else and what else … [all sic]"
Made no comment to Vanity Fair ... Wendi Deng Murdoch exits the US State Supreme court during her divorce to Rupert Murdoch in November last year.Credit: AP Photo
The contents of the note are detailed in Vanity Fair magazine, which described it as "a steamy, lovelorn missive".
Mr Blair has denied all allegations of an affair with Miss Deng. Friends of Miss Deng say the pair were never more than friends.
Mr Murdoch's discovery of his wife's crush on Mr Blair was said to be the "final straw" that prompted him to file for divorce after 14 years of marriage. The News Corp executive chairman felt "betrayed" as he considered Mr Blair to be a close ally.
According to Vanity Fair, a besotted Miss Deng invited Mr Blair to spend a weekend at the Murdoch family ranch in Carmel, California, in October 2012 – omitting to tell him that her husband would not be there.
Denies affair ... Tony Blair, former UK prime minister, is the godfather to the Murdoch's eldest daughter Grace.Credit: Bloomberg
"Mr Blair was reluctant at first. They were all mutual friends; there was no reason Mr Murdoch wouldn't have welcomed Mr Blair into his home," a Murdoch staff member told the magazine.
"But one day Mr Blair arrived and Mrs Murdoch was sort of being very flirtatious. She was charming him.
Tony Blair, third from left, at a G8 leaders' meeting in Sea Island, Georgia, in June 2004.Credit: Reuters
"He asked staff, 'When is Mr Murdoch going to arrive?' And when he was told, 'Tomorrow night', Mr Blair rolled his eyes and gave a panicked look."
Miss Deng, 45, had allegedly told her 82-year-old husband she was spending a "girls' weekend" at the ranch in Carmel.
Happier times .. Wendi Deng and Rupert Murdoch attend the premiere of "Australia" in 2008 in New York City.Credit: Getty Images
He has such good body and he has really really good legs
That weekend, Mr Murdoch's 103-year-old mother, Dame Elisabeth, had been released from hospital and was expected to die within days, so family had gathered at her bedside.
Mr Murdoch began to hear rumours about his wife in 2012 and is said to have interviewed staff members at his various homes to ask them what they had seen.
The magazine reported that he learnt Mr Blair had visited Miss Deng at the Carmel ranch on more than one occasion. He allegedly spent the weekend of April 27 last year with Miss Deng at the property.
Other sources are quoted as placing Mr Blair and Miss Deng at the Carlyle hotel in New York, on a private yacht and at Mr Murdoch's home in London.
Mr Blair declined to comment on the article but has said in the past that allegations of an affair are categorically untrue. He was for many years a family friend of the Murdochs and is godfather to their elder daughter, Grace.
Friends say he was aware Miss Deng had become "emotionally dependent" on him but felt unable to turn his back on her as she was going through a difficult time in her personal life.
Mr Murdoch and Miss Deng reached an "amicable" divorce settlement in November last year.
She shot to international attention three years ago when she defended her husband against an attacker brandishing a foam pie during a hearing at the House of Commons.
A joint statement from Miss Deng and Mr Murdoch to Vanity Fair reads: "Given the complicated dynamics of our family, we made the decision early on in this process not to engage in public allegations or respond to negative claims."
Telegraph, London