Blair cancels photo opportunity following christening row

LONDON -- U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair has canceled a traditional media photo opportunity with his family after newspapers published unauthorized snaps of his baby's christening.

Photographs appeared over the weekend of Blair carrying his son Leo to a church for his christening, despite warnings by the prime minister's office that the family wanted the occasion kept private.

Blair has now told the press that a photo opportunity with his family while on vacation will not now go ahead as usual.

While conceding that the pictures that appeared in most of the Sunday newspapers were harmless, a spokesman for Blair said his family wanted to prevent "open season" on their children.

Although Blair, and his wife, Cherie, say they will not lodge an official complaint with the U.K.'s media watchdog, the Press Complaints Commission, they will write to its chairman, Lord Wakeham, asking for clarification of the rules.

The newspaper industry's code of conduct forbids the publication of pictures of children without their parents' consent.

"We don't want to be churlish here, or heavy-handed," Blair's official spokesman told reporters. "But if you give a green light to one event, it could quickly become open season."

The Blairs, who have three other children -- Euan, 16, Nicky, 14, and Kathryn, 12 -- head off for a three-week break next weekend, dividing their time between Italy and France.

In the past, either the whole family has posed for one photo-session on arrival at their holiday home, or the Blairs have posed without the children.

Mr Blair's spokesman told the UK's Press Association: "We are not arranging any holiday pictures. They are hoping they can have a holiday where they are not followed by the media. We cannot stop people taking their photographs, but we would be grateful if people wouldn't buy them."

Reuters contributed to this report.

Prime Minister: Tony Blair: 10 Downing Street
The Foreign Press Association in London

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