[6] In 2002, Caplin hit the newspaper headlines in the scandal referred to as "Cheriegate"[12] because of her involvement with Peter Foster, an Australian with criminal convictions,[13][14][15] who assisted the Prime Minister's wife, Cherie Blair, in the purchase of two flats in Bristol.
[16] She then made a public apology, tearfully reading a prepared statement blaming her "misfortune" on the pressures of running a family and being a mother.
[18] It was announced on 1 November 2011 that Caplin has accepted "substantial" damages from the newspaper for the false claims the Mail had made.
[19] On 1 November 2011 Caplin announced that the Metropolitan Police had told her that her mobile phone had probably been hacked on the instructions of the News of the World.
"[20] Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair's former communications director, told the Leveson inquiry that it was "at least possible" that press stories about Cherie Blair had been obtained by hacking Caplin's phone, and he had apologised to Caplin that he had earlier accused her of tipping off newspapers.