London, Dec. 4 (PTI): Their husbands might have held the most powerful post in the country, but the wives of four British Prime Ministers have described their life “above the shop” in Downing Street as “incredibly stressful”.

In a TV programme presented by Cherie Blair, the wife of Prime Minister Tony Blair, Norma, the wife of Sir John Major recalls being treated by officials as a “pestilential nuisance”.

Normal married life was so difficult that Norma says she cannot recall ever having a meal by themselves in Downing Street in the seven years they were there. She describes how she “deeply, deeply” resented the pressure of publicity on their children.

Norma’s account bears out stories of how her husband survived on a diet of fish and chips or sausage and mash.

In addition to Cherie, who is making her debut as a television presenter, the wives include Mary, the widow of Harold Wilson, and Clarissa, the widow of Anthony Eden, a report in the Sunday Times said.

In the programme Cherie, who sums up the role of a Downing Street wife as “incredibly stressful”, describes the time in 1997 when she was jolted into realising how public her life had become, just before she and her husband replaced the Majors at No. 10.

She was snapped by photographers looking bleary-eyed and wearing a nightdress in the doorway of the couple’s home in North London.

“I thought, oh my God, Tony’s going to kill me. I shut the door and that’s when I realised that I was living in a goldfish bowl.”