BRITAIN:Sir John Major's elder brother Terry Major-Ball has died, the former prime minister's office confirmed yesterday. He was 75.
The man who became an amiable celebrity during his brother's premiership died last week of cancer in a hospice in Somerset.
Mr Major-Ball was a favourite with journalists during the years his brother was at 10 Downing Street.
But he was totally discreet and loyal to his brother. He was one of the very few people who were aware of John Major's affair with former Tory MP Edwina Currie, but never breathed a word about it to anyone.
Mr Major-Ball was also proud beyond measure of his forebears' theatrical and circus background.
Once, in retaliation to accusations of the "greyness" of the Majors, he retorted: "Why do you expect me and my brother to be grey men when both our parents were professional stand-up comedians?" He was no less proud of the garden gnome business for which he became renowned.
He was popular with everyone who met him, largely because of his modesty and disarming innocence.
Sometimes he would turn up at Downing Street unannounced, once saying he had not eaten all day - and that was during a reception being hosted by his sister-in-law Norma Major.
In 1998, a few months after his brother's defeat in the previous year's general election, Mr Major-Ball published a book, Major Major, Memories of an Elder Brother, which was well-received. - (AP)