Charles, Camilla needed neat gin before meeting dignitaries: Laura Bush

London, Apr 29 (ANI): Prince Charles would pour himself and the Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla apparently neat gin from a hip flask tucked away in his pocket before greeting dignitaries in Washington writes Laura Bush in her memoirs due to be published next month.

"When Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, came to visit us," she wrote, "they requested glasses of ice before we began a long receiving line. The staff dutifully produced them, and the Prince removed a flask from his pocket and added to each a small splash of what I presume was straight gin, so that they might be fortified before the hour of shaking hands."

One of the most popular First Ladies, Laura also defends her husband former President George Bush and rebukes his detractors for "calling him names". The autobiography ' Straight from the Heart' offers a glimpse of the Bush family's tenure at the White House.

Mrs Bush describes a thank-you note typed by the President to his daughters after Christmas at Camp David in 2002 - the celebration had taken place against the backdrop of planning for the invasion of Iraq.

"He told Jenna and Barbara that he prayed Saddam Hussein would disarm, that he would give up his weapons of death and destruction, and that there would be peace," she writes touchingly.

She takes a sensible and measured view on gay marriage, she writes: "In 2004 the social question that animated the campaign was gay marriage. Before the election season had unfolded, I had talked to George about not making gay marriage a significant issue. We have, I reminded him, a number of close friends who are gay or whose children are gay," reports The Times.

On being named the "most fascinating person of 2002" by ABC's Barbara Walter: "I said to George with a smile, Bushie, what goes up must come down" she writes modestly. (ANI)