Cherie Blair was recovering last night after suffering a miscarriage on the eve of a family summer break in France.

The Prime Minister's 47-year-old wife was taken to hospital on Monday night after falling ill at Downing Street.

Tony Blair was with her as she underwent an operation at London's Chelsea and Westminster Hospital before being discharged yesterday morning.

Mr Blair remained with her at his official country residence Chequers as she rested after their four children travelled to Toulouse. Mrs Blair's mother, Gale, who has accompanied the Blairs on previous family holidays, is thought to be with Euan, 18, Nicky, 16, Kathryn, 14, and two-year-old Leo.

The Prime Minister and his wife wanted to thank hospital staff for "their support and care", Downing Street said.

"Mrs Blair came through the operation well and is now resting," a spokeswoman said.

"The Prime Minister and Mrs Blair will join the rest of their family later for what they hope will be a quiet holiday."

The Blairs are reportedly heading to Le Vernet, in the Haute-Garonne region, where they are expected to rent Le Chateau du Moulin.

Downing Street appealed for the couple's privacy to be respected, saying they still hoped to "enjoy as normal a family holiday as possible".

Mrs Blair is understood to have known she was pregnant.

Her most recent public appearance came at the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games, which took place in torrential rain in Manchester on Sunday night.

Dressed in a plastic poncho, she clapped and sang along to the music with 38,000 spectators at the stadium.

The couple had spent the weekend on a break in Cumbria aimed at boosting British tourism before heading abroad.

The Prime Minister's wife looked happy and relaxed as she posed for photographers in the picturesque village of St Bees on Friday.

In 1999, the couple stunned the country when they announced that Mrs Blair was pregnant with their fourth child more than a decade after the birth of Kathryn.

She gave birth in May 2000 at the age of 45 and impressed observers with the speed at which she resumed her career as a high-powered lawyer.

Since then she has juggled the demands of caring for Downing Street's first baby in living memory with the professional pressures of an in-demand QC.

Ironically, when Mrs Blair and her husband opened the new University Hospital of North Durham, last month, she was pictured cradling a newborn baby.

Mr Blair stepped in, saying: "She is getting broody again, I think you have had her long enough. I'm getting a bit worried."

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott said he was "very sorry" to hear of the news and repeated Number 10's appeal for the Blairs' privacy to be respected.

Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith and his wife Betsy have sent flowers to Downing Street with a note wishing Mrs Blair a full recovery