WHEN teacher Cynthia Harper met Prime Minister Tony Blair, she asked him the burning question: "What's your favourite pizza topping?"

Mrs Harper, a senior teacher at Holy Trinity School, in Wethered Road, Marlow, said she felt she just had to ask something different when she met the PM at Whitehall last month.

She was invited to London after completing a millennium scholarship.

She used the scholarship to carry out a study on religious education in Bucks and Oxon schools.

Mrs Harper, 31, originally from Wisconsin in the USA, has been teaching at Holy Trinity for six years.

"I was given a special invitation with 14 to 20 people to meet the Prime Minister, Michael Heseltine and Virginia Bottomley," she said.

"Mr Blair gave a speech and then came down to the group and chatted informally.

"He asked me why I had the scholarship and I elaborated. He said how important religious education was.

"We asked him what his favourite pizza topping was. He said 'four seasons'.

"We asked that question just to be different."

Mrs Harper (pictured right with the PM) presented Mr Blair with a copy of a book about creation called The Old Turtle and the Prime Minister personally thanked her with a letter last week.

She added: "I was really impressed what a genuinely nice man he was.

"I came home so excited, it was overwhelming.

"After getting a beautiful letter from him everyone jokes about 'my friend Tony'."

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