Tara's 'fling' with Beautiful James

His love songs have won him legions of admirers on both sides of the Atlantic.

And it appears that James Blunt has plenty of experience to draw on.

Yesterday, Tara Palmer-Tomkinson claimed she had an affair with the singer despite his long-term relationship with an heiress.

Commenting yesterday on rumours of a fling, the 34-year-old 'It Girl' said: 'If nothing had happened between James and I then I would have come right out and said nothing had happened.

'And I haven't done that, have I? That's your answer - it's pretty easy to work out what I am saying. It's not rocket science.

'However, I am quite deliberately stopping short of going into detail. I'm keeping my dignity here. I really would like the whole thing just to blow over.'

At the weekend, Miss Palmer-Tomkinson had refused to comment about her relationship with Blunt. That led his girlfriend of 18 months, Camilla Boler, to accuse her of publicity seeking. Miss Palmer-Tomkinson hit back, saying: 'I didn't even know James had a girlfriend when it happened. Now she's come out of the woodwork and says I made all this up for PR.

'Well, first of all, I never talk about my private life. And secondly, I'm not the one who needs publicity out of the two of us.'

Blunt, a former Household Cavalry officer, apparently spent a night with Miss Palmer-Tomkinson after she saw him perform at New York's Webster Hall earlier this month.

The 30-year-old singer - whose hits include You're Beautiful and Goodbye My Lover - has also been linked to Czech supermodel and tsunami survivor Petra Nemcova.

They spent a night flirting at a New York club and were reportedly spotted leaving hand in hand. Blunt is on a nine-month world tour having notched a U.S. number one single - the first Briton to do so in nine years.

Sources say the pressures of touring have caused his relationship with Miss Boler to falter. She is an artist and aspiring singer and daughter of the late tycoon Stephen Boler, who set up Kitchens Direct.