Royal wedding: No place for Tony Blair and Gordon Brown
Royal wedding: No place for Tony Blair and Gordon Brown - Telegraph
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The former Labour prime ministers will not join the 1,900-strong congregation at Westminster Abbey despite it being a “semi-state” occasion that they had been widely expected to attend.
By contrast, both their Conservative predecessors, Sir John Major and Baroness Thatcher, received invitations. Lady Thatcher declined on health grounds although Sir John will be present when Prince William marries Kate Middleton.
A spokesman for St James’s Palace said Mr Blair and Mr Brown had not received invitations because neither were Knights of the Garter, unlike Sir John and Lady Thatcher.
However, Labour MPs said it was “surprising” and “odd” that the pair had apparently been snubbed on what was a “great British occasion”.
All surviving former prime ministers, Harold Macmillan, Alec Douglas-Home, Harold Wilson, Edward Heath and James Callaghan, attended the Prince of Wales’s marriage to Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul’s Cathedral in 1981.
The relationship between Buckingham Palace and Mr Blair and, to a lesser extent, Mr Brown were marked by tension. Mr Blair’s wife, Cherie, refused to curtsy to members of the Royal family, and he was at the centre of a storm over arrangements for the funeral of the late Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother in 2002.
Although Mr Blair and Mr Brown failed to make the cut, the “government and diplomatic” guests include John Cranfield and his wife Vilma, who will represent St Helena. The British territory in the South Atlantic has a population of little more than 4,000.
There will also be representatives from Bermuda, St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Lucia, the Cayman Islands and Montserrat.
At least one guest is known to have republican tendencies — Julia Gillard, the Australian prime minister, has been invited along with her boyfriend, Tim Mathieson, a hairdresser turned estate agent.
And a wide spectrum of other guests have received an invitation, including the postman, pub landlord and butcher from Miss Middleton’s home village of Bucklebury, Berks, and the barman from her parents’ favourite holiday island, Mustique.
The list of prominent guests officially released on Saturday includes more than 200 politicians and diplomats, including David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg.
George Osborne, the Chancellor, William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, and Theresa May, the Home Secretary, have all been invited, as has Jeremy Hunt, the Culture Secretary.
More than 40 members of foreign royal families will be present, as will 60 governors general and overseas prime ministers, and celebrities including Sir Elton John and David and Victoria Beckham.
While Prince William and Miss Middleton have taken a “hands on” role in overseeing the guest list, the invitations sent out to politicians and foreign dignitaries will have been closely monitored by Buckingham Palace.
A St James’s Palace spokesman, said: “Sir John Major is the only former prime minister going. Baroness Thatcher was invited, as were all Knights of the Garter, but is unable to attend. It is not a state occasion so there is no reason why they [Mr Blair and Mr Brown] would be invited.”
Following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997, Sir John Major, was appointed a guardian to Princes William and Harry and the Palace said he was invited for this “very specific reason”.
The spokesman added: “There is no protocol reason to invite them, so unless they [the couple] wanted to invite former prime ministers for a personal reason, there’s no reason to do so.
“It is a private wedding and the couple are entitled to invite whoever they want to it. Prince William is not the Prince of Wales or the King, and he hasn’t got that link to prime ministers in the way that the Queen does.”
The Order of the Garter, Britain’s highest order of chivalry, honours contributions to national life and is conferred by the Queen. Lady Thatcher was made a Lady Companion of the Garter in 1995, five years after leaving office, while Sir John, who left Number 10 in 1997, was made a Knight of the Garter in 2005.
Last week the Queen appointed two new members of the Order of the Garter, whose numbers are restricted to 24 - Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, Britain’s most senior judge, and Admiral Lord Boyce, the former chief of the Defence Staff.
Neither Mr Blair’s office nor Mr Brown’s wished to comment on Saturday night.
However, Michael Dugher, the Labour MP, said: “It appears odd that surviving prime ministers other than Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have rightly been invited to a semi-state occasion, while they haven’t.”
Another Labour MP, Tom Watson, said: “It’s a surprising selection. On big occasions such as this one would expect an all-or-nothing approach.”
Mr Blair had a tense relationship with the Royal family during his 10 years in office. He had several meetings with Diana, Princess of Wales, while still leader of the opposition and advised the Queen and the Prince of Wales on how to deal with the public mood on her death.
The low point came in 2002 when Number 10 was accused of attempting to intervene in arrangements for the late Queen Elizabeth’s funeral to ensure Mr Blair a more prominent role, something he has always denied.
When Mr Brown took over at Number 10 relations became less strained, though more formal. A former aide to Mr Brown said he had always followed protocol “impeccably” in his dealings with the Royal family.
Up to now the biggest controversy surrounding Friday’s wedding was Mr Cameron’s outfit. Downing Street had initially suggested the Prime Minister would wear a lounge suit rather a morning suit.
However, last week, it was announced that Mr Cameron will be wearing tails. It is understood that Mr Clegg and Mr Miliband will do so too.
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Ouch.
Also, they should do away with morning dress. Sure, tradition, respect for the occasion, blah... But these days there's just no one who can pull it off without looking either super uncomfortable or like a total arse.
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