Labour ministers angry after former leaders not invited to nuptials because they are not Knights of the Garter
Palace courtiers have been criticised in private by ministers for "lunacy" for failing to invite Tony Blair and Gordon Brown to the royal wedding. Ministerial sources accused Clarence House of a blunder in declining to invite Labour's longest serving prime minister and his successor because they are not Knights of the Garter. Sir John Major and Baroness Thatcher, who are members of Britain's highest order of chivalry, have been invited. Major, appointed guardian to Princes William and Harry after the death of their mother, will attend. Thatcher will not attend on health grounds.One senior Whitehall source told the Guardian: "This is courtier lunacy. It beggars belief that St James's Palace is saying … that the wedding is not a formal state occasion and … that Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have not been invited because they are not Knights of the Garter." Labour MPs have rejected a claim by St James's Palace that it is wrong to draw a parallel with the royal wedding in 1981 when all five former surviving prime ministers were invited. Harold Macmillan, Alec Douglas-Home, Harold Wilson, Edward Heath and James Callaghan attended the Prince of Wales's marriage to Lady Diana Spencer which was a formal state occasion because he is heir to the throne.
Chris Bryant, Labour's former Europe minister, told the Daily Mail: "Those who have been prime minister have served this country, and I think that the same proprieties that have been followed on previous occasions should have been followed again."
The Whitehall source said courtiers should have exercised some judgment. The source said: "No doubt the courtiers are following some rulebook that nobody understands. But it is absolutely extraordinary that they can have overlooked our two most recent prime ministers."
Labour will be represented at the wedding by Ed Miliband who will attend as leader of the opposition. David Cameron and Nick Clegg will head a list of seven cabinet ministers, including William Hague.
The Foreign Office advised St James's Palace on the guest list for foreign dignitaries and ambassadors. Downing Street was not involved in advising on the domestic guest list. It is understood that Hague shares the reservations about the failure to invite Blair and Brown. The foreign secretary believes it would be in keeping with parliamentary traditions for the former prime ministers to have been invited.
Labour MPs showed their irritation with the palace yesterday when they sat stony-faced as Cameron and Miliband wished Prince William and Kate Middleton well. Cameron said: "People across the country – and, indeed, the world – are getting excited about the events on Friday, and I am sure that the whole house would wish to join me in sending our best wishes to Prince William and Catherine Middleton ahead of their wedding this Friday, and to wish them a long and happy life together."
Miliband joked about the initial confusion over whether Cameron would wear formal wedding dress. "I am sure that I speak for the prime minister, the deputy prime minister and myself when I say that we will all do our best to be suitably attired for the occasion," Miliband said following the clarification from No 10 that the prime minister would wear morning dress.
• Nicholas Watt's blog: Ministers blame 'courtier lunacy' for snub