EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Wedding invite snub for Blair & Brown was ‘establishment revenge’, says Campbell

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EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Invitation snub for Tony Blair and Gordon Brown at Prince William and Kate’s wedding was ‘establishment revenge’ on the former Labour PMs, Alastair Campbell claims

By Eden Confidential By Richard Eden For The Daily Mail

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When it was revealed that Tony Blair and Gordon Brown had not been invited to Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding, it caused a political hoo-ha, particularly because Tory prime minister Sir John Major was among those welcomed to Westminster Abbey.

Now, it’s been claimed the then PM, David Cameron, was so concerned by the royal snub that Downing Street intervened with Buckingham Palace.

Writing in the newly published volume of his Diaries, Blair’s right-hand man, Alastair Campbell, describes the snub as ‘some kind of establishment revenge’ on the former Labour PMs.

When it was revealed that Tony Blair and Gordon Brown had not been invited to Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding, it caused a political hoo-ha

‘Lots of different theories,’ he writes in 2011. ‘Charles because of hunting ban, William because TB revealed details of private conversations in his book, Camilla because she doesn’t like us.’

The day before the wedding, Campbell discussed the snub with No 10’s Permanent Secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood. 

‘He said it was very much the royals. Cameron went ballistic..worried if people thought it was his decision they would see it as spiteful and petty. Jeremy had called the Palace and asked what was going on, but, once it was out there, they had decided and that was it.’

The Palace’s official explanation was that Major was invited because he was a member of the Order of the Garter, unlike Blair and Brown.

Writing in the newly published volume of his Diaries, Blair’s right-hand man, Alastair Campbell, describes the snub as ‘some kind of establishment revenge’ on the former Labour PMs. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are seen above at their 2011 wedding

Writing in the newly published volume of his Diaries, Blair’s right-hand man, Alastair Campbell, describes the snub as ‘some kind of establishment revenge’ on the former Labour PMs. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are seen above at their 2011 wedding

What Campbell wrote in his diary 

Sunday 24 April, 2011

Emerged that TB and GB not going to the royal wedding ‘because they’re not members of the Order of the Garter’ whereas Major is. F***** ludicrous. Probably some kind of establishment revenge. But pretty petty and silly.

April 28

We (my mum and I) had our usual argument about the royals. I was feeling more anti than ever as a result of the TB–GB (Tony Blair- Gordon Brown) non-invitation. 

Lots of different theories – Charles because of hunting ban, William because TB revealed details of private conversations in his book, Camilla because she doesn’t like us. Idiotic whatever. It wasn’t getting big play but it was one of those things people would remember.

Into town to meet Jeremy Heywood at the ICA which was a bit crowded so we found a hotel nearby and had a couple of hours chatting over stuff. On the wedding snub he said it was very much the royals. 

Cameron and Osborne both went ballistic, said it was a bad error, worried they would get the blame. They have little time for GB but respect TB – they call him ‘the master’ – and in any event it would reflect badly on everyone. 

Cameron was worried if people thought it was his decision they would see it as spiteful and petty. Jeremy had called the Palace and asked what was going on but once it was out there they had decided and that was it. He said the whole Cameron team were pretty much obsessed by the TB operation. 

They respected TB, Peter and me and learned a lot from what we did. Jeremy had even floated the idea of them asking me in to help on Libya comms. 

He said he had said I was the only person who had ever managed to get the integration needed for this kind of thing. They were interested but in the end still saw me as a tribal Labour person they couldn’t really trust on the inside.