How Prince William And Kate’s ‘Deliberate Snub’ During Their Wedding Angered Parliament Members

It’s not easy being a royal, more so when their every act is under constant public glare and scrutiny. Not too long ago, Prince William and Kate Middleton found themselves in the eye of the storm and were accused to have committed a “deliberate snub” by the Labour Party.

Throwing in a bit of context, a degree of unrest sprang during a time when the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge got hitched in 2011 at the Westminister Abbey on Apr. 29. The wedding was broadcast and was watched by a whopping 36 million people from across the globe.

The guest list for the wedding also saw a host of prominent names, including David and Victoria Beckham, Elton John, the late Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, David Cameron and others. Strangely, two names were missing from the list: Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Both their conservative predecessors, Sir John Major and Baroness Thatcher, had received invitations.

The reason has been attributed to a rather interesting observation. A spokesman for St James’s Palace revealed that Blair and Brown were not included in the guest list because neither were Knights of the Garter, unlike Sir John and Lady Thatcher.

The Labour party’s MP wasn’t willing to buy this and termed the move as a “blunder.” “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,” Chris Bryant, Labour's former Europe minister said in an interview.

Labour MPs clearly showed their dismay at the Palace, which was evident in their body language, as Cameron and Ed Miliband extended greetings to Prince William and Kate Middleton well a few days before the wedding.

Going by a popular report by John Rentoul, Independent’s chief political commentator, the move to not extend an invitation to Blair and Brown has been perceived as a royal snub. “The Windsors cannot forgive Blair for helping to save them from the nation’s dangerously angry mood after the death of Princess Diana,” Rentoul said.