Is Tony Blair Set for Knighthood?

Here is a Question to Which the Answer Was No from the Sunday before last. It doesn’t count, because it is from the Sunday Express, and the series was originally confined to questions in headlines in newspapers, which did not, in my taxonomy, include the Express or the Sunday Express.

However, it is worth recalling in the light of an extraordinary leading article in the Daily Mail today, which castigates the royal family for its discourtesy in failing to invite Tony Blair and Gordon Brown to the wedding tomorrow. These are, indeed, 140 words to be savoured, including the description of the decision as

a shabby, divisive and deeply unwise step for the Monarchy.

The opening sentence, though, is a thing of beauty and a joy for ever:

This paper never held a torch for Tony Blair.

This is quite a departure, not just for Paul Dacre but for the English language. “Never held a torch for” is now to be added to lexicon of insult, worthy of King Lear abusing Kent. One can imagine football hooligans hurling the words at opposing team’s supporters: “We never held a f—ing torch for you!”

Even if I have never held a torch for Mr Dacre, it must be said that on this one occasion only I agree with him. Also on this one occasion only, I cite the Sunday Express as an authority for my argument. It was alleged, by anonymous spokesmen for the royal family, that Mr Blair and Mr Brown were not invited because, unlike Lady Thatcher and Sir John Major, they were not Knights of the Garter. But the basis of the Sunday Express story was that there are currently three vacancies in the Order of the Garter, to which appointments are traditionally made on St George’s Day, 23 April – last Saturday, as it happens.

Had the royal family wanted to invite Mr Blair or Mr Brown, therefore, the Queen could have appointed them to the Order of the Garter last weekend.

Now, Mr Blair might well have said, as he did of the idea of his elevation to the House of Lords, “It is not my scene.” (Interview with the Daily Mirror, 14 December 2005.) But it does mean that I also cannot add Damian Thompson’s headline to my series of Questions to Which the Answer is No:

Has Prince William personally banned Tony Blair from the royal wedding?

Picture of Michael Sheen and Helen Mirren in The Queen.

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