Tony Blair’s appointment to the Order of the Garter will spark speculation over whether similar honours are in the offing for his successors as prime minister Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Theresa May.
Unconfirmed reports last year suggested that the delay in honouring Blair was acting as a “gong-blocker” for later PMs.
Knight companionship of the Order is awarded personally by the Queen, and sources were reported to have said that she was reluctant to invite Mr Blair to join because of anger at his handling of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997.
At the time, the new prime minister urged the sovereign to return to London from Balmoral and make a public statement about the death of Diana, who he dubbed the “People’s Princess”.
All but two of the Queen’s nine PMs before Blair were made Knights of the Garter, an honour created by Edward III in 1348. Harold Macmillan declined the offer, while Sir Alec Douglas-Home was already a knight of the Order of the Thistle before entering No 10 in 1963.
Recommended Queen makes Tony Blair a knight and member of the Order of the Garter Baroness Amos becomes first black person appointed by Queen to prestigious order Queen makes Camilla member of prestigious order of chivalry
But only one has had to wait as long as Mr Blair for the honour - Edward Heath, who was appointed to the Order in 1992, 18 years after leaving office in 1974.
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UK news in pictures 24 December 2021 People stand inside Kings Cross Station on Christmas Eve in London
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UK news in pictures 22 December 2021 The sun rises behind the stones as people gather for the winter solstice at Stonehenge.
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UK news in pictures 21 December 2021 People take part in a winter solstice swim at Portobello Beach in Edinburgh to mark the solstice and to witness the dawn after the longest night of the year
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UK news in pictures 20 December 2021 An auction employee displays poultry to buyers and sellers attending the Christmas Poultry Sale at York Auction Centre in Murton
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UK news in pictures 19 December 2021 Joao Moutinho of Wolverhampton Wanderers looks on during the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Chelsea at Molineux
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UK news in pictures 18 December 2021 Freight lorries queuing at the port of Dover in Kent
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UK news in pictures 17 December 2021 Newly elected Liberal Democrat MP Helen Morgan, bursts 'Boris' bubble' held by colleague Tim Farron, as she celebrates following her victory in the North Shropshire by-election
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UK news in pictures 16 December 2021 Brussels sprouts are harvested by workers as they prepare for the busy Christmas period near Boston in Lincolnshire
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UK news in pictures 15 December 2021 Lewis Hamilton is made a Knight Bachelor by the Prince of Wales at Windsor Castle
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UK news in pictures 14 December 2021 The Royal Liver Buildings surrounded by early morning fog in Liverpool
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UK news in pictures 13 December 2021 People queue outside a walk-in Covid-19 vaccination centre at St Thomas's Hospital in Westminster
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UK news in pictures 11 December 2021 People arrive at a Covid-19 vaccination centre at Elland Road in Leeds,
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UK news in pictures 4 December 2021 People walk through a Christmas market in Trafalgar Square
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UK news in pictures 30 November 2021 Workers put the finishing touches to the Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree ahead of the lighting ceremony later in the week
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UK news in pictures 29 November 2021 Home Secretary Priti Patel is greeted by a police dog at a special memorial service for Met Police Sergeant Matiu Ratana
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UK news in pictures 28 November 2021 Riyad Mahrez of Manchester City battles for possession with Aaron Cresswell of West Ham United during a match at the Etihad during snow
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UK news in pictures 3 December 2021 A pedestrian carries a dog as they dodge shoppers on Oxford Street in central London
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UK news in pictures 24 November 2021 Migrants are helped ashore from a RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) lifeboat at a beach in Dungeness, on the south-east coast of England, on November 24, 2021, after being rescued while crossing the English Channel.
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UK news in pictures 23 November 2021 The coffin of Sir David Amess is carried past politicians, including former Prime Ministers Sir John Major, David Cameron and Theresa May, Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Home Secretary Priti Patel and Prime Minister Boris Johnson during the requiem mass for the MP at Westminster Cathedral, central London
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UK news in pictures 22 November 2021 The scene in Dragon Rise, Norton Fitzwarren, Somerset where police have launched a murder probe after two people were found dead
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UK news in pictures 21 November 2021 London-based midwife Sarah Muggleton, 27, takes part in a 'March with Midwives' in central London to highlight the crisis in maternity services
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UK news in pictures 20 November 2021 Police officers monitor as climate change activists sit down and block traffic during a protest action in solidarity with activists from the Insulate Britain group who received prison terms for blocking roads, on Lambeth Bridge in central London
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UK news in pictures 19 November 2021 A giant installation of Prime Minister Boris Johnson made from recycled clothing goes on display at Manchester Central, as part of Manchester Art Fair, in a 'wake-up call for the Prime Minister to tackle textile waste'
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UK news in pictures 18 November 2021 The scene at a recycling centre in Stert, near Devizes in Wiltshire after a large blaze was brought under control. The fire broke out on Wednesday night the fire service has said and local residents were advised to keep windows and doors shut due to large amounts of smoke
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UK news in pictures 17 November 2021 The sun rises over South Shields Lighthouse, on the North East coast of England
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UK news in pictures 16 November 2021 ancer Maithili Vijayakumar at the launch of 2021 Diwali celebrations at St Andrew Square in Edinburgh
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UK news in pictures 15 November 2021 Forensic officers work outside Liverpool Women's Hospital, following a car blast, in Liverpool
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UK news in pictures 14 November 2021 Wreaths by the Cenotaph after the Remembrance Sunday service in Whitehall, London
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Winston Churchill and Harold Wilson took knighthoods immediately after departing Downing Street, while Clement Attlee and Margaret Thatcher had to wait around five years and Major and James Callaghan eight. Anthony Eden was already a Companion of the Order before becoming PM in 1955.
The Sunday Times last year reported that the delay in honouring Blair was preventing similar titles for his successors.
Courtiers were said to be keen to address a political imbalance because among the 102 members of the four most coveted honours — the Order of the Garter, the Order of the Thistle, the Order of Merit and the Order of Companions of Honour — Tory politicians outnumber their Labour counterparts by more than five to one.
It was reported that rebalancing the system could also benefit Labour grandees including John Prescott, Margaret Beckett and Harriet Harman.
However, Heath’s long wait indicates that there is no formal bar to prime ministers being appointed to the Order ahead of their predecessors, as both of his Labour successors Wilson and Callaghan became Garter knights before him.
Recommended Tony Blair made Knight of the Garter in honour bestowed personally by the Queen Tony Blair and Chris Whitty knighted as new year honours announced Tony Blair blocked ‘OTT’ race equality strategy following Stephen Lawrence murder
Royal sources last year dismissed suggestions that the Queen was blocking a similar honour for Blair as “absurd”, saying that reports suggested “a pettiness that simply does not exist”.