'Palace's snub for PMs at funeral'

Buckingham Palace was today accused of "humiliating" three prime ministers from Commonwealth countries who came to Britain for the Queen Mother's funeral.

Senior courtiers are said to have delivered a calculated snub to the trio by giving them restricted view seats at Westminster Abbey, not allowing them to meet a single royal and trying to ferry them to Westminster Abbey by bus.

Suspicions were immediately raised that the accusations, in the New Statesman, were part of a carefully timed strike back at the Palace by Downing Street in the wake of the row over claims efforts were made to try to win Tony Blair a bigger role at the Queen Mother's lying-in-state.

The Prime Minister is reported to feel he has been "crucified" over the controversy, which centred on an ill-judged move by No 10 to take three publications, including the Evening Standard, to the Press Complaints Commission.

It is thought that sources inside Mr Blair's inner circle may have leaked the story to the New Statesman because of the magazine's longestablished pro-Labour political stance. The author of the article, John Lloyd, is a respected Left-leaning commentator.

It came a day after Alice Miles, a columnist in The Times with close links to Downing Street, wrote denouncing "the disdain of those born to rule over the elected classes" and condemning Palace officials for ordering the Prime Minister around during the ceremonial.

Taken together the pieces were being seen at Westminster as part of a concerted - though deniable - effort by Labour's high command to hit back at the Palace.

Today's New Statesman claims the "real scandal" lies in the treatment by Buckingham Palace of the three Commonwealth Prime Ministers, John Howard of Australia, Helen Clark of New Zealand and Jean Chr?tien of Canada.

In an article illustrated by a silhouette of the Queen about to stab Mr Blair in the back, the magazine said: "This was a perfectly organised snub visited on elected men and women by the most cunning royal house in the world."

Without sourcing Downing Street, or anybody else, the magazine claimed the trio all came to Britain on long-haul flights, only to be told they would be ferried to the Abbey by bus from a pick-up point in Chelsea. Eventually they were allowed to use cars after "strenuous objections" by their high commissioners. All were said to be outraged.

The wives of foreign heads of state, including Laura Bush and Bernadette Chirac, were given better treatment, the magazine said, adding that the best welcome of all went to foreign royalty.

The New Statesman said: "The point being made was that blood precedes election."

After the service the magazine said the congregation were told to remain standing until the foreign royals' cars left. The responsibility for this decision was said to have been with Black Rod - whose testimony in the lying-in-state row is at such odds with that of No10.