Holidaying Charles irritates Palace by dithering on party to welcome foreign Royals ahead of William and Kate's wedding

By Katie Nicholl


Take a break: Charles and Camilla are staying in Scotland during the run-up to the wedding


Prince Charles is said to have caused ‘intense irritation’ within Buckingham Palace by refusing to commit himself to a dinner welcoming overseas Royals on the eve of William and Kate’s wedding.

The Prince of Wales is under pressure to attend the party at a five-star London hotel, where the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh and senior Royals will greet their foreign counterparts.

But a spokesman for Charles, who has been in Birkhall on holiday with Camilla, said the Prince and the Duchess of Cornwall remained ‘undecided’ on the matter.


Charles had planned to stay at his Scottish residence until the eve of the wedding, but his aides last night insisted he would return to England earlier for a planning meeting.

‘The Prince and Duchess will return more than a day before the wedding for a meeting, but they are undecided at the moment as to whether they will attend the dinner, which is a private affair,’ a spokesman confirmed.

Charles and Camilla traditionally spend the Easter holidays in Scotland and have invited William to join them at Birkhall.

But one source told The Mail on Sunday: ‘There is a sense of disbelief that Charles is actually still in Scotland when everyone else is rushing around trying to organise all the final details.

‘Charles is overseeing the entire evening reception with William and Kate, and it’s not the most convenient thing having him in Scotland.

‘Most of the work is done but there are still final details to sign off. Thankfully he has agreed to come back for a planning meeting.’

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will lead a line-up of around 40 British Royals at the pre- wedding dinner on April 28 at the exclusive Mandarin Oriental hotel in Knightsbridge, overlooking Hyde Park. The party is being organised by the Queen’s cousin, Lady Elizabeth Anson.

Those attending include the Duke of York, Prince Edward, the Countess of Wessex, Princess Anne, Peter and Autumn Phillips, Zara Phillips, her fiance Mike Tindall and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, with their boyfriends Dave Clark and Jack Brooksbank. The Duchess of York will not be there.

Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, Lord and Lady Freddie Windsor and Lady Gabriella Windsor have also confirmed they will be going.

You shall go to the ball: Princesses Beatrice (left) and Eugenie (right) have been invited to the wedding, but their mother, Sarah Ferguson, has not


The guests will include almost 60 heads of state, many of whom are understood to have been invited by the Prince of Wales.

As a result there is ‘intense irritation’, according to one senior aide at Buckingham Palace, that Charles is still undecided as to whether or not to attend.

The source said: ‘At the moment Charles has said he is not coming to the dinner, but he has changed his mind several times.

‘There is quite a bit of pressure on him to be there and hope that he and Camilla will come. There is a great misconception that the Queen has invited all the crowned heads to the Royal Wedding.

‘In fact, Charles has invited quite a few and the list is now very long indeed, which isn’t really what William and Kate wanted. They specifically wanted a wedding for their closest family and friends, and not a state wedding.

'Given Charles has invited so many of his foreign counterparts, it would be wrong and rather rude if he and Camilla were not there to greet their guests.’

Those guests will include royals from nations large and small around the world.

Alongside the King of Tonga, the Queen of Spain, the Aga Khan and the Crown Prince of Bahrain, will be the Sultan of Brunei, who is said to have a personal fortune of around £25billion.

The famously extravagant Sultan owns the Dorchester hotel in London. He also counts among his possessions 17 private jets, including a Boeing 747 with gold-plated furniture, 2,643 high-performance cars, a 180ft yacht and a £50million Renoir.

Another on the guest list is King Mswati III of Swaziland, who has 14 wives, at least 23 children and in 2008 celebrated his 40th birthday with a huge party at a football stadium filled with 10,000 half-naked women.

A controversial figure, the king, who owns a fleet of limousines, including a £270,000 Maybach, has seen violent protests against his rule.

Around 70 per cent of his subjects live below the poverty line.According to tradition, Swazi monarchs can marry their fiancees only after they have fallen pregnant, proving they can bear heirs.

Perhaps to avoid confusion, none of the King’s spouses have been invited to the dinner.

King Constantine of Greece and the Prince of Monaco will also be at the Mandarin Oriental, as will the King of Bhutan.

The tiny and secretive Himalayan kingdom is an eccentric state where rulers have in the past declared that ‘gross national happiness’ is more important than Gross

National Product and made it illegal to sell tobacco products or indulge in climbing, swimming, throwing stones into rivers or cutting down trees without planting a replacement.

Another name on the guest list is Prince Seeiso Bereng Seeiso of Lesotho, younger brother of King Letsie III. Currently his country’s high commissioner to Britain, five years ago he founded a charity,
Sentebale, with Prince Harry.

Many of Charles and Camilla’s family and friends are also invited to the dinner, including Camilla’s ex-husband Andrew Parker Bowles.

After the Royal Wedding, William and Kate’s evening dinner and dance is being hosted by Charles, who has organised Swiss chef Anton Mosimann to cater at the Palace. The Prince of Wales is also overseeing flower arrangements and the music with Kate.

Clarence House said last night: ‘Prince Charles is involved in every detail of planning. It has been tremendous fun so far.’

HARRY HAS REASON TO CELEBRATE

Prince Harry was celebrating this weekend after being made a captain in the Army Air Corps.

The promotion puts the 26-year-old, pictured above, at an equivalent rank to his older brother Prince William, 28, who is a flight lieutenant in the RAF.

It was a double celebration for Harry, who also earned his Apache badge, qualifying him to fly the £46 million attack helicopter without an instructor.

Royals are sacrificing William, claims Amis

Leading novelist Martin Amis has attacked the Royal Family for ‘sacrificing’ William ‘for the needs of the Crown’.

He told French magazine Le Nouvel Observateur: ‘One can’t, in the era of media supremacy, make one’s children go through everything which a wedding like this entails: Not only the loss of one’s private life but also the sacrifice of oneself.

‘The Royal Family is so spied on, so scrutinised by the media that the life of these children becomes quite unbearable.’

Amis, 61, suggested William and Harry could avoid the international circus surrounding them if they stayed single.

‘Harry and William rebelled some eight or nine years ago and effectively let people know they weren’t going to sacrifice their lives any more for the Crown,’ he said.

‘They were probably told it’s the oldest institution in Europe and they had to preserve it. But how can we, today, ask for so much from a human being?’

The son of author Sir Kingsley Amis added that the Queen ‘never listens’ and said Charles ‘laughs like a pig’s snore’.

He said: ‘In reality, I’d prefer not to be English.’

Asked what he thought of the Royals, he said: ‘They are philistines,’ adding, ‘As for the aristocracy, it’s pathetic. All that snobbery is ridiculous today.’

He also said he would reject a knighthood if he were offered one.

‘I don’t want any link with the British Empire. It’s ridiculous.’

Blooming marvellous – if flowers don’t wilt

Prince William and Kate Middleton have appointed leading florist Shane Connolly, who holds a Royal warrant, to oversee floral arrangements for their big day.

The couple have requested white blooms including roses, lilies and lily of the valley for the bridal party, the wedding cake and to dress the state rooms of Buckingham Palace.

The flowers are being stored in the cellars of the palace, where it is hoped the cool temperature will preserve them until April 29. Many have flowered prematurely because of the warm weather.

A source said: ‘William and Kate want seasonal flowers. The problem is we had the summer in spring. Final decisions about arrangements will be made in the week of the wedding.

‘Shane is very well liked at the palace and known for being discreet and very creative. Kate has been very hands-on in choosing the flowers.’

It has been reported that Kate may wear flowers in her hair rather than a tiara, following in the footsteps of Queen Victoria.

A Royal aide confirmed: ‘Shane is in charge of the floral arrangements. He oversaw the flowers for the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall’s wedding.’


source:dailymail