Going to be quite the case that all human life will be there, but the guest list for the royal wedding at Westminster Abbey, released by St James's Palace, contains an eclectic mix of friends, family, sports stars, personalities and the odd unsavoury dictator or two.
Martin Fidler, the butcher of Bucklebury, and several others from the Middletons' Berkshire village are going. King Mswati III of Swaziland, a ruler noted for his life of luxury and practice of polygamy in a poor, backward country will be in the pews. Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, Crown Prince of Bahrain, where at least 30 people have been killed in recent demonstrations, put out a statement on Sunday saying that with "deep regret" he had to decline the invitation, complaining that media reports about his attendance "clearly sought to involve my potential attendance as a political proxy for wider matters involving Bahrain". The invitation had been criticised by human rights groups.
1,900 guests invited to the abbey service had been largely chosen by Prince William and Kate Middleton. A statement said: "Decisions on invitations were made by the couple jointly. They worked with members of their own household and the Queen's and Prince of Wales's households to draw up the final list." More than 1,000 of those who received the gold-embossed invitation from the Queen in February are counted as family or friends. Of those, 650 will go on to a lunchtime reception hosted by the Queen at Buckingham Palace and 300 family and close friends will stay for dinner in the evening, hosted by Prince Charles.
200 members of the government, parliamentary representatives and representatives of the diplomatic service will also be present. There will be 60 governors-general and prime ministers – including Australia's Julia Gillard, an avowed republican – 30 members of the defence services and 80 representatives from William's favoured charities "including some individuals who are not in senior positions, who the prince has known for some time.
Religious representatives will be present: not just the archbishop of Canterbury and bishop of London, who will be officiating at the service, but also, among others, Malcolm Deboo, president of the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe, Natubhai Shahi, president of the Jain Academy, the Venerable Bogoda Seelawimala, acting head monk of London's Buddhist Vihara and Scotland's Cardinal Keith O'Brien, who preached a pugnacious Easter sermon condemning society.
Middleton's former headmaster at Marlborough College and William's Eton housemaster have received invitations.
Tom Bradby, ITN's political editor, Ben Fogle, David and Victoria Beckham, Guy Ritchie, director of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Joss Stone, who sang at the 10th anniversary memorial concert for Diana, Galen and Hilary Weston and – inevitably – Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, described as a friend of Prince Charles.
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