Royal wedding guest list trimmed as Bahraini crown prince pulls out
Royal Wedding Guest List Has One Less Royal
The royal wedding guest list of Prince William and Kate Middleton got a bit shorter with the announcement by Bahrain Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa that he is not attending the prestigious event.
Bahrain's crown prince sent a letter to Prince Charles and the Buckingham Palace Sunday that it would be best not to attend the royal wedding so as not to become a distraction amid some criticism of his invitation in light of the violent crackdown of government forces in Bahrain against protesters.
Since the start of the unrest in the Persian Gulf country in February, some 30 people have died there and opposition figures have been jailed by the ruling Al Khalifa family.
In the UK, some have called earlier for the revocation of the invitation to the royal wedding by the crown prince by Foreign Secretary William Hague. But the prince's withdrawal makes the point moot.
However, Prince Salman voiced out his disappointment over the issue of his invitation to the royal wedding, expected to be attended by other heads of state and other dignitaries.
"While these (media reports) have certainly highlighted a number of significant issues currently facing the Kingdom of Bahrain, they have fundamentally misrepresented my own views, outlook and position on recent events and thus," the crown prince said in statement, "clearly sought to involve my potential attendance as a political proxy for wider matters involving Bahrain."
Foreign royals from Saudi Arabia, Spain, Denmark, Thailand, Norway and Swaziland are among the 1,900 people on the royal wedding guest list.
A much-anticipated globally-televised event, Prince William and Kate Middleton's royal wedding will be held at the historic Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011.
Posted by
Kade Quinn
on Monday April 25 2011, 7:17 AM EST.
Ref: AP.
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