The office of HRH Prince Charles released a statement on the 19th February 2011 announcing the dispatch of invitations for the wedding of HRH Prince William and Ms. Catherine Middleton, which will take place on Friday, 29 April 2011. Without giving the specifics of the names on the list, the statement revealed that there will be three sets of invitations, namely,

• 1,900 invitations were sent for the wedding ceremony which will be held at the Westminster Abbey at 11am, April 29.

• 600 invitations were sent for the lavish lunch reception which will be hosted by Her Majesty The Queen at Buckingham Palace.

• 300 invites were delivered for the social gala event of the year, the wedding ball, which is scheduled on the night of the same day. It will be hosted by HRH Prince Charles himself at Buckingham Palace.
  
  

All of the invitations were issued under the name of Her Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II, on beveled and gilded cards, die-stamped in gold.

The statement provided a categorical breakdown of the invited guests:

• Members of The Royal Family and their friends (Approximately 50)

• Family and friends of Prince William and Miss Middleton (over 1,000)

• Members of Foreign Royal Families (over 40)

• Representatives from the Defence Services (30)

• Representatives from Prince William’s patronages (approximately 80)

• Representatives from the Church and other faiths (Unspecified)

• Members of the Government, Parliament, Diplomatic Corps and Devolved Administrations (over 200)

• Governors-General and Prime Ministers from the Realms (60)

Royal commentators speculate that the full list of invitees will only be published once confirmation of attendance has been received by the office of HRH Prince Charles. However, several notable personalities, as well as head of states, have issued direct confirmation of their attendance for the event.

All eyes are however fixed on the third and most exclusive portion of the day, the evening reception. The guest roll of 300 is reportedly divided equally among HRH Prince Charles, HRH Prince William and Ms. Catherine Middleton, guaranteeing plenty of A-list names excluded from the social event of the year, the most sought after invitation among the elites of the society. A snub of this proportion can be likened to a social slap in the face. There is also the question whether any of HRH Prince William previous seven girlfriends, or Ms. Middleton’s previous two, will be included in the list.

One notable absentee to the event will be American President, Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle. Palace sources have been quick to explain that HRH Prince William is neither the King nor the heir to the throne, hence, invitation to head of states of a foreign country is in breach of protocol. However, there has been speculation that the Palace has taken offence at the egregious breach of protocol committed by Mrs. Obama during her visit to Britain in 2009, where she was seen placing her hand on the back of Her Majesty The Queen. In addition, there has been a notable decline in the warm relationship between the two countries in the past two years, which some has attributed to President Obama’s failure to recognize the importance of America’s closest ally. President’s Obama decision to return a bust of former British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, which has been on display in the oval office for decades, has certainly not helped the matter, especially considering the fact that Her Majesty the Queen was a close friend of Mr. Churchill before ascending the throne.

Confirmed Attendees for the Royal Wedding (as at 22 February 2011)

• HRH Crown Prince Alexander and HRH Crown Princess Katharine of the former Kingdom of Yugoslavia

• HM King Constantine II and HM Queen Anne-Marie of Greece

• HRH Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece

• HM King Michael of Romania

• Footballer David Beckham and wife, Victoria

• British Prime Minister David Cameron

• TV presenter Ben Fogle and wife Marina

• Recording artist, Elton John

• Former roommates of HRH Prince William and Ms. Middleton at St. Andrews University, businessman Guy Pelly and journalist Tom Bradby

• Jecca Craig, ex-girlfriend of HRH Prince William

• Olivia Hunt, ex-girlfriend of HRH Prince William

• Rupert Finch, ex-boyfriend of Ms. Middleton

• Earl Charles Spencer, uncle of HRH Prince William, elder brother of his late mother

• Lady Jane Fellowes, aunt of HRH Prince William, sister of his late mother

• Lady Sarah McCorquodale, aunt of HRH Prince William, sister of his late mother