Elton John, Beckhams on royal wedding guest list

LONDON—Musician Elton John, footballer David Beckham and his pop star wife Victoria, and “Mr. Bean” actor Rowan Atkinson are among the hundreds of guests invited to Prince William and Kate Middleton’s royal wedding on Friday.

The newly released official guest list, however, includes one uncomfortable presence—the Bahraini crown prince who has been accused of a brutal crackdown on protesters.

St. James’s Palace unveiled on Saturday the glittering guest list and seating plan for the royal wedding, with celebrities, sports stars and foreign monarchs set to attend the service at London’s Westminster Abbey.

In a nod to William’s military background and status as second in line to the throne, there will also be a British veteran of the war in Afghanistan and the families of soldiers killed in that country and in Iraq.

Seating plan

According to the St. James’s Palace announcement, William’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, and other senior royals will be seated on the front row, with the Middleton family on the other side of the aisle. Kate’s mother Carole will sit directly opposite the queen.

Relatives of William’s mother, the late Princess Diana, will be seated across the aisle from the royal family, joining the Middletons in an exception to the traditional division of a church into a bride’s side and groom’s side.

There was no explanation for the seating arrangement. The Spencers have not had a good relationship with the royal family, especially after Diana’s brother Charles Spencer attacked the royals during a speech at his sister’s 1997 funeral.

As expected, there will be no place for Sarah Ferguson, William’s aunt and the ex-wife of his uncle Prince Andrew, following a series of tabloid newspaper scandals.

‘Confirmed attendees’

More than 46 foreign royals from countries as diverse as Denmark, Norway, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Brunei, Thailand, Morocco and Swaziland are among the “confirmed attendees,” according to St James’s Palace, William’s official residence.

Among those who will be seated behind the British royals, however, is Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa—a situation that may prove embarrassing in light of his Gulf state’s rough treatment of mainly Shiite prodemocracy protesters.

Some human rights campaigners have petitioned British Foreign Secretary William Hague to revoke the invitation, saying the crown prince should not be allowed to attend the occasion.

At least 30 people have died in Bahrain since mid-February, including four who died while in official custody. Many well-known activists and lawyers also have been imprisoned.

Heads of state

Cambodia’s King Norodom Sihamoni cannot attend the wedding, Phnom Penh’s foreign ministry said, although it denied reports in Britain that he had ignored the invitation.

A St. James’s Palace spokesperson said inviting other crowned heads of state had been a long-held tradition, but the foreign ministry’s advice had been sought on issues.

Since the wedding is not a formal state occasion, world leaders such as US President Barack Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy weren’t sent invitations.

Expected to attend, however, are several heads of government including Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and her New Zealand counterpart John Key, along with top officials from 15 Commonwealth realms where the queen is still the monarch.

Celebrities

Celebrities feature heavily on the guest list, including Guy Ritchie, the film director and ex-husband of Madonna, and Australian Olympic swimmer Ian Thorpe, whom St. James’s Palace said William had met last year.

Elton John—who sang the hit “Candle in the Wind” at Diana’s funeral in the abbey—will be accompanied by his partner David Furnish.

William met former England captain Beckham as part of England’s failed bid to host the 2018 World Cup.

Mario Testino, the official photographer for the engagement, will be there along with singer Joss Stone, who performed at a Diana tribute concert.

Former British Prime Minister John Major, who was appointed a guardian to Princes William and Harry after their mother died, will attend.

Military colleagues

A number of William’s colleagues from his job as a search-and-rescue helicopter pilot for the Royal Air Force will also be attending, along with members of charities the prince supports.

There will also be space for Lance Cpl. Martyn Compton, a British soldier who served with William, and who was so badly burned in an insurgent attack in Afghanistan in 2006 that he lost his ears and nose.

William has also invited members of the families of two colleagues from the military officer training school at Sandhurst—Joanna Dyer, who was killed by a bomb in Iraq in 2007, and Maj. Alexis Roberts, who was killed four years ago in Afghanistan.

Most of the invitees are family or private friends of William and his fiancée, and her guests reportedly include the butcher, the postman and the greengrocer from the rural English village of Bucklebury where she grew up.

2 billion audience

Although about 1,900 guests have been invited to the wedding ceremony at Westminster Abbey, only the bride’s and groom’s nearest and dearest will be able to witness the ceremony close up.

Most guests will be behind the choir screen, a partition in the abbey which restricts the view of the altar to those behind it.

They will have to watch on video screens to see the moment when William and Kate exchange their vows.

The wedding is expected to be watched by a worldwide television audience of around 2 billion people.

Reports from AFP and AP