[Liz]

UK TELEGRAPH----1,900 guests invited to Royal wedding celebrations (Obamas not invited)

Royal wedding invitees include 60 leaders of the Queen's realms in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, and over 200 members of Government and Parliament. But not Pres Barack Obama and his wife........the majority of guests are from the couple's circle of family and friends.....members of the defence services, reps from Prince William's charities. Celebrities like the Beckhams and 30 members of the armed forces are invited.

The invitation - a white card gilded with gold in a pale brown envelope. The Queen's initials are die-stamped in gold on the card below a crown. It reads: "The Lord Chamberlain is commanded by the Queen to invite [name] to the marriage of his Royal Highness Prince William of Wales KG with Miss Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey on Friday 29 April 2011 at 11.00am." The dress requirements are given as "uniform, morning coat or lounge suit". About 600 relatives, friends and dignitaries are invited to the lunchtime reception hosted by the Queen at Buckingham Palace and just 300 will stay on at the palace for a more intimate evening dinner, which will be followed by dancing.

Lounge suit---meaning not formal (no tails and top hat).

[Liz]

Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong Jones.

Elizabeth and Phillip

[Ramius]

I dunno... I understand why the “colonies” originally decided to dispense with the heraldry of the crown. We forcibly decided to do without nobility. And... to be sure... for some pretty good reasons.

But I wonder if we aren’t fighting some basic human nature at the same time. I have a theory that it’s just basic human nature to want Kings. Even when we don’t truly have them, we tend to create them. Look at Hollywood and popular media... we may not have true royalty, but we raise up people to take their place.

[lonestar]

My invitation must be lost in the mail! Never fails!!!