Royals will not be at D-Day event


The French government has denied snubbing the Queen

Neither the Queen nor any other member of the Royal family will attend D-Day commemorations in France next week, Buckingham Palace has confirmed. Prime Minister Gordon Brown will represent the UK in Normandy on 6 June, 65 years on from the landings that helped defeat Hitler's Germany.
No royals would go because they had not been invited, Buckingham Palace said.
There had been reports France did not invite the Queen, but had denied claims she had been snubbed.
US President Barack Obama will join French president Nicolas Sarkozy for commemorations at the American Cemetery in Normandy.
We have never expressed any sense of anger or frustration at all, and are content with all the arrangements that are planned


Buckingham Palace

Some critical reports had appeared about the absence of the Queen from the event.
French officials responded by insisting she was welcome and said the UK government was responsible for deciding who should attend what they said was "primarily a Franco-American ceremony".
British veterans will hold their main memorial event at the Arromanches landing beaches, where thousands of troops poured ashore on 6 June and during the following days.
A Royal British Legion Service of Remembrance, at Bayeaux Cathedral, will also be held.
Turning point
A Buckingham Palace spokesman confirmed the situation on Thursday.
"Neither the Queen nor any other members of the royal family will be attending the D-Day commemorations on June 6 as we have not received an official invitation to any of these events.
"We would like to reiterate that we have never expressed any sense of anger or frustration at all, and are content with all the arrangements that are planned."
The 1944 Normandy landings saw thousands of Allied troops pour on to the beaches of occupied France and marked a strategic turning point in the war against Nazi Germany.
For the 60th anniversary of the invasion in 2004, the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Prince of Wales all attended commemoration events in France.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8072340.stm