No royals at D-Day commemorations

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Neither she nor any other member of the Royal family will join the events to mark the 65th anniversary of the Normandy landings because they have not been invited, said a Palace spokeswoman.

Instead Prime Minister Gordon Brown will represent the UK alongside British veterans who took part in the 1944 invasion which helped defeat Hitler's Germany.

The absence of the Queen from the guest list for this year's D-Day commemorations was perceived by some as a deliberate snub by the French authorities.

Officials in Paris responded by insisting she was welcome and blaming the UK Government for deciding who should attend what they said was "primarily a Franco-American ceremony".

French government spokesman Luc Chatel said pointedly: "It is not up to France to determine the British representation."

But Buckingham Palace made it clear the Queen would not be attending the events in Normandy, while stressing that she was not upset about the situation.

A spokeswoman said: "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."

British Normandy veterans expressed sadness at the absence of the Queen, who served in uniform during the Second World War as a driver in the Auxiliary Territorial Service.

John Painter, 84, who landed at Arromanches in 1944 as a 19-year-old, said from Normandy: "As a soldier you do feel you are serving the Queen - the Royals are important figures and are extremely supportive of the military. Their absence will of course be noted."