Spanish royals snub the Queen's Jubilee bash claiming their attendance is inappropriate in row over Gibraltar
The Queen was dealt an extraordinary and calculated snub last night that threatens to tarnish her Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Just two days before Her Majesty was due to welcome the crowned heads of Europe’s royal houses to an elaborate Windsor Castle lunch, Spain’s Queen Sofia dramatically pulled out of the event. A spokesman for the Spanish royals snootily declared that Sofia’s presence would be ‘inappropriate in the current circumstances.’ The 11th-hour cancellation, engineered by the Spanish government, came just a week after it made a formal protest to Britain over Prince Edward’s visit to Gibraltar. The Prince and the Countess of Wessex are due to make a three-day visit to the fiercely British rock on June 13 as part of a Commonwealth-wide effort to mark the Jubilee with royal events.