Basil the Mustique barman's Royal Wedding invitation: How Middletons are inviting 'new friends' from their Caribbean holiday island*MISS FB LYIMO SAY: SO LOVELY . JE WEWE UMEALIKWA ? MIE NIMEALIKWA KUPIKA MACHALARI TU.Mbuta Nanga!

When it emerged that Prince William and Kate Middleton wanted to have a ‘People’s Royal Wedding’, there was talk of Westminster Abbey being filled with children, volunteers and the homeless.
As a result, a host of VIPs who might have expected to get an invite — such as America’s First Lady Michelle Obama and the Duchess of York — are missing from the guest list.
Princess Beatrice’s long-term boyfriend has also been snubbed. But, extraordinarily, room has still been found for several ‘new friends’ of the Middleton family from the ultra-exclusive Caribbean island of Mustique.

Flamboyant: Basil Charles, whose beachside bar is a favourite of guests on Mustique

Kate’s parents Carole and Michael, who are frequent visitors to the island, have rewarded the people who have made their stays so enjoyable with invites to the social event of the year on April 29.
The Mail can reveal they include the island’s tennis coach Richard Schaffer, yoga teacher Gregory Allen and equestrian centre manager Liz Saint, as well as the managing director of the privately-owned island, Roger Pritchard, and head of villa rentals, Jeanette Cadet.
Even Basil Charles, the flamboyant owner of Mustique’s legendary Basil’s Bar, has received an invitation.

The choice of invitees has raised eyebrows in London, where police and security officials are vetting the guest list.
A royal insider said: ‘I am sure the Mustique guests are honoured to be invited and in due course may want to show their appreciation to the Middletons.’
Mustique, a popular haunt of the late Princess Margaret and stars including Sir Mick Jagger and Sir Elton John, is more than 4,000 miles from London.

Royal approval: Mustique became the favoured holiday destination of Princess Margaret, pictured here on the island with her friends Lord and Lady Tennant

It is composed of seven valleys, each with a deserted white sand  beach, fringed by palm and coconut trees, and  surrounded by a series of coral reefs.
There is no ‘out of season’, as the private island is far enough south to avoid hurricanes, and has temperatures of 75F to 80F all year round.
It is one of the most expensive holiday destination islands in the world, with four-bedroom villas costing up to £20,000 a week to rent.
The millionaire Middletons, who run a mail-order business, make at least two trips a year.
The island was first made famous when Princess Margaret was given a plot for a villa there as a wedding present by the then owner, Lord Glenconner.
It was there she conducted her affair with landscape gardener Roddy Llewellyn, and her party set made headlines around the world.
In later life she gave her villa, Les Jolies Eaux, to her son, Lord Linley, and was disappointed when he sold it.

Party animal: Rolling Stone frontman Mick Jagger, pictured here with ex-wife Jerry Hall and their children, owns property on the island

But it seems the island has now won royal approval yet again through Margaret’s great-nephew, Prince William. He and Kate Middleton have visited the island almost a dozen times together. The couple say they relish the privacy of the island and are said to be considering it as a honeymoon destination.
Like many visitors, they have partied at Basil’s Bar, whose owner is called  the ‘The King of Mustique’.
Over the past 30 years, his champagne-fuelled, all-night parties have become the stuff of legend, with celebrities such as Hugh Grant, Kate Moss and the Beckhams, as well as Princess Margaret and Mick Jagger, knocking back a cocktail at Mr Charles’s beachside bar.
Carole and Michael Middleton have become loyal patrons, to such an extent that they feel Mr Charles is worthy of an invite to their daughter’s wedding. Over the years the Middletons have stayed in several villas on Mustique, and it is thought the owners of some of the properties may also be at Westminster Abbey.
Their liking for the exclusive haven has clearly rubbed off on their future son-in-law.
In 2006, it was reported that Prince William received a luxury Mustique holiday as a gift from a clothing tycoon who took pity on the future heir to the throne after being told he was a ‘poor student’ who could not afford to visit the Caribbean island.
John Robinson, who with his wife Belle is the multi-millionaire owner of the High Street fashion chain Jigsaw, charges £8,000-a-week rent for the mansion he owns there.
But he is understood to have loaned the hillside house to William and Kate after being told the Prince wanted to holiday on the island — but was worried the cost was beyond his reach.
William is understood to have made a donation to charity in lieu of the cost — a tactic used by Tony Blair when he ‘borrowed’ the villa owned by Sir Cliff Richard in Barbados.
The Middletons — also family friends of the Robinsons (indeed, Kate worked briefly as an accessories buyer for their chain) — have also stayed at their villa.
In 2008, it was reported that William and Kate rocked into the early hours during another visit to Mustique . . .  serenaded by Jagger, who has a property there.
The Rolling Stones frontman belted out a string of the band’s classics — including Brown Sugar — for the couple, who were enjoying a romantic holiday.
Yesterday, it emerged that Prince William has also invited RAF helicopter colleagues to his wedding.
It was reported that he has sent invitations to the entire Search and Rescue Team  from his base in Anglesey, North Wales.

Additional Reporting: Rebecca English

... but a snub for college pals and an old flame

Former lover: Carly Massy-Birch has not received an invitation to the Royal Wedding

Each day, they wait to hear the thud of post hitting the hall doormat. It signals a frantic search for the long-expected official envelope. 
With time, hope dwindles. Now, it has all but disappeared. Dreams of fancy hats and glamorous outfits are being abandoned.
They shared so much — in some cases, a bed; in others, rugby heroics. They all have fond memories of cosy nights in the pubs of St Andrews.
Nevertheless, it has emerged that startlingly few of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s close-knit and loyal gang of university friends have been invited to the Royal Wedding.
And the Mail can reveal that many of those who fiercely guarded the couple’s privacy during that time feel they have been snubbed.
To complicate matters further, another of their number, Alexis Crow, is getting married in America the day after William and Kate, leaving mutual friends agonising over whether they will be invited to the royal bash and, if so, which wedding they should attend. Some will try to do both.
A conflict, indeed, for those privileged enough to be invited to both. But what of those who have been left off Kate and William’s guest list altogether? Suffice to say, they are not happy.
One confided: ‘We all protected them with an unspoken pact of silence during university.
'William knows that we kept quiet on drunken antics, early romances and all the usual shenanigans university kids get up to. We could have sold their secrets, but we didn’t. I’d have thought the least we could expect would be an invitation to their wedding. We are disappointed. It’s bad manners.’
Others say they are resigned to being excluded from the guest list.
Mary Massy-Birch, mother of Carly, a pretty brunette who dated Prince William during their first term at St Andrews, said: 'Carly said to me: “Of course I won’t be invited, Mummy. Would you invite Daddy’s ex-lovers to your wedding?”
'She didn’t expect to be invited, although I’m sure she is a little disappointed. She’s in France, keeping clear of the whole thing. I have heard that not many of the St Andrews friends have been invited. It’s rather sad really, because they were all so close.’

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Another friend, who played rugby with William, says: ‘There are some good guys who were close friends at uni, who haven’t been invited.’
Some 1,900 invitations have been sent out, with a large proportion going to VIPs, rather than personal friends.
The Queen has personally invited 40 crowned heads from around the world. Among them are the King of Jordan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, the Sultan of Oman, the King of Malaysia, the King of Tonga and the King of Thailand.
More than 200 members of the Government, Parliament and diplomatic corps have been invited.
Also invited are 60 Governors-General and Commonwealth prime ministers. Then there are 80 guests drawn from the charities and organisations of which William is a patron.
He and Kate have been allowed to invite only 100 guests each to the lavish dinner and dance hosted by Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace after their wedding.
The lucky few include close friend Fergus Boyd. He attended Eton with William and was subsequently in the same mixed hall of residence,  St  Salvator’s, or ‘Sally’s’, in the first year of university in 2001.
Kate was also at Sally’s — where she was soon crowned ‘prettiest girl’.
Prince William famously invited her to breakfast with him and Boyd when she arrived late at the dining hall after an early morning run.
Soon, they were all close friends. In 2002, it was to Boyd that Will reportedly said: ‘Wow! Kate’s hot! when she appeared scantily clad at a university fashion show.
At that point, William was dating Miss Massy-Birch, an English language student — although the pair kept their romance secret.
‘The first my husband and I knew of it was when we were investigated by Special Branch,’ says Miss Massy-Birch’s mother.
‘They checked us out to make sure we weren’t Muslims or anything.
‘They were lovers, we knew that. They were at the age to play. They had a lovely, private, perfect time. They went to the most lovely places. But I can’t say any more. Carly lives in fear that I am going to spill the beans!’
The romance faded, and William and Kate began dating. They moved into a flat during their second year, with Boyd and Olivia Bleasdale — who has been invited to the wedding.
Indeed, Olivia was one of a select group of close girlfriends Kate invited to her discreet hen night, several days ago. It was held at a private house, and organised by her sister, Pippa.
A royal source says: ‘There simply isn’t room for very many friends once all the heads of state and so on have been invited. This is a formal state occasion.’
One friend, who does not want to be named, said: ‘I last saw William in Mahiki nightclub in Mayfair. We had a chat, he’s a mate. We’re all a bit disappointed not to be on the list, but then again, this is no ordinary wedding.’
The fact that Miss Crow, a good friend of Wills and Kate from St Andrews, is getting married in Texas the next day has presented guests invited to both with a social minefield.
Miss Crow, a researcher at think-tank Chatham House, has invited all her pals from St Andrews to her wedding, but has had to accept it when the handful who have been invited to the royal nuptials turned her invitation down.
Alexis will marry banker James Du Boulay at 7.30pm on April 30 in Texas, where her family live.
Speaking from her home in Chelsea, the groom’s mother, Lady Lowson, was a little more expansive. She said: ‘Alexis has accepted that quite a few of her friends wouldn’t travel to Texas when they could go to a historic wedding here. Obviously they have quite a few mutual friends.
'Having said that, at least two people are going to both. They will go to the Royal Wedding and then fly through the night to get to Texas
‘I don’t think Alexis is upset, we’re all rather amused at the clash more than anything, although I’m sure it has caused difficulties for the mutual friends.’
She added: ‘The parents are charming. I forgot to ask them what they do.’
In fact, Alexis’s parents, Robert and Hollis Crow are extremely wealthy Texans. They made a fortune in the oil industry — so rich are they that their ranch houses elephants and zebra to amuse guests.
For her part, Mary Massy-Birch has not yet given up all hope that her daughter might yet receive an invitation to at least one of the St Andrews weddings.
She says: ‘There is a rather large pile of post waiting for Carly, and I must admit I have spent some time holding them all up to the light.’