LONDON - The 800 people attending the marriage blessing this weekend for Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles are a distinctly mixed bunch, ranging from royals and politicians to a smattering of past-their-best entertainers, according to a list released on Thursday.
Saturday's blessing at Windsor Castle, just west of London, will immediately follow the civil marriage ceremony itself, which will be a far more select affair with only 28 guests.
Charles's mother, Queen Elizabeth II, and her husband Prince Philip will not be at the wedding, but will head the guest list at the blessing service.
As well as the cream of Britain's royals, the monarchs of Bahrain, Greece and Norway will attend along with Prime Minister Tony Blair and other leading politicians.
Among less well-known guests will be members of staff from Charles's various homes around the country, and Joe and Hazel Relph, owners of a farm guesthouse in Keswick, northern England, where Charles has stayed on several occasions.
Two representatives of Bombay's famous "lunch runners", who deliver food around the Indian commercial metropolis, will also attend after their trade organisation sent a wedding gift to the royal couple.
In a somewhat unorthodox move, the designer of Parker Bowles' wedding outfit, Anna Valentine, will be there, as well as milliner Philip Treacy, the creator of her hat.
In a somewhat glitzier vein, a series of pop stars, actors and writers have been invited, many because of their work with charities associated with Charles.
These range from the still-famous -- veteran British pop star Sting and actor Kenneth Branagh -- to the notably more B-list likes of actors Richard E. Grant and Sanjeev Bhaskar.
No explanation was offered for the appearance of elderly US comedienne Joan Rivers, whose already limited fame in Britain hit a peak some years ago and whose routine used to regularly include jabs at the queen.
04/07/2005 17:43 GMT