Taxpayer will cough up for extra royal wedding guests

Guests at Britain's Prince William's wedding to Kate Middleton who are not invited to the reception afterwards at Buckingham Palace will attend a separate party paid for by taxpayers.

Although William's grandparents the Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh are paying for the lunchtime wedding breakfast for 600 at Buckingham Palace, with both the bride and groom's parents footing the bill for the evening dinner-dance, it is reported that other expenses, such as a bash for those not invited to the palace, will be paid for by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

It is also reported that the £20 million bill for security at the event will be paid for by the state according to the Daily Mail.

Although no formal decision has yet been made, it is said the extra guests will be escorted to the grounds of the Royal Hospital in Chelsea for a party hosted by Foreign Secretary William Hague.

Such an event is estimated to cost around £100,000 to provide shelter, entertainment and refreshments for the hundreds of High Commissioners, diplomats and other foreign dignitaries who are attending the ceremony at Westminster Abbey on April 29 - but are not invited to celebrate with the royal family afterwards.

The separate bash will be a change in royal tradition as usually the leftover guests would have to accommodate themselves after a wedding.

A source told the Daily Mail newspaper: "After Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer were married in 1981, the foreign dignitaries and other guests had to fend for themselves.

"There was a mass exodus to popular hotels - like the Goring, near Buckingham Palace, and the Stafford, at Green Park - by those who hadn't been invited to the palace. This time, it's thought they should be looked after."

They added: "It is seen as a consolation for a lot of the powerful heads of state and influential dignitaries who simply can't fit into the palace."

A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said although no final decision had been made she understood that royal staff had been put on stand-by to oversee the event.