Spain's jubilee snub to Queen

Madrid: Queen Sofia of Spain has been ordered to turn down an invitation from Queen Elizabeth to a Diamond Jubilee lunch for the world's sovereign monarchs because of an escalating diplomatic row over Gibraltar.

Queen Sofia had earlier accepted the invite to today's celebration at Windsor Castle, but in a last minute snub by Spain's government she has been told not to attend because it would be "inappropriate in the current circumstances".

Last week Spain's foreign ministry issued a formal complaint to Britain's Ambassador in Madrid over the planned visit in June of The Earl and Countess of Wessex to the disputed territory of Gibraltar to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee year.

The Spanish government expressed its "upset and concern" over the visit by the Queen's youngest son and his wife to the territory, a tiny peninsula sitting at Spain's southwestern corner, over which it still claims sovereignty.

At the time however, it seemed unlikely to take the matter further. In fact, when asked if Queen Sofia would still be attending the Windsor Castle event, Jose Garcia-Margallo, Spain's foreign minister confirmed she would be free to do so in a "private capacity".

However, in a sudden U-turn yesterday and with less than 48 hours until the lunch, Spain's royal household disclosed that the government had ordered Queen Sofia to reject the invitation to Windsor Castle, where kings and queens from around the world will convene to celebrate the Queen's 60 years on the throne.

"They didn't discuss the reasons, only that it would be inappropriate for Queen Sofia to accept the invitation in the current circumstances," Juan Carlos Zamora, a spokesman at Zarzuela Palace, said.

"If the government thinks a trip is ill-advised they say so, and that's that," he added. The invitation had also been extended to King Juan Carlos, but he declined after fracturing his hip during a safari to hunt elephants in Botswana last month, a trip that caused outrage in Spain and prompted the monarch to issue a public apology.

— The Telegraph Group Limited, London 2012