Courtesy - The Island - by Rex Clementine
A Sri Lankan Buddhist monk is among the special guests invited for Friday’s Royal Wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Buckingham Palace announced yesterday.
Venerable Bogoda Seelawimala Nayaka Thera, the Director of the London Buddhist Vihara Monastry, is among the dignitaries in the special guests list that includes several Royal families of Europe, British Prime Minister David Cameron, football star David Beckham, singer Elton John, comedian Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) and a selected few others.
Ven Bogoda Seelawimala Nayaka Thera hails from Malwatta Chapter of the Siam Nikaye. He’s the first Buddhist monk to be invited for a Royal Wedding.
The full list of special invitees:
Royal Families: Belgium’s Crown Prince Philippe and his wife Princess Mathilde, Denmark’s Queen Margrethe, Norway’s King Harald and Queen Sonja, Serbia’s Crown Prince Alexander and his wife, Crown Princess Katherine, Spain’s Queen Sofia, Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria and her husband, Prince Daniel, The Netherlands’ Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Maxima, Prince Albert II of Monaco and his fiancee Charlene Wittstock, Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa of Bahrain, Prince Philipp zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg and his wife, Princess Saskia.
moreCelebrities: David and Victoria Beckham, Elton John, Comedian and actor Rowan Atkinson, Filmmaker Guy Ritchie, Soul singer Joss Stone,
Politicians and Diplomats: British Prime Minister David Cameron, British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, British Labour Party leader Ed Miliband, British Virgin Islands Prime Minister Ralph T. O’Neal, American Ambassador Louis Susman, Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham and Gov. Gen. Arthur Foulkes, German Ambassador George Boomgaarden, Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor, Jamaican Gov. Gen. Patrick Allen, Polish Ambassador Barbara Tuge-Ereciska,
Religious Figures: Britain’s Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks and Venerable Bogoda Seelawimala, director of the London Buddhist Vihara monastery.
Friends: All 27 members of Prince William’s search-and-rescue unit, C Flight 22, have been invited along with their partners.
