Queen meets Kate’s parents a week before the wedding

Buckingham Palace confirmed that the Queen and Prince Philip had hosted Michael and Carole Middleton "at a private lunch at Windsor Castle ".

Spicezee Bureau

London: Conventional royal wedding etiquette has been restored with the significant announcements that the Queen has now met the Middletons and the prime minister will now be wearing tails to the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Buckingham Palace formally confirmed that the Queen and Prince Philip had hosted Michael and Carole Middleton "at a private lunch at Windsor Castle ". It was the first time that the Queen, who is official host and in whose name the gold-embossed wedding invitations have been sent, met the couple. Earlier her statement; "not yet felt the need" to meet them had raised some eyebrows. The Middletons, who are self-made millionaires through their party planner mail order business, made a short trip from Bucklebury, Berkshire, to the gathering. Sources reported that the couple enjoyed a "warm atmosphere" in the company of the Queen. Meanwhile, Downing Street announced that David Cameron, would now be wearing morning dress and not a business suit. Reports that the prime minister, who eschews formal dress for fear of reviving his privileged Old Etonian image, would wear a plain suit provoked criticism from many quarters.