Kate's curtsey and the Queen's handshake for brutal King of Bahrain at Jubilee lunch

The Queen greeted the King of Bahrain with a smile and handshake

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge bowed and curtseyed to the controversial King of Bahrain at a lunch to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.



Human rights campaigners were horrified that William, Kate and other members of the Royal Family deferred to Hamad Al-Khalifa, whose regime has been accused of violently repressing pro-democracy activists.



The Queen, who had been advised by the Foreign Office over the guest list for the luncheon, made a point of personally greeting the king as he arrived at Windsor Castle, although as a fellow head of state she did not have to curtsey to him.



The pair even shared a private joke together.



The Countess of Wessex – who was heavily criticised recently for accepting two lavish suites of jewels from the king and his family on a trip to the Middle East – also greeted him warmly, while Prince Andrew’s daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, were seen chatting animatedly to the king’s wife, Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa.

The lunch for Sovereign Monarchs at Windsor Castle was almost certainly the largest gathering of crowned heads of state since the Coronation in 1953. All senior members of the Royal Family were present.

The seating plan detailed 24 kings and queens, one emperor, a grand duke and a sultan, along with eight princesses, an emir and an empress.

The more controversial names on the guest list sparked demonstrations outside Buckingham Palace, where Prince Charles last night hosted a black-tie dinner for some of the lunch guests.

The Queen, who has spent the last 60 years managing largely to sidestep such political controversy, found herself accused of making a catastrophic error of judgment by entertaining the Bahraini ruler and his wife.

The Queen, who had been advised by the Foreign Office over the guest list for the luncheon, made a point of personally greeting the King of Bahrain as he arrived at Windsor Castle

Other guests singled out for criticism included Swaziland’s King Mswati III, who has been accused of living an obscenely lavish lifestyle while many of his people starve.



Similarly Prince Mohammed Bin Nawaf Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, who is also his country’s ambassador to the UK, comes from a part of the world not renowned for its democratic practices.

Another guest, the former Prime Minister of Kuwait, Sheik Nasser Mohammad Al-Sabah, is also mired in controversy after being forced to step down over a corruption row.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge bowed and curtseyed to the controversial King of Bahrain at a lunch to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge talks to Prince Harry before a reception in the Waterloo Chamber

Former Foreign Office Minister Denis McShane told the Daily Mail yesterday that he did not blame the Queen personally but accused the Foreign Office of putting her in an impossible position.



‘I don’t underestimate for a second our strategic relationship with Bahrain but as there are very few ways for us to signal our disapproval at what has happening in his country, it would have been far better for William Hague to quietly disinvite this man,’ he said.

‘In doing so he would sent out the strongest message possible to the authorities there that their behaviour is not acceptable.



The menu for the Queen's Jubilee lunch

‘Many in Britain will regret that the Foreign Secretary, who approves all invitations sent in the Queen’s name as head of state, has decided to include a representative of the Bahraini regime which has done such terrible things to its own people since the Arab awakening a year ago.’



Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell declared: ‘Queen Elizabeth II is hosting seven royal tyrants today: Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Brunei, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Swaziland.



‘Inviting these blood-soaked dictators brings shame to the monarchy and tarnishes the Diamond Jubilee celebrations. It is a cruel betrayal of pro-democracy campaigners and political prisoners who are suffering under these totalitarian royal regimes.’

First to arrive for pre-lunch drinks in the Waterloo Chamber was Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein, soon followed by Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg.



The grand duke and duchess were warmly greeted by the Queen and Prince Philip with handshakes and double kisses – a display of affection that set the tone for many of the welcomes.

King Harald V of Norway kissed the Queen’s hand and she responded with a beaming smile. Prince Albert II of Monaco was more formal with just a handshake while his wife, Princess Charlene, gave a low curtsey.



The most extravagant gesture came from Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, who flung her arms wide as she approached the Queen before kissing her warmly.

Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell declared: 'Queen Elizabeth II is hosting seven royal tyrants today: Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Brunei, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Swaziland'

Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie were seen chatting animatedly to the King of Bahrain's wife, Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa

Kate, in £1,200 Emilia Wickstead dress, with Prince William and brother-in-law Prince Harry

Prince William chats to Princess Charlene of Monaco, before a reception in the Waterloo Chamber. Kate watches on

Style icons: Kate with ex-swimmer Princess Charlene of Monaco









So who was at biggest gathering of world royals since the Coronation?

By CATHERINE OSTLER

King Carl Gustaf of Sweden and Queen Silvia (left) greet the Queen; The Sultan of Brunei (right) attended with his wife and cousin



The elk hunter with a secret double life

Bespectacled, dour King Carl Gustaf of Sweden looks like an accountant and for years was known for little more than hunting elks and handing out Nobel Prizes. But don’t be fooled. In 2010, the whole idea of dull Scandinavian monarchy was shaken by a biography which alleged he had led a double life – going to sex parties and strip clubs run by the Mafia, and having an affair with a busty singer known as La Camilla (I know, makes for a terrifying mental image, doesn’t it?). His daughter, Crown Princess Victoria, went rather downmarket by marrying her square-jawed personal trainer, but on the plus side has just had a baby. Aaah.



World’s biggest palace and 3,000 cars

The Sultan of Brunei is attending with his wife and cousin, Her Majesty Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Hajah Saleha. Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah is an absolute monarch who owns more than 3,000 cars, the Dorchester in London and the biggest palace in the world, which has 290 bathrooms. The Sultan has had three wives and 12 children. Though he has broken up with wives two and three, he is still married to the first one. He has a troublesome younger brother, Prince Jefri, who had a long phase of spending silly (even by Brunei standards) money on such objects as a yacht tastefully named the SS T**s. They have supposedly made up now, though there is still a warrant out for Jefri’s arrest should he ever enter Britain, connected with allegations relating to financial misdemeanours.

Bling king: Mswati with wife Inkhosikati (note the shoes)

A new wife every year

King Mswati III of Swaziland is known for his love of luxury and his many wives. He rules jointly with his mother, whose title, Indlovukazi, means ‘the Great She-Elephant’ which, though it might earn you a slap over here, is apparently a compliment. Mswati is Africa’s last absolute monarch and at the most recent count had 14 wives and 23 children. Tradition dictates he can choose a new wife every year, and each one gets her own palace. One of his wives, Inkhosikati LaMbikiza, is accompanying him on this trip. He spent £1.6million on his 40th birthday party, but this year he asked for cows to be donated to his birthday feast in a show of thrift. However, last month an ‘anonymous sponsor’ stepped in and bought him a plane. Suggestions that this must have been bought with the country’s cash have been denied.



Man who’s been king twice

King Letsie III of Lesotho rules a tiny ‘kingdom in the sky’ landlocked by South Africa. He is an Old Amplefordian like his father, who was a full-on huntin’, shootin’, fishin’ Anglophile. King Letsie, a keen cattle rancher, also spent time at the universities of Bristol, Cambridge and London, much of it studying agriculture. Prince Harry spent some of his year off in his country and set up a charity, Sentebale, with the king’s younger brother Prince Seeiso, to help the country’s children. Oddly, Letsie is on his second stint as king: his father was deposed, he took over, then his father was restored before dying in a car crash.

Honda-driving fish fanatic

The Emperor of Japan, Akihito, is nearly 80 and just out of hospital for a heart bypass operation. But the Emperor of the Chrysanthemum Throne, the oldest monarchy on earth, and his wife Michiko are coming across the world to lunch. His first visit here was to the Queen’s Coronation as a 19-year-old prince, when Churchill entertained him to lunch in a post-war peace gesture. Possibly the most low-key sovereign there is, Akihito drives an ancient Honda and is fanatic about goby fish. In fact, he has been described as the ‘world’s only authority’ on the tiny critters. The only blot on his landscape was his iffy relationship with his daughter-in-law, an Oxford and Harvard graduate who felt depressed by the confines of palace life and her failure to produce a male heir. But another son has fathered a boy since, so all is well in the Empire of the Sun.



The Emperor of Japan (left) is recovering from a heart bypass; Prince Albert and Princess Charlene of Monaco greet the Queen and Prince Philipp



Party boy and the Olympic swimmer

The son of movie star Grace Kelly and the enigmatic Prince Rainier, eco-conscious party boy Prince Albert of Monaco took his time choosing a bride. Many thought he never would – though he wasn’t slow to produce what were alleged to be a pair of illegitimate sprogs. Eventually, the lucky South African former Olympic swimmer Charlene Wittstock wed him last year in the Principality. There were rumours that she tried to leg it before the ceremony and has been depressed since, but for all that they are faithfuls at Windsor events, where Charlene always makes it on to the best-dressed lists.



Trekkie and the fashion icon

King Abdullah of Jordan is a Star Trek fan who once got himself a non-speaking part on the programme, and has commissioned a Trekkie theme park in Aqaba. Queen Rania, born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents, is a fashion icon well used to the global red carpet and friendship with Nicole Kidman types. The king, once beyond criticism, has been under attack since the Arab Spring and his wife has lowered her profile since allegations of corruption were made against her family, which were denied. A lavish birthday party in 2010 in a desert where nearby villages had no electricity went down badly. There is high unemployment and economic trouble; so admiration for her wardrobe and Hollywood connections have understandably worn a little thin.

Hitler Youth bride, tragic mother



Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands has been living with a personal tragedy since February, when the second of her three sons was buried in an avalanche skiing off-piste in Lech, Austria. He is still in a coma in a London hospital. He had been living in Britain for years, cut out of the line of succession as his wife was the former partner of the ‘godfather’ of the Dutch drug trade. Beatrix’s eldest son and heir, the Crown Prince, married a daughter of the Argentine junta. Queen Beatrix hasn’t been free of scandal herself: her late husband was in the Hitler Youth.



The world’s newest monarch

On the death of his brother in March, Tupou VI became King of Tonga, leaving him in charge of a cluster of tiny islands in the South Pacific and 100,000 people. This descendant of the Sun God, Tangeroa, went to school in Cambridge and entered politics in Tonga with mixed results. He was forced to resign as Prime Minister after some unpopular decisions, and was sent to Australia to practise diplomacy. His jolly predecessor is a tough act to follow: he wore a monocle and raced toy boats in the palace pool.



The Emir of Qatar, Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani was accompanied by his most presentable wife, Sheikha Mozah (left); King Albert II of Belgium with Queen Paola (right)



Billionaire’s global shopping spree

The Emir of Qatar, Hamid bin Khalifa, is accompanied by his most presentable wife, Sheikha Mozah. She is the second of three (who are concurrent, but the others stay at home) and they now own Harrods, the Shard tower in London, the Olympic Village, the Arabic news channel Al Jazeera and more of London than the Crown Estate. The Qataris are also on a semi-secretive global art shopping spree. (In February they bought Cezanne’s Card Players for £160million – a world record art price. They probably bought Munch’s The Scream too.) The Emir has been called a ‘flying carpet diplomatist’ who likes to intervene in international struggles. He deposed his own father in a bloodless coup by blocking the airport when the previous emir went abroad – crafty.



Dark horse on a motorbike

Aside from a fondness for motorcycles and a miserable childhood – his mother died when he was an infant – King Albert II of Belgium has an unexciting reputation. But actually, Albert, who married Italian aristocrat Paola Ruffo di Calabria, is a bit of a dark horse. A decade or so ago, it turned out he had a love child, London artist Delphine Boel, from an affair with a Belgian countess. Delphine, who makes things out of papier mache, has no relationship with her father. The King and Queen made up after the affair. Albert is accompanied by Queen Paola.



The richest royal in Europe

Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein and his family are always controversial as their banking secrecy laws are routinely accused of aiding tax dodgers and money-launderers, and have been investigated by the U.S. Senate, although recently the country decided to promote ‘transparency’. They had to – they were blacklisted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and a whistle-blower sold a list of tax-evading banking clients to the German government. Hans Adam, a former banker, has turned government decisions over to his son, but remains head of state.