The Beckhams are invited on account of David's work with Prince William.(telegraph.co.uk)

　　At every wedding, there is always one glamorous guest who risks upstaging the bride.

　　So it is brave indeed of Kate Middleton to extend an invitation to Victoria Beckham.

　　The former Spice Girl and her husband, David, are among the celebrities invited to the wedding of Miss Middleton and Prince William at Westminster Abbey on April 29. They were two of the 1,900 guests who found a gold-embossed invitation on their doormat at the weekend.

　　The Beckhams are invited on account of David's work with Prince William on England's 2018 World Cup bid. The Prince is president of the Football Association and the pair spearheadedthe bid at a presentation in Zurich last year.

　　A spokesman for the footballer declined to confirm the invitation, but sources said the couple had received one. Mrs Beckham, now a fashion designer of note, has stolen the limelight at weddings in the past. In 2006, she arrived for the Italian nuptials of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes in a revealing strapless dress and enormous hat, to the delight of the paparazzi.

　　While Clarence House insisted that the wedding will not be a celebrity-studded affair, there are plenty of famous names on the list.

　　They include Ben Fogle, the television presenter, and his wife, Marina, who are personal friends of the Prince and Miss Middleton.

　　The 1,900-strong guest list includes more than 1,000 friends and family of the Prince and Miss Middleton. There will be 200 members of the Government, Parliament and diplomatic corps. David and Samantha Cameron have been invited to the ceremony and Buckingham Palace reception, while Ed Miliband has received an invitation to the ceremony only. Around 80 representatives of the Prince's charities will also attend.

　　There was no word from the White House on whether Barack and Michelle Obama have been invited, but it is thought unlikely. As the Prince is not yet heir to the throne, the wedding is not classed as a state occasion and protocol dictates that elected foreign leaders should not expect an invitation.

　　The Duchess of York is definitely not on the list. A spokesman said she "was never expecting to attend" and plans to be overseas on April 29.

　　The invitations, with a dress code of "uniform, morning coator lounge suit", were sent out by first class Royal Mail.

　　在每場婚禮上，總有一位閃耀的賓客想大膽地搶走新娘的風頭。

　　所以，英國準王妃凱特 米德爾頓邀請維多利亞 貝克漢姆來參加自己的婚禮可真是勇敢。

　　準王妃米德爾頓和威廉王子將于4月29日在威斯敏斯特教堂舉辦婚禮，前辣妹組合成員維多利亞和老公大衛(wèi)在受邀賓客之列。上周末，共有1900名賓客收到了參加威廉王子婚禮的鍍金請?zhí)��?/p>

　　貝克漢姆夫婦因小貝在英格蘭2018年世界杯申辦中與威廉王子協(xié)同作戰(zhàn)而拿到婚禮請柬。威廉王子現(xiàn)任英足總主席，而在去年于蘇黎世舉辦的世界杯申辦陳述中，威廉和貝克漢姆充當了先鋒。

　　貝克漢姆的發(fā)言人拒絕透露受邀是否屬實，但有消息稱夫婦倆已經收到請?zhí)�。目前身為著名時裝設計師的維多利亞曾在多場婚禮中搶走新人的風頭。在2006年，她身著一件非常暴露的無肩禮服，頭戴一頂巨大的帽子參加湯姆 克魯斯和凱蒂 赫爾姆斯在意大利舉辦的婚禮，成為狗仔隊追逐的焦點。

　　盡管克拉倫斯王府堅稱婚禮不會辦成明星會，但賓客名單顯示，已有多位明星受邀。

　　其中包括電視節(jié)目主持人本 福格爾和妻子瑪麗娜。他們是威廉和米德爾頓的私人好友。

　　受邀的1900多位賓客包括1000名友人以及兩位新人的家人。另有200人來自政府機構、議會和外交使節(jié)團。英國首相大衛(wèi) 卡梅倫和夫人薩曼莎已受邀參加婚禮和白金漢宮婚宴招待會。（英國工黨領袖）埃德 米利班德只受邀參加婚禮。另有大約80名賓客來自威廉王子資助的慈善團體。

　　白宮尚未證實奧巴馬夫婦是否收到請?zhí)�，但可能性比較小。由于威廉王子還不是王位首位繼承人，這場婚禮并未被定為國事活動。婚禮草案顯示，民選產生的國外領導人不在受邀之列。

　　約克公爵夫人當然也未受邀。一位發(fā)言人稱她“從沒想過要去參加”，計劃在4月29日前往國外。

　　請?zhí)�由頭等的皇家郵政投遞，并要求賓客身著“制服、晨禮服或套裝”。

　　Vocabulary:

　　spearhead: to lead or initiate an attack, a campaign, etc.（帶頭做，充當先鋒）

　　of note: important, of distinction, famous（著名的，引人注目的）

　　paparazzi: a freelance photographer, especially one who takes candid pictures of celebrities for publication（獵奇名流的攝影記者，狗仔隊）

　　morning coat: （男子日間穿的黑色或灰色）晨燕尾服，常燕尾服

　　lounge suit: （尤指在辦公室及較正式場合穿的）男西裝套服