France denies snubbing Queen over D-Day

PARIS (Reuters) - France denied on Wednesday that it had snubbed the Queen after Britain said she had not been invited to a ceremony marking the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

U.S. President Barack Obama will be in France on June 6 as a guest of President Nicolas Sarkozy to commemorate the 1944 invasion by American, British and Commonwealth troops that broke Germany's hold on France in World War Two.

A spokeswoman for Buckingham Palace in London said the Queen had not been asked to attend and would normally have expected an invitation. However, she said the royal family was not angered.

A French government spokesman defended the decision.

"The celebration on June 6 was originally a Franco-American ceremony," Luc Chatel told a weekly news conference.

"The British wanted to take part in this ceremony and of course they are welcome ... (but) it is not up to France to decide who will represent Britain."

The main event will take place in a U.S. war cemetery, which is owned by the United States, so technically it was up to Washington to hand out invitations, a French official said.

A British embassy spokeswoman in Paris said: "Invitations are a matter for the French government."

She added in a statement: "There has been no anger or frustration expressed by the Royal Household."