Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Names and faces
■ It will be friends and family, rather than politicians and world leaders, at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding next month. Kensington Palace says “it has been decided that an official list of political leaders — both U.K. and international — is not required” for the wedding. That means U.S. President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May are not among 600 people invited to the May 19 ceremony at Windsor Castle’s St. George’s Chapel. The decision was reached after royal officials consulted with the British government to go over protocol and precedent. A person with knowledge of the guest list who spoke on condition of anonymity says former U. S. President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle also are not attending. Many politicians and world leaders attended the much larger 2011 wedding of Harry’s older brother, Prince William, and Kate Middleton. The rules of succession mean that, unlike William, Harry is unlikely to one day occupy the throne. That gives Harry and Markle, an American actress, some leeway to make the wedding more of a personal and less of a state affair.
■ Lindsey Buckingham will have to go his own way: The 68-year-old singer- guitarist is out of Fleetwood Mac. In a statement Monday, the band said that Buckingham will not be on their new tour. The announcement came in two terse sentences at the bottom of a long news release announcing the new concerts. “Lindsey Buckingham will not be performing with the band on this tour,” the statement said. “The band wishes Lindsey all the best.” He’ll be jointly replaced by Neil Finn of Crowded House and Mike Campbell of the late Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers. Buckingham joined the band with then-girlfriend Stevie Nicks in 1974 and the two became the central faces, voices and songwriters of the group for the four decades that followed. Buckingham left the band once before in 1987, returning for a tour in 1996 and remaining a steady member since.