LONDON (Reuters) - The Queen has turned down a request to
attend a London ceremony to mark the country's first Holocaust
Memorial Day so as not to interrupt an extended Christmas
break, the Times said on Thursday.
A spokesman for the Queen was quoted as saying: "The Queen
always remains at Sandringham (her rural retreat in eastern England) until February 6, the
anniversary of her accession to the throne.
"She does one or two local engagements, but does not normally return to London," he
added.
Survivors of the Holocaust during World War Two and the conflicts in Bosnia and
Rwanda will attend the event at London's Westminster Hall on Saturday.
Prince Charles is to break off from a series of engagements in Cumbria to attend the hour-long ceremony.
However, the Queen is expected to attend a shooting party hosted by her husband the Duke of Edinburgh, the
Times said.
Prime Minister Tony Blair will lead politicians, church leaders and charity workers at the ceremony, which will be
broadcast on national radio and television.
The event has been mired in controversy since it was announced by Blair two years ago.
Anxiety has been expressed in some quarters that the event to mark the deaths of millions of Jews could become
trivialised.
The Home Office at first refused to allow Armenians to join the event to mark the 1915 massacre of 1.5 million of
their countrymen. This was after pressure from the Foreign Office, which feared a trade backlash from Turkey,
which has always refused to acknowledge that the massacre took place.
However, the Home Office later relented and issued an invitation to the Armenians. The Times suggested that the
Queen's decision not to attend reflected concerns that the monarchy might become involved in the controversy.
Britain's Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks and actor Ian McKellen will join survivors of the Holocaust in a series of
readings and recitals, the Times said.