When will the Queen meet William’s in-laws?

A spokesman for Buckingham Palace yesterday denied that The Queen has cut commoner Kate Middleton's parents by not meeting them - though he admitted she has no plans to do so before the Royal Wedding later this year.

The statement said: "This is not a snub. It is just that the Queen has not yet felt the need to meet Miss Middleton's parents.

"At present there are no plans for her to do so in the run-up to the wedding but if she chooses to do so, it will be a private matter."

When Kate met Prince William at the University of St Andrews in 2001 it was not exactly a case of love across a vast social gulf: most Britons would consider the wealthy Middletons pretty posh.

But there's no getting round the fact that Kate's parents, Michael and Carole Middleton (above), are in trade - they run a party planning business together, at times with their daughter's help. And Carole used to be - whisper it - an air hostess.

But Elizabeth II may have to get used to being related to her less pedigreed subjects: she already has one grandchild married to a commoner, and another about to take the plunge, in addition to William.

Princess Anne's son, Peter Phillips, is married to ex-actress Autumn Kelly, daughter of a Canadian electricity executive. His roistering sister Zara plans to marry rugby player Mike Tindall later this year.

The Middletons have at least met William's father, Prince Charles, and his wife Camilla. The Middletons were even invited to join a shooting party at Charles's Balmoral estate - though, admittedly, Charles himself was not among the guns.

But while Mike and Carole have never met Liz and Phil socially, there is a link between their two, very different, families. As several newspapers reported earlier this year, Kate's great-great-grandfather worked in the Queen Mother's uncle's coal mine. ·