FILE - In this Monday, June 11, 2007 file photo the Crown Prince of Bahrain, Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, right, speaks during the 96th International Labor Organization, ILO, Assembly at the European... (Associated Press) 
 
 Bahrain's crown prince on Sunday declined an invitation to attend Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding, saying he did not want the Gulf nation's unrest to tarnish the celebration. 
 
 Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa sent his regrets to Prince Charles after questions emerged over the British monarchy's decision to invite a member of Bahrain's Sunni ruling family, which has waged a wide-ranging crackdown against Shiite protesters calling for more freedoms. 
 
 Bahrain's rulers have imposed martial law and are backed by a Saudi-led military force to try to quell the uprising. At least 30 people have died in Bahrain since mid-February, including four who died while in official custody, and many well-known activists and lawyers have been imprisoned. 
 
 The news helped to avoid a potentially awkward situation during the April 29 wedding. Campaigners in Britain complained when palace officials said Saturday that the prince was attending the nuptials, and some petitioned Foreign Secretary William Hague to revoke the invitation. 
 
 Prince Salman said he was "saddened and troubled" by British reports about his attendance. 
 
 "While these (media reports) have certainly highlighted a number of significant issues currently facing the Kingdom of Bahrain, they have fundamentally misrepresented my own views, outlook and position on recent events and thus, clearly sought to involve my potential attendance as a political proxy for wider matters involving Bahrain." 
 
 A Buckingham Palace spokesman confirmed that it was informed Sunday about the prince's decision. 
 
 The prince said Bahrain has the highest respect for Britain's royal family, and that he wished William and Middleton "all good wishes for Friday and every possible happiness for the future ahead." 
 
 Al Khalifa was among more than 40 foreign royals invited to the wedding. Other foreign royals who are attending include kings, queens, princes and princesses from countries including Denmark, Norway, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, and Swaziland. 
 
 The royals will mingle with a handful of celebrities, including soccer star David Beckham and his wife Victoria, singer Elton John, director Guy Ritchie and Mr. Bean actor Rowan Atkinson. 
 
 About 1,900 people were invited to the Westminster Abbey ceremony. ||||| Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, kicked off a week in Los Angeles with an intimate dinner at Murdoch’s estate with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Morgan Freeman, James Cameron and more. 
 
 The Prince met The Rock on an historic night in Hollywood. 
 
 Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, began a whirlwind trip to Los Angeles on Monday with a string of meetings with some of the biggest names in entertainment, capped by an intimate dinner at Rupert Murdoch's Bel Air estate. In attendance, sources at the event tell The Hollywood Reporter, were Disney CEO Bob Iger and wife Willow Bay, Universal film chairman Jeff Shell, Fox TV exec Peter Rice and film studio chief Stacey Snider, as well as actors Morgan Freeman, Michael Douglas and, yes, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. 
 
 The 32-year-old crown prince, often referred to by the abbreviation MBS, met with the moguls as part of a three-week, multi-city tour of the U.S., which comes on the heels of a tumultuous few months back in his country. Experts are interpreting the trip as an effort to shore up ties with American politicians and business leaders and to flesh out potential investment opportunities, including those in the media and entertainment industries. Showbiz executives, eager to court the billions of dollars of wealth controlled by the Saudi ruling family, mobilized in force to meet MBS. 
 
 Over the weekend, staffers at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills were scrambling to finish last-minute preparations for bin Salman’s arrival. He and his entourage are staying there for the duration of his visit in L.A., and he has bought out all 285 rooms, including 100 suites. Other cities on MBS’ itinerary include Washington, D.C., New York, Boston, Houston, San Francisco and Seattle. 
 
 On Monday night, approximately 20 people gathered at the Bel Air event, which doubled as a return to public life for the 87-year-old Murdoch, who has been recovering from a serious back injury suffered in January. Murdoch’s wife, Jerry Hall, joined Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara, Nat Geo CEO Courtney Monroe and filmmakers James Cameron and Ridley Scott. 
 
 Sources in attendance say the event was social and not political. There was a long cocktail hour during which wines from Murdoch's vineyard were served. Before dinner, the crown prince briefly spoke about reforms in his kingdom, as well as the dangers of radicalism in the Middle East. He also stressed the importance of the Saudi-U.S. relationship. After the short speech, a source tells THR that Murdoch initiated a brief question and answer session with MBS. Murdoch himself is said to have asked a question about the Muslim Brotherhood. 
 
 At the end of the dinner, several members of the crown prince's entourage took selfies with the actors. 
 
 The Murdoch meet-and-greet isn’t the only social event on MBS’ L.A. calendar. Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel is reportedly organizing a dinner for bin Salman with producer Brian Grazer. The crown prince is also reportedly set to meet with Oprah Winfrey during his trip. 
 
 It didn’t take long for his arrival to cause a stir on the streets of Beverly Hills and across social media platforms. Demonstrators organized by the feminist group Code Pink hit Emanuel’s WME headquarters to protest the Saudi regime’s treatment of women. Excerpts of an interview bin Salman gave to The Atlantic, in which he compared Iran's supreme leader to Hitler and denied the existence of an extreme form of Islamic teaching known as Wahhabism, resurfaced. 
 
 Bin Salman was appointed as heir to the Saudi throne by his father, King Salman, in June of last year. Since assuming power, he has projected the image of a reformer, vowing to modernize Saudi Arabia’s conservative regime. He has pledged to break down some of the country’s most draconian social rules, including an end to the 35-year ban on cinemas. But in the process he has been accused of using the traditional tactics of a dictator. 
 
 In November, his regime arrested hundreds of wealthy Saudis, including princes, officials and businessmen. One of the powerful officials caught up in the sting was Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, a former major shareholder of Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox and an investor in Disney’s European theme park business.
– The news that Bahrain's crown prince was ducking out of his troubled country to attend Prince William's much ballyhooed nuptials raised some eyebrows, and Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa today reversed course, sending Prince Charles his regrets. Saying he was "saddened and troubled" by British media stories, the AP reports that Prince Salman nevertheless sent William and Kate Middleton "all good wishes for Friday and every possible happiness for the future ahead." Prince Salman isn't the only dignitary sitting it out, notes the Telegraph: Former British PMs Tony Blair and Gordon Brown won't be attending, either. The Labour Party pols were apparently snubbed by the palace, which invited Conservative Party PMs Margaret Thatcher and John Major, though Thatcher declined for health reasons. Labour MPs called the snub "surprising" and "odd," though the Telegraph notes a frosty history between Buckingham Palace and Blair in particular.