Royal Family Accused of Snub to Hillary

The royal family's decision not to attend the funeral today of Sir Edmund Hillary has prompted anger in New Zealand, where thousands of people filed past the explorer's coffin as it lay in state in Auckland's Holy Trinity Anglican cathedral yesterday.

A palace spokesman said the governor general, Anand Satyanand, would represent the Queen, and that in April a memorial service would be held for Hillary at Windsor castle, a rare event. But the opposition leader, John Key, was disappointed at the decision not to send a member of the royal family, while Lewis Holden, chairman of the Republican Movement, said it showed that the royals "are not able to do the job for New Zealand".

The country's best-selling paper, the New Zealand Herald, described the royals' absence as a snub. It also listed what other members of the royal family would be doing on the day of the funeral. "Prince Charles will be in Yorkshire as patron of the Mutton Renaissance Campaign."

Helen Clark, the prime minister, said: "Clearly, the Queen in her early 80s is not in a position to travel at short notice as far as New Zealand, but what she has done is something very special and unique. These exceptional arrangements [for a service at Windsor] reflect the personal and historic associations of the Queen with Sir Edmund since the beginning of her reign."