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Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is not expected to attend Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral scheduled for Monday, according to a source in the British Foreign Office.
The Archyde.com news agency quoted the source as saying that this amendment came from the Saudi side.
Human rights groups had criticized the decision to invite the crown prince to attend the funeral.
Western intelligence agencies have accused the Saudi prince of ordering the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. Bin Salman denies this accusation.
The Saudi crown prince has not been to Britain since Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, according to the BBC’s security correspondent Frank Gardner.
Sources close to the Saudi embassy had earlier confirmed that the crown prince would visit London.
Prince Turki Al-Faisal is expected to attend the funeral, according to what was quoted as saying by a foreign ministry source.
Human rights groups said the invitation to Mohammed bin Salman amounted to whitewashing Saudi Arabia’s appalling human rights record.
An invitation to China also sparked controversy over Beijing’s treatment of the Muslim Uighur minority in Xinjiang.
China has confirmed that it will send its vice president, Wang Qishan, to attend the funeral.
