• Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman is no longer expected to attend the Queen’s funeral.
• Human rights groups had criticized the decision to invite Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler.
• Another senior Saudi royal, Prince Turki al-Faisal, is expected to travel to London instead.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman is no longer expected to attend the Queen’s funeral, according to a UK Foreign Office source.

The Saudis, according to the source quoted by Reuters, made the change.

Human rights groups had criticized the decision to invite Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Western intelligence has accused the prince, known as “MBS,” of ordering the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.

He denies the charge. However, he is considered a pariah in the West and has not visited Britain since the murder inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, according to BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner.

The Crown Prince will visit London this weekend, according to sources close to the Saudi Embassy.

However, another senior Saudi royal, Prince Turki al-Faisal, is expected to attend the funeral instead, according to a Foreign Office source.

Human rights groups said the invitation to Mohammed Bin Salman was a whitewash of Saudi Arabia’s appalling human rights record.

An invitation to China also sparked debate, owing to Beijing’s treatment of Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang. China has confirmed that its Vice President, Wang Qishan, will attend the funeral.

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