Awwal 16, 1432 H/April 20, 2011, SPA -- The parents of royal bride-to-be Kate Middleton were Wednesday invited to lunch with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip at Windsor Castle, dpa quoted Buckingham Palace as saying. The meeting was the first officially confirmed encounter between the monarch and Michael and Carole Middleton, the future parents-in-law of Prince William. "The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh hosted Mr and Mrs Michael Middleton at a private lunch at Windsor Castle today," said a spokeswoman for Buckingham Palace. Sources described the atmosphere at the lunch, which took place nine days before the wedding of William and Kate on April 29, as "warm." Michael Middleton, 61, and his 56-year-old wife do not live far from Windsor Castle, in the county of Berkshire, where they have a mail-order business selling party accessories. They both worked in the airline business before setting up their company in the late 1980s, and also have an interest in horses - all of which were tipped to have been topics of conversation at the lunch. Michael Middleton worked in Jordan for three years in the early 1980s, when Kate was just three. There has been speculation that William and Kate could choose the Middle Eastern country for their honeymoon destination.
