By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : Chelsea Clinton’s marriage Saturday is the hottest ticket in town, but President Barack Obama would have to give a miss to what is being called the Wedding of the Decade and of the Century as he hasn’t been invited.
He hasn’t received an invitation to the wedding of the daughter of former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Obama announced on ABC’s “The View” Wednesday.
“I was not invited to the wedding because I think Hillary and Bill, properly, want to keep this thing for Chelsea and her soon-to-be husband,” the president said.
“You don’t want two presidents at one wedding. All the secret service, guests going through (metal detectors), all the gifts being torn apart,” he added jocularly.
Clinton’s Vice President Al Gore, celebrities Barbara Streisand, Steven Spielberg, Ted Turner will also not be attending Chelsea’s marriage to her investment-banker boyfriend Marc Mezvinsky.
The hotly anticipated, highly secretive affair at a posh private estate 90 miles north of Manhattan would set the former first couple back by an estimated $3 million to $5 million, according to New York daily News.
Security at Saturday’s wedding alone could cost $200,000 because of all the high-level politicians and global celebrities, the daily said.
Built as a Beaux Arts style playground for John Jacob Astor IV more than a century ago, the estate features the sort of commanding view that once inspired Hudson River School painters, as well as 50 acres of buffer space to shield the party from prying eyes.
A number of shops posted signs like “Congratulations Marc and Chelsea”. One shop posted pictures of the Clintons, and a sign on a cosmetics store read: “Oprah! Please make my soap one of your favourite things.”
“I don’t think we’ve seen a wedding with this much attention since Patricia Nixon,” says Donnie Brown, a wedding planner featured in “Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?” on the Style Network.
“This will definitely be the biggest wedding of the year,” he was quoted as saying.
(Arun Kumar can be contacted at [email protected])