Did Sandip Soparkar Fake Royal Invite?

Mumbai: Well-known choreographer and dancer, Sandip Soparkar's claim that he has been invited to perform at the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in London may be one royal fib.

The dancer had told the press that he, along with wife Jesse Randhawa was invited to perform a 'Bollywood Waltz dance' as the closing piece of the royal reception dinner, on Friday, April 29 at 6 pm at Buckingham Palace, London. The press office at the Buckingham Palace slammed this as a false claim.

A spokesman from St James Palace told MiD DAY from London yesterday, "This invite is a fake. Take it from us. Soparkar has never been asked or invited to perform at the wedding."

Four days ago, Soparkar claimed he suffered a knee injury and could not perform at the wedding. A Clarence House spokesperson added, "He was never invited and this is not true. In fact, we have now heard that he has fallen down or something and he is not coming. The whole thing is a hoax and he was not supposed to perform."

Soparkar claimed he had an invite from one James Kidner, the 'assistant private secretary' to HRH The Prince of Wales. He even emailed the invite to this newspaper. It emerges that James Kidner is current director of an organisation called Coexist Foundation. From 2003 to 2006 he was Deputy Private Secretary to the Prince of Wales.

Soparkar seemed shocked by the reaction of St James Palace. When contacted last night, he said, "I don't know why they are saying this. I can only say that they (royalty) may be trying to protect their privacy by reacting like this. After all, the reception unlike the wedding, which would be telecast, is a private function and we were as artistes asked to perform there and do a job. So, maybe, they are only trying to keep things private. After all, even in Abhishek-Aishwarya's wedding, did people really know who danced at their wedding? Because of the privacy aspect, I had also not disclosed which numbers we were supposed to dance to. I had kept that aspect a secret."

When MiD DAY checked with Kidner's office, an email from the Coexist office in London sent by Isabella Ward, who was answering on behalf of Kidner, read, "Thank you so much for your email and enquiry and I must say that it all seems very strange. I am afraid that Mr Soparkar has most definitely NOT been invited by James Kidner to perform a Bollywood dance on Friday at Prince William's wedding. Sadly, neither James or I have anything to do with the Royal wedding (though like everyone else we are looking forward to watching it on TV) and we certainly don't have the authority to invite anyone!"

When asked why Kidner too chose to respond by saying that he had NOT invited Soparkar to the wedding, Soparkar said, "If this letter (invite) is a fake then how come I have it in front of me? That too, with a signature by Kidner? Kangna Ranaut was supposed to inaugurate this letter on April 26; do you think I would have arranged a function to be attended by top names for the inauguration if the letter (invite) was a fake? I am already disturbed and now this (MiD DAY's phone call) has disturbed me further."

Knee injury?
Four days ago, Soparkar claimed he suffered an injury on his right knee and that his doctors had advised him complete bed rest. Soparkar had said, "My knee is swollen three times its size and there is water oozing out of it. Doctors say that this is because of internal muscle bleeding. I am on painkillers and other oral medication and if needed will have to undergo a small surgery."

When MiD Day went to meet Soparkar on Tuesday evening at his Jaishikha building in Juhu, to talk to him about the knee injury, the dancer proved elusive. Instead, his mother said, "My son has injured his leg and has gone to the hospital." When asked which hospital, she said, "I don't know which hospital. I am quite new to Mumbai. He has gone with his father." When she was told that the paper wanted to ask Soparkar about the wedding, she said, "He is very upset. Why do you want to write about his disappointment?"

Yesterday, Soparkar said that he had been asked to rest and his doctors would inform him on Sunday whether one needed to operate or not. However, Soparkar refused to reveal his doctors name, though he said he had visited a top orthopaedic from Lilavati Hospital. He added, "I have already mailed an apology letter to those who invited me for the royal wedding and informed them about my injury but I haven't received any reply.

I think they will once they are done with the wedding." He added that he was depressed about losing out on the opportunity to perform at the royal wedding but is more concerned about his leg, as dancing is his bread and butter, and so doesn't want to take any chances.