Why all the fuss about Billie Piper banning children from her wedding? Today (New Year's Eve) Doctor Who's former sidekick is to marry Laurence Fox, one of the younger thesps from the Fox acting dynasty.

The wedding looks set to be a grand affair with a lavish reception party at the 16th century home of Billie's ex-husband, DJ Chris Evans (something so weirdly amicable probably wouldn't happen in the real world but they live different lives, these celebs).

Billie has caused a bit of a stir by not inviting children to the wedding. This has, according to national press reports, displeased members of the family who have, Foxes included, quite a brood between them.

I hope Billie doesn't end up caving in to family pressure and allowing sprogs to take over her big day. It's her wedding and if she doesn't want children there causing havoc, as only children can, that's entirely up to her.

A wedding can be a long day, and even longer for young children. And when children get bored they start playing up - loudly - which is annoying for other guests.

Weddings are tedious affairs for children. Given the choice, I'm sure most youngsters would prefer not to spend an hour in a church or register office, followed by another hour having photographs taken and another couple of hours sitting through a long meal and even longer speeches.

And why would parents want to drag children along to a wedding anyway? It's a time to relax, catch up with family and friends, have a laugh over a few glasses of fizz and hit the dance floor fuelled by a few more. If you can off-load the children for the day, all the better.

When my sister and her husband got married they got into bother by inviting a couple of relatives and friends to the ceremony without their children. They had to draw the line somewhere.

But it caused a huge rift, with two relatives boycotting the wedding. They haven't spoken to the bride and groom since.

Wedding reception guests are usually paid for by the head, so you can't invite everyone's Little Johnny along. If your children haven't been invited stew about it in private if you feel the need, but to complain out loud is unbelievably rude.

Children don't have a right to attend weddings just because their parents have been invited. You can't invite everyone to a wedding reception, and why should you have children there - throwing tantrums during the ceremony, sliding across the floor during the speeches and generally making a nuisance of themselves - if you don't want that on your big day?

A couple of months ago I went to the funeral of an old family friend and missed half of what the vicar was saying because a baby was bawling throughout the service. I kept thinking one of the parents would have the sensitivity to take the infant out of the church but they simply left it to bawl.

Children have never been so indulged as they are today and parenthood has never been so smug. We have become a family-friendly society to the exclusion of everyone else.

Every other car has a deeply irritating "Little Monster On Board" sign in the back window, you can't get through a city centre shop without an army of pushchairs coming at you, and it's rare to enjoy an evening in the pub without a load of rug-rats knocking into you as you negotiate your way back from the bar, clutching a round of drinks. Family friendly pubs are fine during the day but is it really necessary for parents to drag children along while they spend the evening supping?

God forbid a grown adult should light a cigarette in a pub, but it's okay for a five-year-old to make a den under a table brimming over with pint glasses.
I'm with Billie on the old adage that there are still areas of life where children should be neither seen nor heard.