Inviting British National Party leader Nick Griffin to Buckingham Palace was a bit like asking Myra Hindley if she could babysit for a couple of hours.

So it comes as no surprise that Buck House has managed to wriggle out of its commitment to get Griffin along for a garden party by claiming that he’d tried to make politically-motivated capital out of the invite.

Griffin was among several Members of the European Parliament who were asked to go along for cakes and tea at Buckingham Palace with the Queen yesterday.

And didn’t we know about it. Every opportunity he got, Griffin would bang on about it. We would get e-mails to the T&A every couple of days about how excited he was. You’d think Nick Griffin had never been invited to a party before. Which, come to think about it, he possibly hasn’t.

As recently as Wednesday, Griffin was e-mailing about his delight to all and sundry: “Who would have believed it ten, or even three, years ago? Remember the Establishment thought us no more than an annoying fringe party back then, they laughed at us and sometimes it hurt us, I know. One thing’s for sure, they’re not laughing now!”

Um, actually, Nick, they probably are. Especially as your invitation was withdrawn right at the last minute. There you were, your shoes polished, your hair neatly combed, the handkerchief in your jacket pocket neatly folded, then they go and tell you that you’re not going.

I mean, I’m no fan of the British monarchy and its attendent privileges of a life of luxury passed down along the generational line, but it’s good to see that even the Queen has her limits.

Griffin was suitably outraged yesterday, immediately rushing to his computer to send out an e-mail condemning the “attack on democracy, the media, freedom of speech and one million British patriots”.

One million British patriots? No wonder they withdrew his invite, if he was trying to get so many people in on the guest-list.

Seriously, though, this was Griffin’s last-gasp attempt to salvage some kind of respectability for the BNP after their drubbing in the last election. His party might be politically moribund, his support might be failing and people might be increasingly not giving a toss for the BNP, but at least he was going to get a cuppa with the Queen, and the headlines that went with it.

Oops.

Never mind, though, Nick. If you think about it properly, why on earth would you want to go and rub shoulders with the Monarchy anyway? Given that they’ve got so much foreign blood in them, shouldn’t you be talking about sticking them on the next boat out of here, rather than looking forward to sharing a fondant fancy?