The recent media melee regarding British National Party (BNP) leader Nick Griffin's invitation to attend the Queen's Garden Party raises several big questions for Public Relations practitioners.

When planning any event every PR professional knows the importance of getting the guest list right and the risks of getting it wrong. When the invitations come from a highly profiled person, and there surely cannot be one higher than the Queen in the UK, any mistake made gets doubly amplified – in much the same way as if a high-level stakeholder is missed off any guest list.