LONDON - Prince Charles' office said Tuesday that he will attend a D-Day commemoration in France this week after a diplomatic spat over the omission from the guest list of his mother, the Queen.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, U.S. President Barack Obama and his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy are attending the ceremony Saturday to mark the 65th anniversary of the Allied landings June 6, 1944.

The most senior British representative was to have been Prime Minister Gordon Brown rather than the Queen, who is head of state and who served in uniform during the Second World War.

The perceived snub created an uproar in Britain, which lost thousands of troops helping to free France from the Nazis.

France denied any offence was meant, and said it was up to Britain to decide whom to send.

Charles' office said the prince would be attending at Sarkozy's invitation.

In addition to Harper, Veterans Affairs Minister Greg Thompson will lead a delegation of Second World War, Korean War and peacekeeping veterans on a five-day tour of Normandy, visiting the various battlefields and cemeteries.

The D-Day landings saw more than 150,000 Allied troops pour on to the beaches of occupied France and marked a strategic turning point in the war.

-- With files from The Canadian Press.