Thousands of VIPs ready to attend lavish Games

Thousands of VIPs, including some 120 national leaders, will jet into London for Friday’s Olympic opening ceremony, with guests ranging from Angelina Jolie and Michelle Obama to the king of Swaziland.

The expected record number of heads of state and government will watch the Olympic cauldron lit by a mystery personality in a £27m (€35m) extravaganza of music, dancing and pyrotechnics, amid a flurry of A-list parties in the British capital.

Germany’s Angela Merkel and Japanese prime minister Yoshihiko Noda are among the leaders set to attend what will be a suitably British and eccentric show, featuring live sheep and dancing surgeons from the NHS.