I would have loved to attend the service to say a final farewell to someone I loved and treasured," the retired archbishop said in a statement.

I would have loved to attend the service to say a final farewell to someone I loved and treasured," the retired archbishop said in a statement.

But he did not want to gatecrash "a private family funeral."

However, a presidential spokesman insisted he was among those invited and any problems would be sorted out.

"The arch is not an ordinary church person, he is a special person in our country and he is definitely on the list," Presidential Spokesman Mac Maharaj told AFP news agency.

"If there's any problem we will try to iron that out, but I can assure you that he is on the programme."

Archbishop Tutu, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, has been a friend of Nelson Mandela for decades.

He has been critical of the current ANC government led by President Jacob Zuma.