Biden and Macron have confirmed they will attend Queen Elizabeth’s funeral (Getty)
Presidents, leaders and kings from around the world travel to London at the weekend to pay their respects on the death of Queen Elizabethand attending a reception at Buckingham Palace hosted by King Charles The day before her funeral.
Among the most prominent guests who announced their personal attendance from outside the country, the two American presidents joe biden and French Emmanuel Macron.
A senior Buckingham Palace official said leaders and dignitaries from abroad would be asked to congregate at the Royal Hospital, a veterans’ home in west London, adding that they would “move in accordance with collective arrangements to Westminster Abbey”.
The funeral will be one of the most important events that need to be monitored and secured in British history, as leaders, kings, queens and huge crowds from home and abroad flock to London to attend the funeral.
King Charles and his wife Camilla will hold a welcome ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Sunday, a formal ceremony before the funeral.
VIPs visiting Britain will be invited to see the Queen’s coffin inside Old Westminster Hall in Parliament before the funeral.
“Her Majesty’s passing has left many people with a deep sense of loss” around the world, said an official in charge of the funeral. “Our goal and our conviction is that the state funeral and ceremonies that will be held over the next few days will unite people around the world,” he added.
Immediately following the funeral on Monday, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly will host guests at Church House nearby, while royals head to Windsor to bury the Queen.
Uninvited parties
Britain has sent invitations to the presidents and leaders of almost all countries of the world, except for the Syrian regime, Venezuela, Afghanistan, Russia, Belarus and Myanmar.
The Syrian regime and Venezuela were not invited because Britain does not currently have diplomatic relations with the two countries. A source said that Afghanistan is not invited because of the current political situation in it.
Neither Russia nor Belarus were invited because of the invasion of Ukraine.
In all, State Department officials sent handwritten invitations to regarding 1,000 public figures around the world for the funeral on Monday, and before that was the reception that King Charles will host on Sunday.
The deadline to respond to those invitations is Thursday, following which officials will develop the final plan for the locations of the guests during the ceremony.
British lawmakers under sanctions from China criticized the decision to invite the Chinese government to the funeral. They demanded that Chinese representatives be barred from entering the Palace of Westminster, where the Queen’s coffin is currently located for mourners to bid farewell to. Parliament voted last year to describe the treatment of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang as genocide.
The British government will not provide a list of foreign guests, for security reasons, among other reasons. A government official said travel arrangements and locations for guests during the ceremony were being finalized.
Members of royal families in European countries, including Belgium and the Netherlands, said they would attend. Among the political figures who will attend are European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Indian President Draupadi Murmo.
Moscow criticizes not being invited
On the other hand, she denounced Moscow Thursday, the United Kingdom’s “immoral” behavior towards it, following London decided on Monday not to invite Russia to attend the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, once morest the backdrop of diplomatic tensions between the two countries.
“We consider this British attempt to take advantage of the national tragedy that has afflicted millions of people in the world for geopolitical ends to settle scores” with our country as “immoral” behavior, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. Zakharova added that it was “blasphemous” behavior towards the memory of Elizabeth II.
A spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry condemned what it considered the use of the United Kingdom Russian attack on Ukraine An “excuse” for not inviting Russian officials to attend the late Queen’s funeral, which will be held in London on September 19.
(Archyde.com, AFP)
