Foreign heads of state and their partners invited to the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II were required to arrive in the UK on commercial flights and were banned from using helicopters to travel in London.
In addition, they have been told they will not be able to use their official cars for the funeral, which is scheduled for Monday 19 September, but will instead be bused to Westminster Abbey from a location in west London en masse, Politico reports.
Official documents obtained by Politco, which were distributed to embassies on Saturday, also confirmed that heads of state and one guest from each country were invited only.
Westminster Abbey has an official capacity of 2,200 people, and is expected to be so full that no more than one senior representative of each state can be invited in addition to the spouse.
The Foreign Commonwealth Office and Development Office said in the protocol document that it “regrets that, due to the limited space in the state funeral and associated events, no other members of the principal guest’s family, staff or entourage may be admitted” and asks heads of state unable to attend to select another representative such as Prime Minister or Senior Minister.
On the day of the funeral, there will be tight security and road restrictions across much of central London, and so Heads of State have been asked to meet at a location in West London where they will be taken to the Abbey on buses and then returned to the site in West London by bus to collect their cars.
