Five days after the funeral of Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey, the list of expected dignitaries is beginning to be known. In total, 500 heads of state and many crowned chiefs will be present.
Due to the large number of expected guests, dignitaries may only be accompanied by one person of their choosing. The Prime Ministers of the constitutional monarchies of the Commonwealth, of which the Queen was sovereign, have instead received an exception and can attend with ten people.
Among them, the Canadian Justin Trudeau, the New Zealander Jacinda Ardern and the Australian Anthony Albanese, who accepted the invitation. The prime minister of Bangladesh, and that of Sri Lanka, member countries of the Commonwealth – but which do not have the British monarch as head of state – also accepted the invitation. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India has not yet confirmed his presence, specifies the BBC.
european monarchies
Distinguished guests already announced include Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and his wife Máxima, as well as Princess Beatrice, and King Albert of Monaco and his wife Charlene.
Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and his wife Masako will also attend the funeral, their first trip abroad since assuming the Chrysanthemum Throne in 2019. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and other government officials are not expected to attend.
Barack Obama on the waiting list
Spain, on the other hand, will come with force. King Felipe of Spain and Queen Letizia will be accompanied by former King Juan Carlos and former Queen Sofia. Tupou VI, the king of Tonga, an independent Commonwealth member kingdom located in Polynesia, was also invited.
US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, South Korean President Yoon Suk-Yeol and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro have also been invited. Like the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is also on the list.
Former heads of state, such as Barack Obama, are on the waiting list, and their presence will depend on the final number of guests.
It is not yet known if Chinese President Xi Jinping has been invited to attend the funeral.
audience record
British Prime Minister Liz Truss will be joined by her predecessors including Boris Johnson, Theresa May, David Cameron, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair. Some personalities, on the other hand, will be persona non grata. Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko is not invited, as is Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Islamic Republic of Iran will only be represented by an ambassador.
The global television audience for funerals is expected to be in the hundreds of millions. Following the ceremony, the Queen will be privately buried in King George VI Chapel at Windsor Castle, an annex to the Main Chapel. The coffin of her husband, Prince Philip, who died last year, will rest there next to her.
Source: BFM TV
