great royal family
At the forefront of this grand funeral was the family, and first of all, the first circle: son and new King Charles III and his second wife, Camilla; The Queen’s other children, Anne, Andrew and Edward; William, the heir to the throne and the new Prince of Wales, with his wife Kate; Prince Harry and his wife Megan. Sir Tim Lawrence and Sophie, Countess of Wessex, will accompany him.
“Royals” are one big family. Andrew’s ex-wife Sarah Ferguson will attend as Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie, Peter Phillips, Zara Tindall, Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn. Prince and Princess Michael of Kent and Princess Alexandra and Prince Richard of Gloucester will also attend the ceremony at Westminster Abbey.
It is unclear whether nine-year-old George will be visiting his parents William and Kate, but according to several British media outlets, seven-year-old Charlotte and four-year-old Louis will not be visiting Westminster.
King and Queen
The Gotha of Kings and Queens, Princes and Emperors were announced in London: Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene of Monaco; King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain; King Philip and Queen Mathilde of Belgium; King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden; King Harald V of Norway (Queen Elizabeth’s first cousin), and Queen Sonja; King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands; Queen Margaret II of Denmark, Crown Prince Frederik; Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako. Grand Duke Henry and Grand Duchess Marie-Thérse of Luxembourg will also be there.
Presidents
Several presidents come to congratulate Queen Elizabeth for the last time: the Frenchman Emmanuel Macron; American Joe Biden; German Frank-Walter Steinmeier; Italian Sergio Mattarella; Turkish Recep Tayyip Erdoan; Brazilian Jair Bolsonaro; Draupadi Murmu Indian; Israeli Isaac Herzog; Sri Lankan Ranil Wickremesinghe; South Korean Yoon Suk-yol; Polish Andrzej Duda; Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa. As well as their counterparts from Austria, Finland, Latvia, Hungary and even Lithuania.
According to the BBC, Chinese President Xi Jinping was on the guest list for the state funeral, but according to diplomatic sources, he is being represented by Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan.
Prime Minister
The new head of the British government, Liz Truss, will meet several of her counterparts at the funeral: New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern; Justin Trudeau of Canada; Australian Anthony Albanese; Bangladeshi Sheikh Hasina; Palestinian Mohammed Shtayyeh; Jamaica Andrew Holness…
The European Union sends the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and the President of the European Council Charles Michel. Pope Francis sent Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bishop Paul Gallagher.
great absent
The war in Ukraine deprived Russian President Vladimir Putin of the Queen’s departure. And if ambassadors representing North Korea and Iran received invitations to Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral on Monday, Kim Jong-un and Ali Khamenei did not receive their cards. Only the Nicaraguan ambassador was also invited.
Syria, Venezuela, Afghanistan, Belarus and Burma have been blacklisted as non-invited countries due to the breakdown of diplomatic ties following a military coup last year.
Only those countries with which Britain has diplomatic relations have received invitations. Around 500 foreign celebrities are expected to attend.
