Presidents, prime ministers and monarchs from around the world will travel to London over the weekend to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth and attend a reception at Buckingham Palace to be hosted by King Charles the day before her funeral.
U.S. President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron are among the most high-profile guests from overseas who have confirmed they will be attending.
Heads of state and other senior foreign dignitaries will be asked to gather at the Royal Hospital, a retirement and nursing home for veteran soldiers in west London, and will “travel under collective arrangements to Westminster Abbey”, a senior Buckingham Palace official said.
The funeral will be one of the biggest policing events in Britain’s history as world leaders, kings and queens and huge crowds from home and abroad descend upon London for the event.
King Charles and Camilla, the Queen Consort, will hold a reception at Buckingham Palace on Sunday, the official state event before the funeral.
Foreign dignitaries who do come to Britain will also be invited to visit the Queen’s Lying in State inside parliament’s Westminster Hall ahead of the funeral.
“Her Majesty’s passing has left many people, across many continents, with a profound sense of loss,” said the Earl Marshal, Edward Fitzalan-Howard, the Duke of Norfolk, England’s most senior peer who is in charge of state occasions.
“It is our aim and belief that the state funeral and events of the next few days will unite people across the globe.”
Immediately after the funeral on Monday, Britain’s foreign minister James Cleverly will host a reception for guests at nearby Church House, as members of the royal family head to Windsor for the queen’s burial.
