Royal Funeral: King Charles III to host over 500 world leaders in London
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: King Charles III of the United Kingdom will host over 500 world leaders, including India’s President Droupadi Murmu, in London, where his mother Queen Elizabeth II will be laid to rest on September 19.
The Queen, who died aged 96 at her Balmoral Castle summer residence in Scotland on September 8, will be laid to rest at a state funeral at Westminster Abbey on September 19.
The world leaders attending the funeral include US President Joe Biden, other kings and queens, foreign dignitaries, heads of state and government, and others.
On Wednesday, India’s Ministry of External Affairs confirmed the President’s three-day UK visit as the country’s Head of State invited for the state funeral in London. It will be the first state funeral in the UK in 57 years. They held the last one at the Abbey for Britain’s wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1965.
According to official reports in London, King Charles III will host a reception for the overseas leaders at Buckingham Palace in London on Sunday evening before the funeral service on Monday at 11 am local time.
Visiting heads of state, including President Murmu, are expected to attend the reception.
Earlier on Sunday, President Murmu may attend the Lying-in-State of the Queen’s coffin at Westminster Hall, sign a condolence book, and deliver a condolence message on behalf of the Government of India at Lancaster House near Buckingham Palace.
After the funeral service on Monday, the Queen’s coffin will be taken in procession from Westminster Abbey to St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. A reception in Windsor is likely to include the visiting heads of state from Commonwealth nations and key UK allies, the media reported.
A second reception will take place at Church House within the Abbey grounds in London for other visiting dignitaries, including senior government ministers and diplomats.
According to the British media reports, in the wake of the Ukraine crisis, Russia, Belarus, and Myanmar have not been invited to the state funeral.
Myanmar, which supported Moscow, is not on the invite list as the UK has not had formal diplomatic relations with the Southeast Asian country since a military coup removed Aung San Suu Kyi’s government in 2021. While invited, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky is unlikely to attend given the ongoing conflict.
Some countries with which the UK shares less than friendly relations, such as Iran, will only be represented at an ambassadorial level.
Reports of world leaders being transported by bus to the Abbey on the day of the funeral do not apply to every visiting dignitary. US President Joe Biden will arrive in his armored Cadillac, known as the Beast, the media reported.
Many other world leaders will also use their own vehicles, with invitees being requested to be flexible to avoid gridlock in the heart of London on the day of the funeral.
Besides Presidents Murmu and Biden, world leaders who will attend the funeral include the prime Ministers of New Zealand, Canada, and Australia, President Ramaphosa of South Africa, and President Steinmeier of Germany.
Monarchs expected to attend include King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, and King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain.
