Tomorrow at 10:44am Queen Elizabeth II's coffin will be taken from the Palace of Westminster to Westminster Abbey for the funeral. The funeral will begin at 11am. According to 'Town and Country' magazine the following world leaders will be in attendance;
- Liz Truss: Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- Joe Biden: President of the USA
- Anthony Albanese: Prime Minister of Australia
- Justin Trudeau: Prime Minister of Canada
- Jacinda Ardern: Prime Minister of New Zealand
- Cyril Ramphosa: President of South Africa
- Emmanuel Macron: President of France
- Isaac Herzog: President of Israel
- President Erdogan of Turkey
This is just a small list of some of the more well known politicians. There is a rumour that former president Barack Obama and wife Michelle have received private invites. I guess we will have to wait and see. It is reasonable to assume that former Prime Minsters of the United Kingdom Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Therese May, Boris Johnson and John Major will attend along with London's mayor Sadiq Khan.
From the world of royalty of course we will see the British Royal family out in force this will include the Queen's four children and her eight grandchildren. It remains to be seen whether her 12 great grandchildren will attend. I would assume the children of Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie are far too young as they are just babies, and the same goes for Zara and Mike Tindall's youngest. Prince Harry and Meghan's children I believe are still at home in Los Angeles, but even if they were in the UK they are also too young to attend a funeral. If we see any great grandchildren I believe it will be limited to the eldest five; Savannah and Isla Phillips, Mia Tindall, Prince George and Princess Charlotte. At four years old I think even Lena Tindall and Prince Louis may be a touch too young to attend such a big and solemn event.
We will of course see the Queen's extended family from her nephew and niece to her cousins and their children.
It has been confirmed that King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium will attend. However former King Albert II and his wife Queen Paola will not due to health reasons (the King is 88 and the Queen 85). King Philippe is a descendant of King George II via his daughter Princess Anne.
King Jigme and Queen Jetsun of Bhutan will also make the journey. The King and Queen of Bhutan have never met Queen Elizabeth, but have met King Charles III and his wife Camilla as well as the Prince and Princess of Wales.
Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei is believed to be making an appearance. He met Queen Elizabeth II several times.
Former Tsar Simeon II of Bulgaria will be attending.
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark who has just celebrated 50 years on the throne will be attending with her son Crown Prince Frederik and his wife Crown Princess Mary. Queen Margrethe is now the only Queen in Europe and has always been close with Queen Elizabeth II. Queen Margrethe's grandmother Princess Margaret of Connaught was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, and Queen Margrethe's step grandmother Princess Louise of Battenerg was a great granddaughter of Queen Victoria via her daughter Princess Alice.
Of the Greek royal family it has been confirmed that Crown Prince Pavlos will be attending. The Greek royal family live in London and are close to the British Royal family, in fact Queen Elizabeth is the godmother of Princess Theodora. It is unknown if anyone else from the family will show, but I would not be surprised.
Emperor Naruhito and his wife Empress Masako have confirmed their attendance at the Queen's funeral.
We will see King Abdullah II and Queen Rania of Jordan.
Representing Liechtenstein will be Hereditary Prince Alois and his wife Hereditary Princess Sophie. Alois' father Prince Hans Adam II will not be attending.
Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg will be heading to London for the funeral. Grand Duke Henri is a descendant of King George II of Great Britain via his son Frederick, Prince of Wales.
The Sultan of Malaysia Abdullah Al-Haj and his wife Tunku Azizah will be in attendance.
From Monaco Prince Albert II and his wife Princess Charlene. Prince Albert's niece Princess Alexandra of Hanover is distantly related to Queen Elizabeth II via Queen Victoria's eldest daughter Princess Victoria and King George III's son Ernst Augustus King of Hanover.
From The Netherlands King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima will attend, along with the King's mother and former queen, Princess Beatrix. Princess Beatrix, Queen Elizabeth II and Queen Margrethe II of Denmark were the only Queens in the world between 1980 and Beatrix' abdication in 2013. Beatrix and her son King Willem-Alexander also happen to be distantly related to Queen Elizabeth via King George II's son Frederick Prince of Wales.
King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway will be in attendance. It is unknown whether Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit will be there, despite the fact that they were meant to be on an official visit to London earlier this month anyway. King Harald is quite closely related to Queen Elizabeth. His grandmother Princess Maud was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria and his grandfather Prince Carl of Sweden is a descendant of King George II.
Haitham bin Tarik, Sultan of Oman will also be at the funeral.
From the former royal house of Romania we will see Margareta, custodian of the crown and her husband Prince Radu. Margareta herself is a relative of Queen Elizabeth II via Queen Victoria's daughter Princess Victoria.
Crown Prince Alexander of the former royal house of Serbia will be there. It is unclear whether his wife will be attending. Queen Elizabeth II was the Crown Prince's godmother.
King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain will be attending the funeral along with King Felipe's parents, the former monarchs, King Juan Carlos I and his wife Queen Sofia. The Spanish royal family have close ties to Queen Elizabeth II as all four of the current King's grandparents descend from the British royal family.
King Carl XVI of Sweden and his wife Queen Silvia will be in attendance. King Carl XVI's grandmother was Princess Margaret of Connaught, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria.
Finally from Tonga King Tupou VI will be attending the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II
The evening before the funeral on Sunday 18th September King Charles III is holding a reception for all the dignitaries from around the world. I will post images if I can.
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