Joe Biden to join world leaders in attending Queen’s funeral
Joe Biden caught the White House off guard on Friday when the President said he planned to travel to London for the Queen’s funeral.
Joe Biden caught the White House off guard on Friday when the President said he planned to travel to London for the Queen’s funeral.
Past presidents have not attended the past two state funerals in Britain – for George VI in 1952 and Winston Churchill in 1965 – but Mr Biden will be among scores of heads of state and government to arrive in the capital before the service next Monday.
The leaders of most Commonwealth countries are expected to attend the funeral at Westminster Abbey, including New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – whose journey will take almost 24 hours – and her Australian and Canadian counterparts, Anthony Albanese and Justin Trudeau.
Other European royal families are expected to be present, including King Felipe of Spain and wife Queen Letizia.
Emperor Naruhito of Japan has confirmed his attendance.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, who has paid tribute to the Queen as “a legend”, will also be present.
International guests are said to have been asked to travel on commercial flights and forbidden to use helicopters or private cars to reach the funeral.
They are to arrive together on a bus from a site in west London, Politico said, in citing official documents.
Westminster Abbey is expected to be so full that only one representative from each country can attend, although they can be joined by their significant other.
Questions have been asked in the US over whether former president Donald Trump would be invited but British sources have scotched the idea he could accompany the US delegation and said there would not be space for Mr Biden’s predecessors.
Former US president Dwight Eisenhower attended Churchill’s funeral, but in a private capacity.
A reception for overseas leaders will take place at Buckingham Place on the eve of the service, but no bilateral meetings will be allowed because of the strain on security teams, according to the Foreign Office guidance. The funeral will be an opportunity for the King and Prime Minister to meet world leaders and, in Charles’s case, renew acquaintances.
France’s Emmanuel Macron is likely to be among the presidents, including Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, who will be in London.
It is not clear whether Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, will travel to the funeral.
President Xi Jinping of China has not yet said he will attend.
President Vladimir Putin, who expressed sadness at the Queen’s death, will not attend. The war in Ukraine appears to have turned against him in recent days, but in 1965, at the height of the Cold War, the Soviet Union sent its deputy prime minister to the service for Churchill at St Paul’s Cathedral.
It is not thought President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, who has become a staunch ally of the UK in recent months, will attend given the conflict in his country.
The last major gathering of world leaders for the funeral of an international statesman was in South Africa for Nelson Mandela in December 2013.
The Times
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