We’ve got several ex-PMs in Canada (Clark, Mulroney, Campbell, Chrétien, Martin and Harper) and I don’t know if all of them would get invites, if space is limited. However, if any of them do, it will be Chrétien. He and the Queen got along very well, and she appointed him to the Order of Merit on his retirement. That is one of the few orders where the monarch decides personally on appointments, no political advice, and membership is limited.
Worth a read, I’d say:
Is that what they’re calling it nowadays?
oh dear! oy! apologies to hrh the princess of wales!
No doubt about it. I was thinking that more than a few VIPs would be paying their respects outdoors during the procession or somewhere else. The service inside St. Paul’s one thing but there is a procession afterwards, I believe. I’m not sure how attendance at her burial itself will be handled.
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Out of curiosity, I looked around a bit to see who was attended King George VI’s funeral. The London Gazette reported on the many family members (many members of European royalty), foreign monarchs, and foreign world leaders. I don’t imagine that list is exhaustive.
EDIT: I was interested to learn that Harry Truman did not attend – US Secretary of State Dean Acheson attended in his stead.
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I wonder if anyone from the arts and entertainment worlds will be in St. Paul’s. At the level of Elton John, Maggie Smith, Paul McCartney, Judi Dench, etc.
The Solomon Islands is a Commonwealth realm (i.e., Elizabeth was head of state, so Charles is King of the Solomon Islands, at least for now). They will DEFINITELY have a representative, or more likely a small delegation.
More generally, every country with whom Britain has diplomatic relations will be invited to send a representative or two, and the country itself can decide who to send as their official emissary. Others will be invited on the basis of personal or familial ties.
Well, Britain has diplomatic relations with Russia, and I’m sure steps will be taken to avoid the presence of a delegation from Moscow. Just earlier this year, days after the invasion of Ukraine, the late Queen cancelled an entire reception because the Russian ambassador would have been there.
And even if there were unlimited space, everyone invited will need a security clearance. There are going to be a LOT of potential political targets there.
Can’t wait to hear his rendition of “Lizzie and the Jets”.
I wonder if/when King Charles III will create Prince Edward the Duke of Edinburgh.
Probably not until after the funeral, and possibly not until after his own coronation. Coronations have historically taken about a year to organize.
I don’t know how these things work but my sense of symmetry insists that Camilla should be the Duchess of Edinburgh.
I just read that he has already created William Prince of Wales, so maybe he will elevate Edward sooner, rather than later.
The North Korean ambassador attended William’s wedding in 2011 as an invited guest; in 1981, the Spanish king boycotted Charles’s wedding to Diana in protest over their plan to begin their honeymoon in Gibraltar, but the Spanish ambassador still showed up. (The Soviet ambassador was there too, despite the situation in Poland at the time.
Netanyahu is not the Prime Minister, at least not for the moment.
Anyway, if any Israeli leader is invited, it’ll probably be President Yitzhak Herzog. Going to these kind of things is the President’s job.
Even if he made her Duchess of Edinburgh (which he could), she wouldn’t use that title since her (new) title as Queen Consort, coupled with the courtesy style of Her Majesty, would outrank that of a duchess. Things were different with Philip, who held no higher ranking title and therefore went by that of Duke of Edinburgh.
Understood, but I had originally asked whether former world leaders might receive invitations. I didn’t make that clear when referencing Netanyahu later.
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Was listening to CNN Radio on the way home, the Jake Tapper Show to be specific. About 3:20 p.m. CDT, reporter Kaitlan Collins came on to report about Joe Biden’s expected attendance at the Queen’s funeral. Collins reported that the UK doesn’t send invitations to individuals in other countries (excepting extended family in European royal houses). Instead, invitations are extended at the national level: the US will get an invite, France will get an invite, Thailand will get an invite, etc. Sometimes nations send one person to represent their country. Sometimes a small contingent is sent.
She didn’t say whether or not these nation-level invitations capped the size of the contingent. Looking at the attendee’s at George VI’s funeral (linked above) and Winston Churchill’s 1965 funeral (link), it appears at least some nations will send more than one person.
I’m sure they have plenty of practice telling people there’s no room.
Yeah, queen consorts have always just been known as the queen.
How could you forget that Philip was a royal prince?