According to the article below all heads-of-state will only be allowed to attend the funeral of Queen Elizabeth with one other person (presumably their spouse as a +1). They are not allowed to bring their entourage nor will they be allowed to travel to the venue (Westminster Abbey) in anything other than a provided shuttle bus.
Will the US Secret Service allow the president out of their protection like that? The British government has, of course, said there will be comprehensive security provided and they are as good at that job as anyone.
Still, I can’t imagine the SS being ok with relinquishing control of the president’s security to anyone else. Can they stop the president from attending or only strongly advise against it? That or insist to the British that they absolutely must be allowed to maintain security for the president?
Certainly, the Secret Service cannot prevent the President from attending the funeral if he insists on it. This has come up in other threads, and the general consensus was that his agents may throw him in the car during an attack without consulting him about it, but if he says he wants to do something in advance they can advise against it but ultimately have to make the best of it.
But I don’t take that article as saying the Secret Service will be entirely absent. They may not be inside Westminster Abbey during the service, but they’ll almost certainly be present on the perimeter. And I’m sure they’ve got a strong relationship with British security services to ensure that their standards of protection are being met.
I recall Trump claiming that he wanted to join the crowd (of insurrectionist to help overthrow the US government) on January 6th but the secret service would not allow him to. But then again Trump’s ability to tell truth has not been stellar.
Does the SS detail count as an ‘entourage’? Either way, there have to be extremely well-established lines of communication for negotiating security presence for visiting heads of state.
I think the issue here is it is not one head-of-state visiting and their cavalcade. Since it will be loads of heads-of-state the Brits decided it would be just nuts dealing with everyone and their procession of security cars and guards and press secretaries and what-not and decided they all need to stay home.
From a security perspective, the funeral itself will probably be one of the safest places in the world for the duration. The full weight of one of the most powerful nations on earth will be devoted to keeping it locked down and secure.
Unless we’re currently in the prologue of a Michael Bay movie, in which case Biden should definitely stay home.
The correct response will be to send Barack and Michelle. I’m sure they’d like a trip on the Presidential plane again, and they could do some repair work on the “special relationship” CFSG mucked up.
Yes, that article makes clear that these are general security guidelines, not iron-clad rules that absolutely everybody will be expected to follow without exception. I’m sure the SS and their British counterparts will be able to work out a mutually acceptable deal.
I don’t agree. There will be massive resources dedicated to security, but the presence of such a large number of people inside the security cordon inevitably introduces risk. And the huge “payoff” to a successful terrorist attack provides an unusually strong incentive.
Very few heads of state require the security protection that the US president needs. So the guidelines make sense, because most presidents/kings can follow them.
The same is true for all countries. (Not that other countries have to protect their heads of state from Americans, but that assassins in the great majority of cases are domestic citizens.)
