The death of the Queen – the world’s longest-reigning monarch – has not only rocked the nation, but the world. Her state funeral will be one of the largest diplomatic occasions of the century.
Buckingham Palace has confirmed her funeral will be held at Westminster Abbey at 11am on Monday 19 September.
Poignantly, it is the same venue the Queen married Prince Philip in 75 years ago, and just one year ago the Queen sat alone in the pews for his funeral.
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On the day, the large venue – which can hold up to 2,000 people – will be full of family members, world leaders, politicians, monarchs from other countries, public figures and those who worked with the Queen, all paying their last respects.
So, who can we expect to see at the Queen’s funeral, and who won’t be there?
Family
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The Queen’s family will of course be there to mourn their mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.
Her four children – King Charles III, the Princess Royal, the Duke of York, and Prince Edward – will be present, as will Camilla, the Queen Consort, and the Countess of Wessex, and the monarch’s grandchildren – princes William and Harry, Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall, princesses Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, and Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn, will also be present at the ceremony.
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The Duke of Kent, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, Princess Alexandra, and Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester – who are the Queen’s cousins – are also likely to be there.
Spouses of all close family would be expected to be present too, including Catherine, the Princess of Wales, and the Duchess of Sussex.
Members of Europe’s royal families, from countries including Spain, the Netherlands, Monaco, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, and Greece, are also likely to fly to London for the funeral.
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World leaders
Many of the world leaders the Queen met during her long reign will also be in attendance.
US President Joe Biden has confirmed he will attend, as will his wife, First Lady Jill Biden.
Westminster Abbey will be so full for the event it will only be possible for a single, senior representative from each country and their partner to attend, according to Foreign Office documents obtained by Politico – which Sky News understand to be correct.
It is therefore unclear whether former US presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, and their respective wives Michelle and Melania, all of whom met the Queen, will be in attendance.
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Liz Truss, who will be the last UK prime minister to have been officially asked to form a government by the Queen, is expected to attend, as well as Labour party leader Sir Keir Starmer.
The First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, is also expected to be there.
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European leaders to confirm their attendance include German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Italian President Sergio Mattarella.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said she will be attending.
Other world leaders who say they will be there include New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Australia’s Governor-General David Hurley, South Korean President Yoon Suk-Yeol, and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
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Japan’s Emperor Naruhito says he plans to attend, while Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida may also attend, according to Japanese media.
And away from high profile figures, some of the Queen’s closest staff, including her ladies-in-waiting and footmen, will want to be there to say a final goodbye.
And who might not be there
One high-profile world leader not expected to be there is Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Although he expressed his condolences to the King on the news of the Queen’s death, the Kremlin’s ongoing attacks on Ukraine make his attendance in London highly unlikely.
Many have also wondered whether any of the Queen’s corgis will be at the funeral.
While the formal nature of the event make that highly unlikely, sadly the ‘no dog’ rule at Westminster Abbey rules it out completely, with dogs not even permitted to walk on the grounds.
