Strongman world leaders descend on London: Brazil’s far-right populist ruler Jair Bolsanaro speaks to crowd outside London embassy as he and other politicians visit Queen lying in state and snipers keep look out from roofs
- World leaders are arriving in London to pay their respects to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
- Snipers are on top of the Royal Hospital in Chelsea where VIPs will meet before being bussed to the Palace
- Brazil’s right-wing populist ruler Jair Bolsonaro held a tub-thumping rally from his country’s Embassy
- Mohammed bin Salman is also flying to London, the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia confirmed
- Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu will attend in place of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
- Russia and Belarus have not received invitations because of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine
- The Queen’s funeral: All the latest Royal Family news and coverage
World leaders are arriving in Britain to pay their respects to the Queen – as Brazil’s right-wing populist ruler Jair Bolsonaro held a tub-thumping rally from the windows of his country’s Embassy as he riled up a flag-waving crowd while dictatorial Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is also flying to the UK.
Around 500 emperors, kings, queens, presidents, prime ministers and other heads of states from around the planet are descending on London for Her Majesty’s state funeral at Westminster Abbey tomorrow as the world pays respect to the nation’s greatest ever monarch.
Snipers have been pictured on top of the Royal Hospital in Chelsea, where dignitaries are expected to gather before being bussed to Buckingham Palace today.
King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla are preparing to host 1,000 VIPs including US President Joe Biden, New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern and Canadian premier Justin Trudeau, alongside European royalty an senior members of the British royal family, at the magnificent palace this evening, then lead Britain in a minute’s silence from 8pm.
Most are expected to view the Queen’s coffin, which will lie in state until tomorrow morning, in the ancient heart of Parliament today after being given a VIP timeslot.
The President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins, Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed and Colombia’s First Lady Veronica Alcocer Gargia and Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva – who all arrived today – have already visited Westminster Hall to pay tribute. President Biden, who arrived late last night and, unlike other foreign leaders, will not have to ride the shuttlebuses to the abbey tomorrow, is expected to file past the Queen’s coffin today too.
But the list of VIPs also includes a string of controversial strongmen, including Bolsonaro, who was filmed today giving a thunderous speech from the windows of the Brazilian Embassy in London to a cheering crowd waving the national flag.
And today the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia confirmed that Mohammed Bin Salman, known by the abbreviation MBS, had been invited to attend the funeral. He was set to hold talks with British Prime Minister Liz Truss on Sunday evening, despite international outrage after ordering Saudi agents to brutally murder and dismember Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey in 2018.
And Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the authoritarian ruler who has jailed hundreds of journalists and busily dismantled Turkish democracy, is also coming to the funeral. China has announced it will send its vice-president, Wang Qishan, at the UK government’s invitation.
Due to strained ties, the UK has opted to invite ambassadors, not heads of state, from Iran, Nicaragua and North Korea. Meanwhile, Russia and Belarus are among a small group of nations excluded altogether following Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
President Jair Bolsonaro, left addressing a rally from the window of the Brazilian Embassy in London. Right, paying respect to Queen Elizabeth II’s flag-draped coffin lying in state on the catafalque at Westminster Hall
Preparations are made at the Royal Hospital in Chelsea, West London, where dignitaries are expected to gather before being bussed to Buckingham Palace today
Preparations are made at the Royal Hospital in Chelsea, West London
President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil and his wife Michelle Bolsonaro pay their respects inside Westminster Hall
Irish President Michael D Higgins (left), Colombia’s First Lady Veronica Alcocer Gargia and Minister Alvaro Leyva (right)
Police officers guard a gate into the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, ahead of the gathering of leaders later today
Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina Wazed is pictured inside Westminster Hall earlier today
Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan is pictured by an aide at the foot of the Queen’s coffin
Canada’s Prime Minister arrives for a meeting at 10 Downing Street with Liz Truss this afternoon
President of Barbados, Sandra Mason (left), Prime Minister of Fiji, Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama (right)
President of Albania, Bajram Begaj (left), President of Ethiopia Sahle-Work Zewde (right)
The President of India, Droupadi Murmu and Acting High Commissioner Sujit Ghosh pose after signing the book
Putin – under a travel ban to the UK because of sanctions – had already said he would not attend. But Moscow’s foreign ministry spokeswoman railed that not inviting any Russian representative to the Queen’s funeral was ‘particularly blasphemous towards Elizabeth II’s memory’ and ‘deeply immoral’.
Other countries with no invitations are Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, Myanmar – with whom relations with the UK have soured since last year’s coup – Syria and Venezuela.
The funeral of the only monarch most Britons have known involves the biggest security operation London has ever seen.
Mayor Sadiq Khan says tomorrow’s state funeral is an ‘unprecedented’ security challenge, with hundreds of thousands of people packing central London and a funeral guest list of 500 emperors, kings, queens, presidents, prime ministers and other leaders from around the world.
‘It’s been decades since this many world leaders were in one place,’ Mr Khan said. ‘This is unprecedented … in relation to the various things that we’re juggling.’
‘There could be bad people wanting to cause damage to individuals or to some of our world leaders,’ he told The Associated Press. ‘So we are working incredibly hard – the police, the security services and many, many others – to make sure this state funeral is as successful as it can be.’
Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy said the ‘hugely complex’ policing operation is the biggest in the London force’s history, surpassing the London 2012 Olympics.
‘Our response here in London will be proportionate, it will be balanced, and officers will only be taking action where it is absolutely necessary,’ he said.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley said the goal was to keep the event safe, ‘and try to do it in as unobtrusive a way as possible, because this is obviously a solemn occasion.’
More than 10,000 police officers will be on duty Monday, with London officers supplemented by reinforcements from all of Britain’s 43 police forces. Hundreds of volunteer marshals and members of the armed forces will also act as stewards along the processional route.
They are just the most visible part of a security operation that is being run from a high-tech control center near Lambeth Bridge, not far from Parliament.
Street drains and garbage bins are being searched and sealed. Tomorrow there will be police spotters on rooftops, sniffer dogs on the streets, marine officers on the River Thames and mounted police on horseback.
Flying drones over Central London has been temporarily banned, and Heathrow Airport is grounding scores of flights so that aircraft noise does not disturb the funeral service.
Authorities face the challenge of keeping 500 world leaders safe, without ruffling too many diplomatic feathers. Presidents, prime ministers and royalty will gather offsite before being taken by bus to the abbey – though an exception is being made for Mr Biden, who is expected to arrive in his armored limousine, known as The Beast.
Another challenge is the sheer size of the crowds expected to gather around Westminster Abbey and along the route the coffin will travel after the funeral, past Buckingham Palace to Hyde Park. From there it will be taken by hearse about 20 miles to Windsor, where another 2,000 police officers will be on duty.
The Queen is due to be interred in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle alongside her husband Prince Philip, who died last year aged 99.
Ireland’s President Michael D. Higgins signs a book of condolence at Lancaster House after visiting her coffin
Chad’s Minister of Petroleum and Energy Djerassem Le Bemadjiel (left), Colombia’s Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva (right)
President of Gabon Ali Bongo Ondimba (left), Foreign Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina Dr Bisera Turkovic (right)
Police are deploying more than 22 miles of barriers in central London to control the crowds, and transit bosses are preparing for jam-packed stations, buses and subway trains as 1million people flood the ceremonial heart of London. Subways will run later than normal and train companies are adding extra services to help get people home.
While many will be mourning the queen, support for the monarchy is far from universal. Police have already drawn criticism for arresting several people who staged peaceful protests during events related to the queen’s death and the accession of King Charles III.
Mr Cundy said it had been made clear to officers that ‘people have a right to protest.’
The final day of the Queen’s lying in state is set to take place, while a minute’s silence will be held later to mourn her death.
The late monarch’s coffin will remain in Westminster Hall for the public to view until 6.30am on Monday, ahead of the state funeral in Westminster Abbey, with Sunday likely to be the last chance to join the queue.
Around a million people will line the streets of London tomorrow to witness historic scenes of breathtaking pomp and splendour, punctuated by historic moments of sorrow and solemnity, as Her Majesty’s coffin is transported from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey. The Queen’s coffin will then be transported by a spectacular procession from the abbey to Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner, before she is carried by State Hearse to Windsor. There, she will be lowered into the Royal Vault at St George’s Chapel, where she will join her beloved husband the Duke of Edinburgh and parents King George VI and the Queen Mother, and where her sister Princess Margaret’s ashes are interred
Royal guards stand by Queen Elizabeth II’s flag-draped coffin lying in state on the catafalque at Westminster Hall
Tens of thousands of mourners are still queueing for at least 13 hours on the final day of Her Majesty’s lying-in-state at the Palace of Westminster before her coffin is removed from public view at 6.30am tomorrow, the morning of her state funeral at Westminster Abbey.
At 8pm, the country will observe a one-minute silence to remember the Queen, with people invited to mark the occasion privately at home, on their doorstep or street, or at community events and vigils.
It will come shortly after the Queen Consort pays a televised tribute to the late monarch, recalling her ‘wonderful blue eyes’ and saying: ‘I will always remember her smile.’
Camilla, in pre-recorded words on the BBC, will speak of how Queen Elizabeth II was a ‘solitary woman’ in a male-dominated world.
She will add: ‘I can’t remember anyone except the Queen being there.’
There will also be a service of reflection near Falkirk, Scotland at 7.30pm.
The DCMS has said the historic occasion will be shown on giant screens in various locations across the UK – from London’s Hyde Park to Coleraine Town Hall in Northern Ireland.
Around 125 cinemas will also be screening the event – along with Sky News, ITV and the BBC for people watching from home.
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