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The long journeys to the UK for the Queen’s funeral on Monday started in earnest today – with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese among the first dignitaries to leave.
The prime minister is taking nine ‘everyday’ people for the emotional service that will take place next week.
Among them are wheelchair tennis champion Dylan Alcott, while horse trainer Chris Waller was invited but had to withdraw on Thursday after a close family member contracted Covid-19.
The Queen knew Mr Waller well and is said to have had contact with him before her death last Thursday.
The other Australian guests are Senior Australian of the Years Valmai Dempsy and Dr Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr Baumann, Local Heroes Shanna Whan, Saba Abraham and Kim Smith, Young Australian of the Year Trudy Lin, Western Australian of the Year Helen Milroy and i4give founder Danny Abdullah.
Mr. Albanese also offered a space on his flight to Gai and Robert Waterhouse, racing champions who had a personal relationship with The Queen.
The couple had been invited to the funeral by Lord Chamberlain Andrew Parker. Another Australian who trained for the Queen, David Hayes, will attend the funeral after traveling from Hong Kong, where he is based.
Mr Albanese said earlier this week: ‘These everyday Australians will travel with me and the Governor-General and join the acting High Commissioner Lynn Atwood, who is currently based in the UK.
“We’ve put all these people together and confirmed they can travel, they’re on the same plane as I am leaving Sydney on Thursday.
While most countries can send their leader or appointed delegate plus a guest, the Commonwealth realms, which retain the monarch as head of state, get additional representation.
The rich can send prime ministers plus a guest, governors general plus a guest and the high commissioner.
They are also allowed to bring 10 ordinary citizens.
Earlier on Thursday, controversial soldier Ben Roberts-Smith flew from Brisbane to London on a commercial jet, instead of accompanying Mr Albanese.
Mr Roberts-Smith, 43, Afghanistan veterans Mark Donaldson and Daniel Keighran, and Vietnam veteran Keith Payne were individually invited by the Victoria Cross and George Cross Association.
The Queen had been patroness of the association since its inception in 1956 and before her death, she asked that all living members be invited to her funeral.
Dignitaries begin boarding one of two RAAF aircraft at Sydney Airport, Sydney this morning, ahead of the funeral next week
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Governor General David Hurley and a selection of invited guests, including Gai Waterhouse and Dylan Alcott, fly government jets to London for Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral
French President Emmanuel Macron has already confirmed that he will attend the Queen’s funeral on Monday and that he expressed his condolences to King Charles on the death of his mother during a telephone call on Wednesday evening.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and French President Emmanuel Macron will both be at the funeral
In a series of tweets, French President Emmanuel Macron said: “In a telephone conversation with His Majesty King Charles III last night, I expressed French condolences on the death of his mother, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. I will attend the funeral in London on Monday.
“The ties between France and the United Kingdom are unbreakable. We will continue to strengthen them, in the path marked by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.”
Invitations to the Queen’s state funeral were not sent to Syria, Venezuela or Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.
While most countries around the world have been invited to send their heads of state, Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro and representatives of the Taliban have all been left off the exclusive guest list.
Those three countries join Russia, Belarus and Myanmar on the list of countries that have not been asked to send a representative, while North Korea and Nicaragua have only been invited at the ambassadorial level and join Iran in that category.
Invitations are sent to most countries with which the UK has diplomatic ties. The UK has no diplomatic relations with Syria or Venezuela, while the political situation in Afghanistan since the Taliban came to power a year ago means that no representative from Kabul has been invited.
US President Joe Biden has said he will attend the funeral and will be allowed to take his legendary Beast car with him
Macron confirmed his attendance at the funeral in a series of tweets after speaking to King Charles III by phone
King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands were the first foreign royals to confirm their presence
King Felipe VI, Queen Letizia of Spain recently paid tribute to their distant relative with a heartfelt statement. They also confirmed their presence at the Queen’s funeral
As the world mourns Her Majesty’s death at the age of 96, the world’s most powerful men and women compete for seats amid limits on who can participate in the congregation of 2,000 VIPs.
No guest list has been released yet, but US President Joe Biden was one of the first to announce that he will be flying in with his wife Jill.
500 world leaders, foreign dignitaries and heads of state, including Emmanuel Macron, Justin Trudeau and Japan’s Emperor Naruhito, will attend the historic service honoring Britain’s longest reigning monarch – the first full state funeral Britain has hosted since Winston Churchill died in 1965.
European royalty, who have deep ties to the House of Windsor, have all confirmed that they will attend, including Belgium’s King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, and King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain.
Leaders from most Commonwealth countries are expected to attend the funeral, with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern saying she will make the nearly 24-hour journey with a delegation including Maori King Kiingi Tuheitian and Victoria Cross for the New Zealand recipient Bill (Willie) Apiata.
It is understood that all holders of the Victoria Cross or George Cross can also attend the Queen’s funeral.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has not been invited to the funeral. Chinese President Xi Jinping has been invited, but likely won’t leave China for the first time in two years
The leaders of Russia, Belarus and Myanmar will not be invited to the Queen’s funeral, but a number of controversial figures, including Erdogan and Bolsonaro, are coming to London and other world leaders have yet to confirm, including President Xi
The presence of Brazil’s right-wing populist president Jair Bolsonaro and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan in London could spark protests that would escalate if Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum also join Britain. invited.
Earlier this week, Vladimir Putin was again humiliated on the world stage when he was snubbed along with his ally, Belarusian Aleksandr Lukashenko.
Myanmar’s Min Aung Hlaing will also not be asked to attend as relations between the two countries remain frosty since the violent military coup of 2021.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is not expected to make the trip, who took the time to stage his country’s fight against Putin’s forces to sign a register of condolences for the Queen.
Buckingham Palace had previously declined to comment on who is on the guest list and when it is expected to be completed.