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President Joe Biden’s armored limousine has come to a halt outside a Pret coffee shop in central London today as the world leader attempts to reach Queen Elizabeth’s funeral at Westminster Abbey.
Biden and his wife Jill were seen in the back of the motorcade, known as ‘The Beast’, when it got stuck in busy London traffic this morning.
Biden waved to the crowd, who were shocked to see the US president drive past near Marble Arch in central London.
While other world leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, arrive with a fleet of buses at Westminster Abbey for the Queen’s funeral, Biden was allowed to ride in The Beast.
But commentators joked that Biden might as well have taken the bus after the video shows his motorcade rolling slowly through the streets of London before coming to a stop in front of a coffee bar in Pret.
The video shows members of the public waving and taking photos of the president as Met Police officers stood guard.
A member of the Met Police Special Escort Group was seen racing past the Beast on a motorcycle to clear the traffic ahead of them.
Biden and his wife Jill were seen in the back of the motorcade known as ‘The Beast’ as it got stuck in busy London traffic this morning
President Joe Biden, accompanied by First Lady Jill Biden, arrives at Buckingham Palace on Sunday for a state reception for heads of state
Today, up to a million people line the streets of London to bid a final farewell to the Queen, while leaders and royalty from around the world will attend her state funeral.
There are road closures across the city ahead of the Queen’s funeral, but Biden hit some of the remaining traffic today as he made his way to Windsor Castle.
In the heart of the capital, a 12-mile ring of steel has been imposed, along with the route the late monarch’s coffin will take to Windsor later in the day, where she will eventually be buried.
Despite the widespread closures, large crowds poured into central London for the funeral service this morning.
A day of funerals in London and Windsor started early as the doors of 900-year-old Westminster Hall were closed to mourners after hundreds of thousands had resigned themselves to her coffin since September 14.
Many of them had spent cold nights outside paying their respects around the Queen’s flag-draped coffin in a moving outpouring of national sadness and respect.
The hall’s closure marked the end of more than four days in which the coffin had been in state and the beginning of the UK’s first state funeral since 1965 for Winston Churchill, the first of 15 Prime Ministers during Elizabeth’s reign.
For burial, Elizabeth’s casket is transported from Westminster Hall, across the road to Westminster Abbey, in a royal gun carriage drawn by 142 Royal Navy seamen. The same coach was used to transport the coffins of the late Kings Edward VII, George V and George VI and of Churchill.
The service, in the Gothic medieval abbey where Elizabeth married in 1947 and was crowned in 1953, will be attended by 2,000 people, ranging from world leaders to health professionals and volunteers.
It will end with two minutes of silence, followed by the national anthem and the lament of a bagpiper, before the Queen’s coffin is taken in a procession, surrounded by units of the armed forces in uniform, chasing the Queen’s children, to Wellington Arch at Hyde Park.
There it will be placed in a hearse to be driven to Windsor for another procession along the Long Walk, a three-mile avenue leading to the town’s castle, for a dedicated service at St George’s Chapel. She will then be laid to rest with her late husband, Prince Philip, at a private family service.
US President Joe Biden (right) accompanied by First Lady Jill Biden (center) is welcomed by the caretaker Sir Tony Johnstone-Burt (left) as they arrive at Buckingham Palace for a state reception in honor of the late Queen
US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden wave to the crowd from ‘The Beast’ as they leave Westminster Hall after paying their respects to Queen Elizabeth II on Sunday
Biden paid his respects to Jill at the Queen’s casket on Sunday, describing the monarch as “decent” and “honorable” and “all about service” as he signed the book of condolences and said his heart went out to the royal family
Biden and other world leaders, as well as foreign dignitaries, spent yesterday at Buckingham Palace to pay their respects to King Charles ahead of the Queen’s funeral today – in what has been described by some as the ‘reception of the century’.
At one of the largest gatherings of world leaders seen in recent years, the newly crowned monarch and his wife, Queen Consort Camilla, greeted Biden and Jill, as well as the French president. Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte, before the glittering but gloomy event.
Such a reception with world leaders and British royals has not been seen since the death of Queen Elizabeth II’s father, George VI in 1952, more than 70 years ago.
Irish President Michael D Higgins, along with former King and Queen consort of Spain, Juan Carlos and Sofia and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, were dropped off a bus before the British royal couple met hundreds of people. dignitaries including New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The Prince and Princess of Wales and other working members of the Royal Family, including the Earl and Countess of Wessex, the Royal Princess and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, joined Charles and the Queen. consort to mingle with guests including The Japanese Emperor Naruhito and the kings and queens from the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.
Queen Letizia of Spain joins her husband King Felipe VI as they arrive separately at Spain’s former King and Queen Consort Juan Carlos and Sofia
President Emmanuel Macron (right) and his wife Brigitte (left) arrive for the magnificent state reception that will take place in the photo gallery and in the state apartments, including drinks and snacks
Meanwhile, Biden paid his respects to Jill at the Queen’s coffin on Sunday before recalling how the late monarch reminded him of his own mother.
The president and first lady were seen on a VIP balcony Sunday afternoon looking down on the queen’s coffin, which was under constant surveillance and draped with flags.
Biden touched his hand to his heart and appeared to offer a quick salute to the late monarch in a gesture of respect before continuing down the hall.
He later traveled to Lancaster House, where he signed the condolence book and told reporters he would remember how the Queen treated everyone “with dignity” and her 70 years of service.
After paying their respects to the late monarch, Biden joined King Charles and dozens of other world leaders and royals for a reception at Buckingham Palace.
Biden touched his hand to his heart and appeared to offer a quick salute to the late monarch in a gesture of respect before continuing down the hall on Sunday afternoon.
The president said the Queen treated people with “dignity”, adding: “I talk about my mother and father, [they] thought that everyone, no matter who they were, no matter their position, no matter where they came from, deserved to be treated with dignity.
‘And that’s exactly what they’ [Her Majesty] communicated, just the way she walked through her staff, just the way she acted. And I think what she gave is a sense of, perhaps above all, the idea of service.
“We all owe something, there’s something in our ability to do things, not just the world, but your neighborhood better, your household better, your workplace better.
“And she told me so anyway, and it was an honor to meet her.”