Leaders from around the world are set to descend on London for the Queen's state funeral later today as security is beefed up across the capital.
Royals, Presidents and Prime Ministers will land in the UK over the weekend ahead of the state funeral at Westminster Abbey on Monday, September 19.
US President Joe Biden was one of the first foreign leaders to confirm his attendance at what is expected to be one of the biggest police operations in London since the Olympic Games in 2012.
Senior politicians from around the UK, including Prime Minister Liz Truss and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, are expected to attend the 11am service.
Invites to the Queen's funeral have not been sent to Russia, Belarus and Myanmar, while Iran will only be represented at an ambassadorial level, Whitehall sources said.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced earlier today he would be taking ten ordinary citizens with him to the funeral.
Writing on Twitter, Albanese said that, on top of inviting Australia's heads of state, Buckingham Palace had extended the invitation to 10 Australians for their "extraordinary contributions to their communities".
Albanese's announcement of the exclusive invitations comes after he faced a backlash from the business and healthcare sectors for declaring a one-off bank holiday to mark a national day of mourning for the Queen.
He announced on Sunday that Australia will observe a bank holiday on September 22 following the monarch's funeral on September 19.
However, the news quickly drew criticism from healthcare professionals, retail and business groups who said the short-notice nature of the bank holiday will cause huge disruption for them.
Which world leaders are attending the funeral?
- Australian PM Anthony Albanese
- Austrian PM Alexander Van der Bellen
Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina
- Belgium's King Philippe and Queen Mathilde
- Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro
Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah
Bhutan king Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk
- Canada PM Justin Trudeau
European Council President Charles Michel
European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen
- Finland President Sauli Niinisto
- French President Emmanuel Macron
- German President Frank-Walker Steinmeier
- Hungarian President Katalin Nova
Indian President Droupadi Murmu
- Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin
Irish President Michael D Higgins
- Israeli PM Isaac Herzog
- Italian President Sergio Mattarella
Jordan's King Abdullah
Crown Prince of Kuwait Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Sabah
King of Lesotho Letsie III
Hereditary Prince Alois of Liechtenstein
- Netherlands King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima
- New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern
- Latvian President President Egils Levits
- Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda
- Palestinian PM Mohammad Shtayyeh
- Poland's President Andrzej Duda
- South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol
- Spain's King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia Ortiz
- Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesingh
- Trinidad and Tobago President Paula-Mae Weekes
- Danish, Norwegian and Swedish royal families will also attend
What is a state funeral?
A state funeral is a rare honour and is mostly reserved for the sovereign. The only monarch not to be given a state funeral in the last 295 years was Edward VIII, who abdicated.
State funerals have, on rare occasions, been held for distinguished figures including Sir Isaac Newton, Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington and wartime prime minister Sir Winston Churchill.
The last state funeral in the UK was Churchill's in 1965. The last state funeral for a sovereign was for the Queen's father, George VI, in 1952.
Who pays?
State funerals are publicly funded and are the responsibility of the Earl Marshal and the College of Arms. These large-scale events observe strict rules of protocol, held to honour people of national significance.
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