The official date of Queen Elizabeth II's funeral was confirmed earlier today, with around 2,000 guests expected to attend.
Buckingham Palace announced the cermeony will take place at Westminster Abbey on Monday, September 19. The nation’s new monarch, King Charles III, has confirmed the day will be a bank holiday.
Millions of people across the world are expected to watch proceedings unfold on TV but only a selected group will be invited to attend the private ceremony in person. According to The Independent, President Joe Biden confirmed on Friday he would be making the trip to the UK, telling reporters in Ohio: “Yes. I don’t know what the details are yet but I will be going.”
READ MORE: Bank Holiday announced to mark the Queen's state funeral
The US President will join the Queen's four children and their partners: King Charles and the Queen Consort, Princess Anne and Sir Timothy Laurence, Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson and Prince Edward and the Countess of Wessex at the ceremony.
Also expected to attend are the Queen's grandchildren and partners, including Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge, Zara and Mike Tindall, Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank, and more.
The UK’s new prime minister Liz Truss is also likely to pay her respetcs, as well as Labour party leader Keir Starmer. An array of world leaders are likely to be in attendance, including Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who told reporters on Friday that he would like to attend.
Only 30 mourners were allowed to be present at Prince Philip's funeral in April 2021 due to coronavirus restrictions. However, the Duke’s memorial service, which was held almost a year later in March 2022, saw 1,800 guests turn out at Westminster Abbey.
The guest list included members of royal families from Spain, the Netherlands, Monaco, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, and Greece. It is expected those figures will also attend the Queen's funeral, although an official list will not be made available until closer to the day.
The ceremony will start at 11am and will follow a four-day period where the Queen will lie in state at Westminster Hall. The Queen's oak coffin - which is currently lying in the Ballroom at Balmoral Castle - will be taken by road to the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh on Sunday, September 11.
The six-hour journey by hearse will allow mourners to gather in the towns and villages to pay their respects. On Monday, the coffin will be taken from Holyroodhouse in procession to St Giles's Cathedral where it will lie at rest until Tuesday, September 13, before being taken by air by RAF plane to London.
The Queen will lie in state for four days in Westminster Hall, arriving there on Wednesday, September 14. Details of how the public can attend are expected to be released in the coming days.
We have turned comments off on this story but you can share your tribute in our online condolence book here.
READ NEXT: Queen Elizabeth II's visits to Merseyside during her reign
The day Queen Elizabeth II died as it unfolded
Everything set to happen today under King Charles' reign
Steve Rotheram shares moment Queen was "in fits of laughter" in Liverpool
Queen Elizabeth II: Leave your tribute in the Liverpool ECHO's online condolence book
