Donald Trump could face disappointment when the seating plan for the funeral of Pope Francis is released.
Vatican protocol suggests that he will not be in the front row of dignitaries when he arrives at St Peter’s Basilica on Saturday morning, the Telegraph reports.
While he is used to being the most important person at every event he attends - Mr Trump may have to settle for row three.
The Vatican has not released official details yet, but clues can be gleaned from the last funeral of a sitting pope – that of the Polish pontiff John Paul II in 2005, the Telegraph reported.
It said foreign dignitaries will be seated in a large block to one side of Francis’s coffin, while archbishops, bishops, patriarchs and cardinals – the red-robed “princes of the Church” – will be seated opposite them.
Catholic royalty will be seated in the front row of seating.
Next will come non-Catholic royals such as the Prince of Wales, who is attending the funeral on behalf of King Charles.
Then come world leaders, heads of state and other foreign dignitaries, including Mr Trump, as well as Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president ; Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister; and Javier Milei, the president of Argentina – Pope Francis’s home country.
For the funeral, the world leaders will be seated in alphabetical order according to the name of their country in French – as it was the traditional language of diplomacy when the protocols were made.
It may leave Mr Trump without the view of proceedings he would have hoped for.
It also could leave him red-faced after he mocked his predecessor, Joe Biden, for where he was seated, during Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral
Due to preference being given to those representing Commonwealth countries, Mr Biden was seated on row 14.
Mr Trump posted on social media: “This is what’s happened to America in just two short years. No respect. However, a good time for our president to get to know the leaders of certain Third World countries.
“If I were president, they wouldn’t have sat me back there – and our Country would be much different than it is right now.
“In real estate, like in politics and in life, location is everything.”
