Hundreds of leaders gathered at a reception for Carlos III in honor of Isabel

The death of Queen Elizabeth II has brought together hundreds of heads of state and dignitaries from around the world in London this Sunday to attend a reception hosted by Britain’s new monarch, Charles III, ahead of the state funeral to be held Monday at Westminster Abbey.

The King and Queen of Spain, Felipe VI and Letizia, were among the nearly 500 guests at Buckingham Palace, along with leaders such as the President of the United States, Joe Biden, the Emperors of Japan, Naruhito, and Masako, the President of the European Union. Commission. , Ursula von der Leyen, and princes of the European royal houses.

The emeritus kings of Spain, Juan Carlos I and Sofía, also attended the reception. Both entered the palace together, just over half an hour before the arrival of the current Spanish heads of state.

The British Foreign Office, which is coordinating the organization of Elizabeth II’s funeral, has arranged buses to transport most of the dignitaries to the main events scheduled for these days to facilitate mobility around the center of the British capital.

Biden, as well as France’s President Emmanuel Macron, Jordan’s King Abdullah II and other leaders, have government permission to drive their own vehicles despite everything.

BURNING CHAPEL IN WESTMINSTER

Many of the leaders invited to the funeral today paid their respects to the coffin of Elizabeth II, who died on September 8 at the age of 96, which still stands in a burning chapel at the Palace of Westminster where thousands of citizens will be continue to parade until Monday until the first hour in the morning.

Felipe VI and Letizia visited the funeral chapel in the afternoon, accompanied by the Spanish Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, and the Spanish Ambassador to London, José Pascual Marco.

The King and Queen, who arrived in the British capital with Queen Sofia in an army falcon, met the King and Queen of Sweden at Westminster Hall and the House of Commons President Lindsay Hoyle pointed to Spanish diplomatic sources.

Shortly afterwards, the President of the United States, accompanied by the First Lady, also observed a few minutes of silence in front of the remains of the British sovereign. Biden praised the “understanding of servitude” represented by Elizabeth II: “We all owe it something,” he stressed.

LARGE-SCALE DIPLOMATIC OPERATION

Foreign officials hand-written nearly 1,000 invitations to leaders and representatives of virtually every country in the world in a large-scale diplomatic operation.

Only six countries were left off the list: Syria and Venezuela, with which London has no diplomatic ties; Russia and Belarus, for their involvement in the invasion of Ukraine, as well as Afghanistan and Burma, given the complex political situation they are going through.

States such as China, with which the United Kingdom maintains tense relations, are represented at Elizabeth II’s funeral. London invited its President Xi Jinping and while it was up in the air for days as to whether Beijing would send a high representative, Vice President Wang Qishan has finally traveled to the British capital.

Among those invited to the state reception and funeral at Westminster Abbey is Olena Zelenska, wife of the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky.

LOW POLITICS PROFILE

Despite the huge gathering of world leaders in London, the British government has in recent days insisted that the London gathering pay tribute to Elizabeth II and want to keep political messages to a minimum.

Prime Minister Liz Truss, who took office two days before the sovereign’s death, planned to hold her first bilateral meeting with Biden in Downing Street this Sunday.

However, Washington and London announced the decision a day earlier to postpone the interview until Wednesday, when both will meet at the UN General Assembly in New York.

All in all, Truss spoke this weekend with the heads of government of some of the most important Commonwealth countries – Canada’s Justin Trudeau, Australia’s Anthony Albanese and New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern, as well as Ireland’s Prime Minister Micheál Martin and the President of Poland, Andzej Duda.