Dignitaries in UK for Queen Elizabeth’s Monday funeral

No fewer than 500 guests including presidents, heads of government and monarchies representing nearly 200 countries and territories are expected to make it to the funeral service for Queen Elizabeth II on Monday,

They include US President Joe Biden, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, French President Emmanuel Macron, New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Nigeria’s Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

Also on the guests’ list are Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, Belgium’s King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia, Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia and the Netherlands’ King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima.

Security has been tightened across the country especially in the capital London where a security scare interrupted the Queen’s sombre lying-in-state late Friday.

A man unexpectedly breached security, bursting out of queue during the lying-in-state in parliament’s Westminster Hall and approached the coffin, which sits topped with the Imperial State Crown.

The police promptly wrestled him to the ground and took him away for interrogation.

King Charles and his siblings – Princess Anne and Princes Andrew and Edward- were at the Friday final vigil for the Queen while the grandchildren held a vigil around her coffin last night.

The Prince of Wales, on a surprise walkabout alongside his father King Charles after shaking hands and talking to hundreds of royal fans yesterday, thanked mourners queuing 14 hours to see the Queen’s coffin lying-in-state.

Prince William and Britain’s new monarch greeted hundreds of people along the South Bank near Lambeth Bridge in London to cheers of ‘hip hip hooray’ and ‘God Save the King’ as they passed by.

Many took photographs and pressed against the metal barriers, eager to exchange a word with the King and the heir to the throne as they shook hands with those closest, according to Mail of London.

Meawhile, Queen Elizabeth II’s eight grandchildren mounted a vigil around her coffin yesterday, hours after King Charles III and his heir Prince William staged an unscheduled London walkabout to thank those queueing overnight to pay their last respects.

William and his brother Prince Harry led the 15-minute vigil inside parliament’s Westminster Hall, which has hosted tens of thousands of mourners since the late queen began lying in state there on Wednesday.

The grandchildren, aged from 44 to 14, stood silently with their eyes lowered as members of the public filed past.

Harry — who served two tours with the British Army in Afghanistan — wore his military uniform, despite no longer being a working royal, after being given special permission by his father.

The move appeared to be the latest olive branch offered by King Charles towards his youngest son after Harry and his wife Meghan, now living in California, accused the royal family of racism.

An impromptu walkabout by the king and his eldest son William earlier delighted mourners who had queued all night to see Queen Elizabeth’s coffin before Monday’s grand state funeral.

Queen Elizabeth’s death on September 8 aged 96, after a record-breaking 70 years on the throne, has sparked an outpouring of emotion.

Tens of thousands of people are braving waits that have stretched to more than 25 hours to view her coffin.

Volunteers handed out blue blankets to guard against the night-time chill.

Some 435 people in the queue have needed medical treatment, often for head injuries after fainting, the London Ambulance Service said.

But Alison Whitham, an ex-nurse from Ashby in the English Midlands, said her 14-hour wait was well worth it after paying her final respects.

“It was very moving, very dignified, blissfully quiet,” the 54-year-old said.

Police are mounting Britain’s biggest-ever security operation for Monday’s funeral, with hundreds of dignitaries expected for the final goodbye.