Queen’s funeral guest list: who is invited and who is not?

Nearly 500 dignitaries from around the world are set to descend on London to pay their last respects to Queen Elizabeth II at a full state funeral at Westminster Abbey on Monday.

They will join members of the Royal family, UK prime ministers past and present, and key figures from public life in one of the largest diplomatic moments of the century.

“This is the biggest international event we have hosted in decades,” a Whitehall source said.

The source compared the logistical task to organising “hundreds of state visits” within a matter of days. Normally, there might only be two or three a year.

It presents a huge logistical, diplomatic and security challenge, with practice runs taking place in the dead of night.

So, who can we expect to see attend Her Majesty’s funeral?

The Royal family

The late Queen’s four children – King Charles III, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward – will be present at the funeral, as well as their respective spouses: Camilla, the Queen Consort; Sophie, Countess of Wessex and Sir Tim Laurence. The Duke of York’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, is also expected to attend.

The late Queen’s grandchildren will also be in attendance at the service - Prince William, Price Harry, Peter Phillips, Zara Tindall, Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie, Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn.

Spouses of close family, including Catherine, the Princess of Wales and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex will pay their respects too.

Other Royals expected to attend the funeral ceremony include Queen Elizabeth II’s cousins: the Duke of Kent, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, Princess Alexandra and Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester.

Foreign royals

Monarchs from across the world will also fly into London to pay their respects. Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia have been confirmed as guests, while former king and queen Juan Carlos and Sofía have been invited.

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway and Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene of Monaco have all confirmed their attendances.

Other members from Europe’s royal families will also be in attendance, including Sweden, Denmark, Belgium and Greece.

Royal representation at the funeral will include:

• Crown Prince of Bahrain

• King of the Belgians

• King of Bhutan

• Sultan of Brunei

• Queen of Denmark

• Emperor of Japan

• King of Jordan

• Crown Prince of Kuwait

• King of the Kingdom of Lesotho

• Hereditary Prince Alois of Liechtenstein

• Grand Duke of Luxembourg

• Malaysian Sultan

• Prince of Monaco

• Crown Prince of Morocco

• King of the Netherlands

• King of Norway

• Sultan of Oman

• Amir of the State of Qatar

• Salman of Saudi Arabia

• King of Spain

• King of Sweden

• King of Tonga

• President of the UAE

World leaders

Her Majesty met countless world leaders during her 70-year reign and many of these politicians will attend her state funeral.

The recently appointed prime minister, Liz Truss, will attend, as well as the Labour party leader, Sir Keir Starmer.

Both the First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, and the Irish premier, Michael Martin, have also confirmed they will be travelling to London for the service.

A representative from every G7 country will also attend including: President Biden, President Macron, President Steinmeier, President Mattarella, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Japanese Emperor Naruhito.

President Joe Biden has said he will be present, with his wife, First Lady Jill Biden. The former US presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama will also not be attending, the White House confirmed on Monday.

Mr Biden has been given special permission to use his armoured limousine, dubbed “the beast”, in what will be a huge security operation with other world leaders expected to be bussed into Westminster from secure locations to lessen the environmental impact.

The Government will invite Mr Trump to a memorial service in honour of the Queen in Washington DC after the former US president was left off the guest list, The Telegraph has learned.

European leaders who will be in attendance include the French president Emmanuel Macron, the German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Italian president Sergio Mattarella and Finland's Sauli Niinisto - the latter as per his presidential statement.

It is also thought that Olena Zelensky, wife of the Ukrainian president Volodymyr, will be among those attending, while her husband stays at home amid the continued war with Russia.

The European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, and European Council President, Charles Michel, will also attend.

Mr Macron tweeted:

Other world leaders who will also be present are Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s prime minister, who can bring 10 guests including the Maori King, Tūheitia Paki. Her Australian and Canadian counterparts Anthony Albanese and Justin Trudeau will also be there. David Hurley, Australia’s Governor-General, will also be joining, as will Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s president.

Yoon Suk-Yeol’s office confirmed the South Korean president’s attendance. A representative of North Korea will be allowed to attend the funeral. Britain and North Korea established diplomatic relations in 2000 after 60 years without embassies. However, Kim Jong Un, the country’s leader, rarely travels abroad and is unlikely to attend.

The Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako will travel to Britain to attend. Traditionally, a Japanese emperor stays away from funerals whether at home or abroad because of a cultural belief based in the Shinto religion that considers death impure. The decision for Naruhito to attend the Queen's funeral underscores the importance and the deep bond between the royal families.

HH Amir Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, Emir of Qatar, will also be attending the funeral, according to a source familiar with the Qatari leadership.

Israel’s president will be present, however the prime minister will not attend. Although Iran's Supreme Leader will not be attending, the BBC’s James Lansdale confirmed that the country would be represented at an ambassadorial level.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s president, has said he will attend “if the schedule allows”.

Wang Qishan, China’s vice president, will attend the funeral at the invitation of the British Government, the ministry of foreign affairs said on Saturday. However, his attendance has been criticised by senior Conservative MPs, who say it is “extraordinary” that representatives of the Chinese government have been invited given accusations of genocide in Xinjiang.

Four leaders of Pacific Commonwealth nations will join the Australian Prime Minister at the Queen's funeral.

Anthony Albanese told a press conference shortly before midday local time on Wednesday that the leaders of the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Samoa and Papua New Guinea have accepted Australia’s offer of help with transportation to London.

The delegation, which is due to leave on Thursday evening, will also include governor-general David Hurley as well as 10 Australian citizens “who have made extraordinary contributions to their communities”.

Special guests and foreign delegations

Seventeen of the 23 recipients of the Victoria Cross and George Cross will attend the service, including one from New Zealand and four from Australia.

Seven will be involved in the Procession of the Orders of Chivalry, including Colour Sergeant Johnson Beharry VC, who was awarded Britain’s highest military honour for twice saving colleagues while under fire in Iraq.

Jacinda Amey, who risked her life to pull a friend to safety amid a great white shark attack, when she was just 23, is one of 10 guests that New Zealand has been allowed to invite to the funeral.

The country’s delegation will also include Kiingi Tuheitia, a Maori king, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, the celebrated soprano, and young entrepreneur Jacqueline Gilbert.

Also in attendance will be Willie Apiata, a special forces soldier who won the Victoria Cross for his bravery under fire while fighting in Afghanistan. He is the only recipient of the Victoria Cross for New Zealand, which replaced the British Victoria Cross in 1999.

This invitation privilege has been extended to all Commonwealth nations, while other countries have been limited to just two guests, in addition to state dignitaries.

Decorated military veteran Ben Roberts-Smith is among the special guests to represent Australia at the funeral. He received the Victoria Cross for his bravery in battle as a corporal in the Australian SAS in Afghanistan in 2010.

The Australian delegation will also include Chris Waller, a horse trainer who looked after many of the Queen’s horses.

Australia has offered to help delegations from Commonwealth countries in the South Pacific fly to the UK for the funeral, including Samoa, Tuvalu, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Tonga and Vanuatu.

Mr Trudeau has invited Leslie Arthur Palmer, a member of the coast guard who was awarded Canada’s Cross of Valour for rescuing two fisherman in 2004. Also in attendance will be Sandra Oh, the Killing Eve actress, who forms part of Justin Trudeau’s official delegation. She will participate in a procession of recipients of national honours, but is not expected to take a seat in Westminster Abbey.

Other recipients of the Order of Canada – the country’s second highest civilian honour – including musician Gregory Charles and Mark Tewksbury, the Olympic gold medal swimmer will also be present.

Non-high profile figures

Her Majesty relied on many close staff, such as her ladies-in-waiting and footmen, who will most likely also be in attendance to pay their respects to the late Queen. One confirmed invite is Angela Kelly, the late Queen’s dresser and trusted confidante.

And taking their place alongside the visiting dignitaries will be 183 members of the public, chosen for their service to the community. This may be a grand state occasion, but it is also the people’s funeral, reflecting the late monarch’s connection to her subjects.

Those members of the public were all recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List earlier this year.

The late Queen had specified that honours recipients from all corners of the United Kingdom be included on the guest list, along with George Cross and Victoria Cross holders whose bravery she held in high regard.

They include Barbara Crellin, from Rutland, who was awarded the MBE for setting up an emergency first responder scheme in her local community. Mrs Crellin, 71, also does voluntary work encouraging children to take part in sport.

“When they told me why they were calling, you could have knocked me down with a feather,” Mrs Crellin said of her telephone call from the Cabinet Office last Saturday, inviting her to attend the funeral.

Pranav Bhanot, 34, a solicitor and parish councillor honoured for distributing food to housebound residents of Chigwell, Essex during lockdown, said that the invitation was “the last thing I expected”.

Robert Lodge, of Weeley Heath in Essex, is a veteran who was honoured for his work with the Red Cypher charity, which supports past and present members of 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery.

“That’s a special feeling, to get that invite,” said Mr Lodge, 71. “It is a duty and I feel privileged, and, ‘Why me?’”

He met the Queen in Germany in 1984 when she visited a gunner parade in Dortmund. “She was friendly, straight-talking as everyone knows her to be, and a wonderful person,” he added.

Mr Lodge said he had been moved by the national outpouring of grief. “Only this country would produce the standard of organisation and pageantry that we’re seeing on television. Absolutely amazing. Outstanding.”

Guy Addington, 45, an RNLI volunteer from Margate in Kent, is credited with saving 13 lives at sea, although he stressed that it was always as part of a crew.

He followed his father and grandfather by working at the lifeboat station in Margate, and met the Queen when she visited in 2011.

“The Queen was so interested and really supportive of the RNLI. She would often pay ad-hoc visits and we enjoyed a visit of that type in Margate.”

Mr Addington said of his invitation to the funeral: “It’s in no way lost on me, the magnitude of this moment in history, so to have the opportunity to be even slightly involved, let alone actually go to the service, is just incredible.”

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “These individuals drawn from across the UK were recognised for their extraordinary contributions in areas including the response to the Covid-19 pandemic, people who volunteered in their communities, charity workers and those who work in healthcare, education and the wider public sector”.

Who will not be attending the Queen’s funeral?

Invitations to the Queen’s funeral have not been sent to Russia, Belarus and Myanmar.

Russia has not been invited because of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, diplomatic sources said.

According to Dmitry Peskov, although “Russians respected her for her wisdom”, Putin’s attendance at the late Queen’s funeral “is not being considered”.

Venezuela and Syria are not invited because Britain does not have full diplomatic relations with them, The Telegraph understands. No representatives from Afghanistan will be invited because of the current political situation there.

When will the seating plan be released?

The seating plan is expected to be released over the weekend.

This article is kept updated with the latest information.