Death of Queen Elizabeth II - Pre-Funeral Discussion and Reception


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lula said:
No, it's information about the plane, I don't think there are photos of their arrival. Juan Carlos is not part of the official entourage nor is he an active member of the Royal family, so he does not use government planes... he will fly from Abu Dhabi.
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Is Queen Sofia flying separately from New York, or did she get back to Spain before that? I assume both King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia will use commercial flights, won't they?
 
FigTree said:
Masks have for the longest time been common in south, east Asia, long before covid. And I don’t think it’s anyones business to say what someone else’s feel comfortable with. Each to their own.

And it has not yet been classed as an endemic illness.
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Agree with this. I saw somebody on the lying in state stream with a mask on. It seemed odd to me for someone to place themselves in the situation where they would be around so many people for so long if they didn’t feel comfortable without the mask, but not for a second did I think that wearing the mask should mean the person should not be able to pay their respects. It is much better to do something that is not a requirement than to fail to comply with a requirement.

It does sound like the attendance of the Wales children isn’t confirmed: https://www.express.co.uk/news/roya...-funeral-kate-middleton-prince-william-latest .

I do hope that the decision is made by each set of parents and there isn’t a ‘no great grandchildren if the heir doesn’t go.’
 
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Mbruno said:
Is Queen Sofia flying separately from New York, or did she get back to Spain before that? I assume both King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia will use commercial flights, won't they?
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Queen Sofía has flown with the King and Queen from Madrid but will stay at a hotel with JC. Felipe and Letizia will stay at the Residence of the Spanish Ambassador.

On Monday Felipe and Sofía will fly to Madrid on the official plane and Letizia will fly to New York. JC will fly to UAE on Tuesday (iirc) by commercial plane.
 
Meee said:
Agree with this. I saw somebody on the lying in state stream with a mask on. It seemed odd to me for someone to place themselves in the situation where they would be around so many people for so long if they didn’t feel comfortable without the mask, but not for a second did I think that wearing the mask should mean the person should not be able to pay their respects. It is much better to do something that is not a requirement than to fail to comply with a requirement.

It does sound like the attendance of the Wales children isn’t confirmed: https://www.express.co.uk/news/roya...-funeral-kate-middleton-prince-william-latest .

I do hope that the decision is made by each set of parents and there isn’t a ‘no great grandchildren if the heir doesn’t go.’
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Taking Prince George to the funeral just to "reassure the UK" as the headline says would be silly. The new King has been proclaimed and his heir, the Prince of Wales, has been seen in public countless times since the Queen's passing and will be at the funeral. I don't see any need to bring along a 9-year-old boy who won't be king for maybe another 50 years or so to "reassure" the Nation.

Personally, I think Prince George could attend the shorter committal service at St George's to say goodbye to his great-grandmother, but not go to the big state funeral service at the Abbey. But that is up to his parents to decide. And I also agree that the older great-grandchildren like Savannah and Isla should not be prevented from attending just because George won't be present.
 
Mbruno said:
Is Queen Sofia flying separately from New York, or did she get back to Spain before that? I assume both King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia will use commercial flights, won't they?
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Queen Sofía travels on the official plane from Madrid. Tomorrow King Felipe and Sofía will return to Madrid on that plane, and Queen Letizia and the Minister of Foreign Affairs will travel to New York on a regular flight from London. Queen Letizia has an act with UNICEF on Tuesday in New York, so she has had to change her plans and adjust her schedule to be in London.

According to the initial plan, King Felipe and Queen Letizia plan to visit Westminster today at 4:00 p.m., I do not know if it will finally be like that because it seems that the British are making some changes and some leaders are going to go after the reception at the palace.
 
:previous:I agree with your statements regarding the children at the state funeral. I wouldn’t take a 9 year old to a state funeral especially since there will be a service at Windsor.
 
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Mbruno said:
Thanks, Alison H. Hopefully someone will post a link to Prince Andrew's tribute.

I am also waiting for a reply to my question on whether the foreign monarchs will join the funeral procession across London as was the case in the funerals of Edward VII, George V and George VI. I would guess that probably they will not (many traditions have been changed or "modernized" for Queen Elizabeth II's funeral), but I wish they could join.
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I can be proven wrong but i don’t think the Foreign monarch’s are invited to the comittal service in Windsor. Their presence are not mentioned anywhere except for the reception tonight at BP and for Westminster Abbey tomorrow…

The service in Windsor seems to be for family, friends, the royal households and the people awarded on The Queen’s last birthday honours list this summer.
 
"The last birthday honours list"? Did they not receive their awards, or something?
 
Mbruno said:
Prince Michael of Kent is a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, which he wore at Westminster Hall when the Queen's coffin arrived for the lying in state. That is the same decoration by the way that was given to King Albert when he was still Prince of Liège.

It just occurred to me that, unlike his father who wore the insignia of a GCVO to the Queen Mother's funeral, King Philippe is the only reigning European king who does not have a UK order. Nobody replied to my previous question about dress code, but if the European monarchs are in uniform tomorrow, as I expect them to be, King Philippe will have to wear his order of Leopold while the other kings (Carl Gustaf, Harald, Willem-Alexander, and Felipe) will be wearing the sash of the order of the Garter and Grand Duke Henri will be wearing the RVO.
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There was no State Visit to and from Belgium since King Baudouin's Reign, so our King will wear the Sash highest Belgian Order. You are right
 
Hans-Rickard said:
I can be proven wrong but i don’t think the Foreign monarch’s are invited to the comittal service in Windsor. Their presence are not mentioned anywhere except for the reception tonight at BP and for Westminster Abbey tomorrow…

The service in Windsor seems to be for family, friends, the royal households and the people awarded on The Queen’s last birthday honours list this summer.
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Yes, they are not invited as far as I understand too.

That is part of the changes that have been made. In the past there was only a single funeral service at Windsor, which the foreign royals also attended. Now there will be a big state funeral service at the Abbey attended by the foreign delegations and a separate committal service at Windsor only for the family, the Queen's household, and select representatives from the UK and the Commonwealth, such as Governors General and realm prime ministers.

Further details here.

That means for example that the foreign monarchs will (probably) no longer witness the proclamation of the Queen's passing by the Garter King of Arms, or the Lord Chamberlain breaking his wand of office, which will be at St George's before the coffin is lowered to the Royal Vault prior to the private interment.

In the past, not only the European monarchs, but also republican heads of state like the President of France would normally join the funeral procession.
 
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Mbruno said:
Yes, they are not invited as far as I understand too.

That is part of the changes that have been made. In the past there was only a single funeral service at Windsor, which the foreign royals also attended. Now there will be a big state funeral service at the Abbey attended by the foreign delegations and a separate committal service at Windsor only for the family, the Queen's household, and select representatives from the UK and the Commonwealth, such as Governors General and realm prime ministers.

Further details here.

That means for example that the foreign monarchs will (probably) no longer witness the proclamation of the Queen's passing by the Garter King of Arms, which will probably be at St George's before the coffin is lowered to the Royal Vault prior to the private interment.

In the past, not only the European monarchs, but also republican heads of state like the President of France would normally join the funeral procession.
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Yes i know everyone took part in the procession before from Westminster Hall to Paddington Station for the funerals for George V and George VI and then travelled by train to Windsor for a short funeral service there.

The service in St George’s Chapel for King George VI lasted barely 30 minutes. Then it was all over.

This time everything is changed as more people than ever wants to see it… And it is really the first full british state funeral that is widely accessible from everywhere in the world
 
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Prinsara said:
"The last birthday honours list"? Did they not receive their awards, or something?
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Probably not. At least not everyone as the award ceremonies for the birthday honours usually takes place in the autumn and for the new years honours in the spring.
 
Hans-Rickard said:
Probably not. At least not everyone as the award ceremonies for the birthday honours usually takes place in the autumn and for the new years honours in the spring.
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So they get invited to the comital as a compensation? That seems odd. Will they not just get the awards from Charles?
 
Prinsara said:
So they get invited to the comital as a compensation? That seems odd. Will they not just get the awards from Charles?
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Or a compensation for the fact that there is no seat to offer to the general public…

At the end of the day it is up to Charles to decide who will be offered a seat and who won’t… There is not seats for everyone who wants to attend so regardless of how it is done, some people will be dissapointed.

Ofcourse they will recive their awards
 
 
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lula said:
King Felipe and Queen Letizia leaving the Spanish embassy

https://twitter.com/x/status/1571516319463358465

King Felipe and Queen Letizia have already visited Westminster. The King and Queen of Sweden are there at the moment.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1571519911020888064
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Yes, I saw the Spanish and Swedish royal couples live on Sky at Westminster Hall a few minutes ago. The president of the European Commission was there too. I suppose we will be seeing other VIPs coming throughout the day.
 
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Mbruno said:
Taking Prince George to the funeral just to "reassure the UK" as the headline says would be silly. The new King has been proclaimed and his heir, the Prince of Wales, has been seen in public countless times since the Queen's passing and will be at the funeral. I don't see any need to bring along a 9-year-old boy who won't be king for maybe another 50 years or so to "reassure" the Nation.

.
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I agree. It’s not the Wars of the Roses. Everyone is well aware that there are two generations of heirs in place.
 
NRK just mentioned that Kong Harald and Dronning Sonja will be present later tomorrow for the committment at Windsor.
 
Tirilschatz said:
NRK just mentioned that Kong Harald and Dronning Sonja will be present later tomorrow for the committment at Windsor.
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I suppose they will be present as family since King Harald and the Queen were second cousins.

lula said:
King Felipe and Queen Letizia leaving the Spanish embassy

https://twitter.com/x/status/1571516319463358465

http://images.gtresnews.com/es/feat...espanola-en-londres/page/1/SN/ACTUALITY_TODOS

King Felipe and Queen Letizia have already visited Westminster.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1571519911020888064
https://twitter.com/x/status/1571520001827344385

http://images.gtresnews.com/es/feat...-la-reina-isabel-ii/page/1/SN/ACTUALITY_TODOS

The King and Queen of Sweden.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1571521055952609286
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President Biden and Dr Jill Biden have now paid their respects too.

[.....]
 
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[.....]

I think what it does show, is the wisdom of the organisers to arrange transport to the funeral. Could you imagine every head of state turning up in a similar convoy. They would need to start arriving at 6.00 am.

All joking aside if anybody remembers Charles and Dianas wedding, everybody made their own way, the streets were blocked with the traffic. Maybe that is why buses are now regularly used on these big occasions, think of the fumes.
 
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Izzie said:
So the non-reigning Greek royal family got three spots? Interesting.
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They're close relatives. King Constantine's father was Prince Philip's first cousin.
 
A number of political and argumentative posts have been removed. Any further comments along those lines will be deleted.
 
lula said:
Arrivals at the reception

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I must say that it’s rather annoying to see some minor government ministers arriving at the Palace by car, yet King Juan Carlos and King Harald, both of who have significant mobility issues themselves, had to use the bus!
 
irish_royalist said:
I must say that it’s rather annoying to see some minor government ministers arriving at the Palace by car, yet King Juan Carlos and King Harald, both of who have significant mobility issues themselves, had to use the bus!
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I'm sure like most busses it's accessible, obviously they would not otherwise be using it.
 
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