By NAN Staff Writer
News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Mon. Sept. 12, 2022: Several Caribbean leaders have already indicated they will be flying to London for the September 19th funeral of The Queen of England.
So far, leaders from Jamaica, The Turks & Caicos, the Cayman Islands, and Trinidad & Tobago have confirmed they will be among leaders from around the world who will be attending the state funeral for the late Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey in London from 11:00 hours BST.
Jamaica’s Governor General Sir Patrick Allen along Prime Minister, Andrew Holness, are expected to attend the state funeral service as is Trinidad and Tobago’s President, Paula Mae-Weekes.
Even though Trinidad and Tobago is a Republic, the country is flying flags at half-mast to mark the passing of the Queen.
The Governors of the Turks & Caicos and the Cayman Islands, as well as the Premiers, have also said they will attend the late Monarch’s funeral, to represent the people of the British Caribbean territories.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines PM, Ralph Gonsalves has said he will not be attending but “the government and people of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines will be represented at Her Majesty’s funeral.”
The Bahamas Prime minister has not indicated whether he will attend to date but the country proclaimed King Charles III as its new head of state during a formal ceremony at Parliament Square in the capital, Nassau, on Sunday as did The BVI, another British Caribbean territory.
This as a Black Figi born pallbearer was among those chosen to take her coffin was taken from Balmoral to the St Giles Cathedral on September 12, 2022 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Ben Tubuna from the Rewa province, Fiji, is part of the Royal Regiment in Edinburgh, the senior and only Scottish line infantry regiment of the British Army Infantry.
Other world leaders already confirmed to attend are:
OTHER WORLD LEADERS ATTENDING
– Joe Biden and Jill Biden, President and first lady of the United States
– Justin Trudeau, Canadian Prime Minister
– Charles Michel, President of the European Council
– Alexander Van der Bellen, President of Austria
– Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand
– Anthony Albanese, Australian Prime Minister
– King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands
– King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain
– Egils Levits, President of Latvia
– Mohammad Shtayyeh, Palestinian Prime Minister
– Sauli Niinisto, President of Finland
– Katalin Novak, Hungarian President
– Michael D Higgins, Irish President and Micheál Martin, Irish Prime Minister
– Juan Carlos I, Spain’s former king, and his wife Sofia
– Gitanas Nauseda, President of Lithuania
– Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lankan President
– Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President of Germany
– Yoon Suk-yeol, South Korean President
– Jair Bolsonaro, President of Brazil
– King Philip and Queen Mathilde of Belgium
– Andrzej Duda, President of Poland
– Sergio Mattarella, President of Italy
All leaders have been advised to fly commercial. World leaders have also been told they cannot use their own state cars to attend the funeral at Westminster Abbey on September 19 — and will instead be bussed in en masse from a secret site in west London.
According to the same document, King Charles III will host a reception for all the overseas leaders at Buckingham Palace on the evening before the funeral service.
Visiting heads of state will be able to attend the lying-in-state of the queen’s body, and sign the condolence book at Lancaster House immediately afterward. While at Lancaster House, foreign leaders will be able to deliver a tribute to the late queen lasting up to three minutes, which will be recorded for the media.
After the funeral service, foreign leaders will be escorted on foot to Dean’s Yard, still within the grounds of the abbey, to attend a reception hosted by Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, after which they will return by coach to west London to collect their cars.
