Queen Elizabeth II appeared to despise former President Donald Trump when she was essentially required to entertain him along with the former first lady, but decorum prevailed. In death, all bets are off. According to statements from Windsor Palace, only current dignitaries have been invited to the United Kingdom for the queen’s send-off.
Trump has bragged that meeting Queen Elizabeth II was “the most extraordinary honor of [his] life.” After her death, he wrote on his Truth Social channel: “May God bless the Queen, may she reign forever in our hearts, and may God hold her and Prince Philip in abiding care.”
But as it turns out, all the ass-kissing in the world can’t buy him a seat at Her Royal Majesty’s funeral. Due to limited space, only current foreign heads of state and their spouses or partners are welcome in London for the ceremony, Politico reports.
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Saturday, embassies across the globe were sent a document from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) regarding the event, explaining that the FCDO “regrets that, because of limited space at the state funeral service and associated events, no other members of the principal guest’s family, staff, or entourage may be admitted.”
The Daily Beast reports that all foreign dignitaries who have been invited are requested to fly commercial to the event “when possible” in lieu of private airplanes, and to travel to Westminster Abbey for the funeral via shuttle bus rather than their usual limos and state vehicles.
“Multiple and comprehensive layers of security will be in place across London and at all the official venues used for the state funeral and associated events,” the document reads, per The Daily Beast.
The exception to the shuttle bus scenario appears to be President Joe Biden. A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Liz Truss told The Guardian that “arrangements for different leaders will vary.” The Guardian also reported that U.S. sources told the paper the White House did not receive the same funeral requirement documents as those leaked.
Rules aside for the upcoming funeral, let’s look back on the infamous and cringeworthy visit by Trump to Buckingham Palace in 2018. The time he moved like a bull in a china shop, making every faux pas imaginable—walking in front of the queen and patting her on the back, to name a couple.
Her Royal Majesty endured Trump’s visit, but not without making a subtle statement about it. According to The Guardian, it was all in the brooches, apparently. On the first day of Trump’s visit, the queen wore a brooch given to her by President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama. On the second day, she sported a brooch given to her by Canada, a country Trump was on the outs with at the time. And on the third day, she was seen with the same brooch that she wore at the funeral of King George VI.
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