London: The United Kingdom will bid Queen Elizabeth II farewell on September 19, when the state funeral takes place at Westminster Abbey.
The Queen, who reigned for a record 70 years, died at the age of 96 at her Balmoral royal estate in Scotland on September 9.
Her coffin has been lying in state at Westminster Hall since Wednesday evening after being being flown in from Scotland. Tens of thousands of people from the UK and other countries are queing up for up to 10 hours to visit Westminster and pay their respects to the Queen.
Massive preparations are underway for Monday’s funeral, when hundreds of distinguished guests — ranging from political heads of countries to royal family members and dignitaries from across the world — will be in attendance.
President Draupadi Murmu will be travelling to London to offer condolences on behalf of India.
However, there are some countries which are not on the guest list. New York Post reported names of six countries that didn’t make the cut. They are – Russia, Belarus, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Syria and Venezuela.
According to Edward William Fitzalan-Howard, the official in charge of arrangements, the funeral and events preceding that are intended to “unite people across the globe and resonate with people of all faiths, whilst fulfilling her majesty and her family’s wishes to pay a fitting tribute to an extraordinary reign.”
However, the actions of some governments — like Russia and Belarus which launched a military invasion against Ukraine last February – have been strongly condemned by UK and several other countries leading to strong sanctions also.
