The many facets of the British security state is preparing for what will be the largest security operation in the history of the UK when hundreds of world leaders and dignitaries and millions of people will descend upon London to pay their respects at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.
On Tuesday evening, the body of the late British Monarch arrived at Buckingham Palace on a military plane from Scotland before being transported again on Wednesday to Westminster Hall — part of the palace that is home to the Houses of Parliament — where she will lie in state. Until the funeral on Monday, the doors of the palace will be left open to allow the public to pay their respects to the Queen.
On the day of the funeral, Monday the 19th, up to ten thousand of police officers, both uniformed and plain clothed, will patrol the event alongside intelligence officials from the security services MI5 and MI6 as well as GCHQ. In preparation for any potential attack, special forces including Special Air Services (SAS) units have been pre-deployed to the capital.
Alongside monitoring activity on the day, teams of police, under the direction of Scotland Yard, will be tasked with tracking any potentially dangerous individuals who travel to London prior to the day, including known terror cells or so-called lone wolf suspects.
In addition to needing to protect the British public, the Royal Family and members of the UK government, hundreds of world leaders and dignitaries will also be travelling to London to pay their respects to the Queen, further complicating security measures. While it s believed that plans have been in place for over a decade for a potential funeral, many of the specific logistics are impossible to plan so far in advance.
Police officers with snipers stand on the roof of St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh on September 11, 2022, where Queen Elizabeth II will lie at rest. – Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin will travel by road through Scottish towns and villages on Sunday as it begins its final journey from her beloved Scottish retreat of Balmoral. The Queen, who died on September 8, will be taken to the Palace of Holyroodhouse before lying at rest in St Giles’ Cathedral, before travelling onwards to London for her funeral. (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / AFP) (Photo by ODD ANDERSEN/AFP via Getty Images)
Former military intelligence officer Philip Ingram told the Daily Mail: “It’s one of the biggest security headaches for the UK because of the nature of the event, widely publicised days in advance and just about every world leader possible coming into London.
“GCHQ with allied spy agencies will be making sure they are tuned into any particular threat, MI5 and MI6 will be looking to international organisations that they cooperate with.
“It will attract everyone from across the globe and those that will potentially want to disrupt it – terrorists, hostile intelligence agencies.
“Even Vladimir Putin would love this to go wrong with the UK’s support for Ukraine, or whether it’s animal rights protesters – it will attract every level of threat but the security services will be working very hard to mitigate any of these threats.”
While invitations are expected to be sent to murderous dictators such as Communist China’s Xi Jinping and North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un — though both are unlikely to attend except at ambassadorial level — three countries have been signalled out specifically for not being invited to attend the funeral, Russia and its close ally Belarus amid ongoing diplomatic tensions with the UK over the invasion of Ukraine, as well as the military junta in Burma (Myanmar).
Official state visits with one world leader are typically complex security events, the number of world leaders attending the funeral will be near unprecedented. Major world leaders including United States President Joe Biden, Japanese Emperor Naruhito, French President Emmanuel Macron and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are all expected to attend the funeral at Westminster Abbey.
Spain will likely be represented by King Felipe VI, who has blood ties to the British Royal Family. The royal families of Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden are all expected to attend the funeral as well.
Former Met Police commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson said: “It’s not only a once in a lifetime event such as the Queen’s funeral but you’ve got many dignitaries from around the world and the security challenges that brings.
“The Met is well practised in doing huge events for a long time and I’m quite sure they will be up to it.
It will take huge resources to ensure the event is carried out with a sense of enormous dignity and without any interference whatsoever.”
Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka
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