World Leaders, Royals Arrive at Ancient Westminster Abbey For Queen’s Funeral, Largest Police Operation in UK History

Thousands of Kings, Queens, Presidents, Prime Ministers, Ambassadors, and other invited guests are arriving at Westminster Abbey for Monday morning’s funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.

The late Queen Elizabeth II will be laid to rest on Monday, following her passing 11 days ago on September 8th. The five-day lying-in-state at Westminster Hall finished this morning, during which hundreds of thousands of people were able to file past the Queen’s coffin in silence to pay final respects.

Indicating the strength of feeling for the late Queen among the British, the queue to pay respects snaked through London along the River Thames non-stop for the near-five-day period, and despite constantly moving forward with people admitted to the Hall at times well exceeded five miles in length and even approached 24 hours wait time.

Having lain in state, the final public mourner passed through Westminster Hall early this morning before it was closed, and the Queen’s coffin prepared to be moved to Westminster Abbey, the ancient Norman church from which the political heart of the UK — Westminster — takes its name. In line with a 120-year-old Royal tradition, the coffin will be borne on an army field gun carriage pulled by a team of 142 Royal Navy sailors from Hall to Abbey for today’s State Funeral.

The funeral will last one hour from 1100 BST (0600 EST). The Queen will again be moved, first on the state gun carriage from the Abbey to Wellington Arch, and then by hearse to Windsor Castle where she will be privately interred with her late husband, the Duke of Edinburgh.

What may be the largest gathering of heads of state ever has of course triggered the United Kingdom’s largest ever security operation, as Royals, Presidents, Prime Ministers, ambassadors, and government ministers, as well as hundreds of recipients of awards from the late Queen and leaders of charities she was patron to travel to central London. While protests by malcontents are possible, of greater concern is the risk of terrorism against such a huge concentration of people: of the invited VIPs inside the church, and the great crowds of well-wishers outside.

The logistical difficulties of moving so many world leaders into central London for the church service has created some difficulties, with world leaders normally accustomed to being chauffeured and flown on private helicopters to their every destination asked by the British government to use alternatives today, to avoid limousine traffic jams. Some world leaders have taken to this with greater humility than others: it is believed the Emperor of Japan will be travelling to the Abbey by bus, while U.S. President Joe Biden will be going in the presidential motorcade.