One of the first to agree was American President Joe Biden.

Just one day after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, he announced last Friday that he would be traveling to London for the monarch's funeral.

At the time, neither the date nor any other details were known at all.

The invitations for the state funeral on Monday were then sent out over the past weekend.

Biden and his wife Jill are among the approximately 500 dignitaries who fall into the category of heads of state and government and crowned heads.

Around 2000 guests from all over the world are expected.

Peter Philipp Schmitt

Editor in the department "Germany and the World".

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Among others, the Japanese Emperor Naruhito and his wife, Empress Masako, have agreed.

Only once before has a Japanese emperor traveled to the funeral of a foreign head of state: Emperor Akihito attended the funeral ceremonies for Belgian King Baudouin in 1993.

Numerous kings and queens travel from Europe, if only because a number of them are related to each other through Queen Victoria, the great-great-grandmother of Elizabeth II.

The Spanish King Felipe VI has promised to come.

and his wife Letizia, as well as former king Juan Carlos I and his wife Sofía;

the Belgian King Philippe and his wife Mathilde;

King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and his wife Máxima, and his mother Princess Beatrix, former Queen of the Netherlands;

Danish Queen Margrethe II and Crown Prince Frederik with his wife Mary;

the Norwegian King Harald V and his wife Sonja;

the swedish king Carl XVI.

Gustaf and his wife Silvia;

and Prince Albert II of Monaco.

The Jordanian King Abdullah II and his wife Rania also want to travel.

The German relatives are also invited, including to the private part of the funeral.

Elisabeth's two great-nephews, Philipp Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and Bernhard Prince of Baden, have confirmed their participation.

Germany is officially represented by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife Elke Büdenbender, Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen comes from Austria and President Emmanuel Macron from France.

The series could go on and on, with Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro, Italy's Sergio Mattarella, India's Draupadi Murmu, South Korea's Yoon Suk-yeol, Australia's Anthony Albanese and New Zealand's Jacinda Ardern.

Among others, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will be taking part on behalf of the European Union.

The list of countries that were not included and will probably not be represented at ambassadorial level is much shorter: including Afghanistan, Syria and Venezuela.

Representatives from Belarus, Myanmar and Russia will also not come.

The ambassadors from Iran, Nicaragua and North Korea, on the other hand, could at least appear for the service in Westminster Abbey on Monday.

All invited guests were asked not to travel by private plane, but rather to switch to scheduled flights, according to the Foreign Ministry.

That should be in the spirit of the new King Charles III.

who has been committed to environmental protection and nature conservation for a long time.

The Abbey can accommodate up to 2200 people.

The state funeral will take place there, starting at eleven o'clock.

Before that, the Queen's coffin will be taken from Westminster Hall, where it will remain on public display until 6.30am Monday morning, to the church where young Elizabeth was crowned Queen in 1953 and where she met her husband Prince Philip six years earlier had married.

The last time a monarch was buried at the Abbey was in the 18th century, but the last royal family funeral was held at the Abbey in 2002 for the Queen's mother, the Queen Mum.

After the funeral service, the Queen's coffin is first taken to Wellington Arch in Hyde Park Corner, just behind Buckingham Palace, and from there to Windsor Castle.

The Queen's last stretch will lead over the so-called Long Walk, up to the place where the Queen had spent the past few years, especially during the Corona pandemic.

In the inner courtyard, the coffin is awaited by the royal family and then escorted to Saint George's Chapel.

After a short farewell ceremony in the nave of the church, Elizabeth's coffin is finally lowered into the so-called Royal Vault, which has been the main burial chamber of the royal family since the 15th century, under the chancel and laid to rest there at the side of her husband, Prince Philip.

Since 1962, this part of the chapel has commemorated Elizabeth's father, King George VI.

In addition to his mortal remains, there are also those of his wife, Elisabeth's mother, and those of her sister Margaret, who died in 2002.