By Tom Pyman and Jack Wright For Mailonline
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British military heroes who hold the Victoria Cross – including an RAF ace who sunk a German U-boat then landed his damaged plane while wounded during the Second World War and an Iraq War veteran who saved his comrades during an ambush by Islamist militants – will all be invited to the Queen’s state funeral at Westminster Abbey next week, it has emerged.
All recipients of the VC – the highest and most prestigious award of Britain’s honours system introduced in 1856 by Queen Victoria during the Crimean War – or the George Cross will be asked to attend the ceremony in London on Monday, September 19.
This means the three living VC holders – World War Two pilot John Alexander Cruickshank, Nepalese Gurkha recipient Rambahadur Limbu and Colour Sergeant Johnson Beharry – along with all living holders of the GC, which was created in 1940 by Elizabeth II’s father King George VI during the Blitz.
This includes four heroes from Australia who received the VC: Ben Roberts-Smith, Keith Payne, Mark Donaldson and Daniel Keighran.
There are 23 living recipients of the the medals, and while reports have suggested 17 are due at the ceremony, a list of attendees has not been revealed by Palace officials.
Here, we take a look at the full list of military heroes who have been invited to pay their respects to the late British sovereign.
VICTORIA CROSS
John Cruickshank VC, Victoria Cross Holder for Air Action in World War II
John Alexander Cruickshank
Now 102, John Alexander Cruickshank was awarded the VC for sinking a German U-boat during the Second World War then successfully landing his damaged plane.
He joined the Territorial Army, enlisting in the Royal Artillery in May 1939, before he was transferred to the RAF Volunteer Reserve in 1941.
After training in Canada and the US he earned his wings in July 1942 and was assigned to No 210 Squadron in March 1943, piloting Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boats, flying from RAF Sullom Voe in Shetland.
Sullom Voe, a flying-boat base during the Second World War, was used by 210 Squadron of RAF Coastal Command in its battle to keep the North Atlantic and Arctic sea lanes open for supply convoys.
At the age of 24, Flying Officer Cruickshank piloted a Consolidated Catalina anti-submarine flying boat from Sullom Voe on July 17, 1944 on a patrol north into the Norwegian Sea to protect the British Home Fleet as it returned from the unsuccessful Operation Mascot raid on the German battleship Tirpitz.
Catching a German Type VIIC U-boat on the surface, he sunk the U-boat, killing all 52 crew members on board. However, Cruickshank was seriously wounded in the melee and, together with his colleagues, flew the damaged plane five and a half hours back to base.
Captain Rambahadur Limbu VC 10th of Princess Mary’s Own Gurkha Rifles
Rambahadur Limbu
At the age of 26, Rambahadur Limbu – a lance corporal in the 2nd Battalion, 10th Princess Mary’s Own Gurkha Rifles – was ambushed during the Borneo Confrontation of 1965.
The citation for his VC explains how he was in an advance party of 16 Gurkhas when they encountered about 30 Indonesians holding a position on the top of a jungle-covered hill.
The lance-corporal went forward with two men, but when they were only 10 yards from the enemy machine-gun position the sentry opened fire on them.
The sheer weight of fire stopped him advancing further, and he realised that only a quick rush would allow him a chance to cover the remaining ground and reach the wounded men.
He rushed forward and managed to reach the first wounded man and carried him back to safety. Without hesitation he then returned to rescue the remaining wounded soldier.
Through an even heavier hail of fire Limbu again moved out in a series of short bursts, using what little cover was available. Eventually after almost 20 minutes he reached the second man and ran back carrying him through the continuous enemy fire.
After re-joining his section, Limbu returned to the attack and, recovering a light machine gun which had previously been abandoned earlier in the combat, gave support for the latter stages of the assault, personally killing four more enemy soldiers as they attempted to escape.
His original VC was stolen while he was asleep during a train journey in India to his native Nepal in 1967. He was issued with a replacement.
Colour Sergeant Johnson Beharry, VC
Johnson Beharry
Colour Sergeant Johnson Gideon Beharry saved members of his unit, the 1st Battalion Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment, from ambushes during the Iraq War.
He was driving a Warrior Tracked Armoured Vehicle that had been called to the assistance of a foot patrol caught in a series of ambushes on May 1, 2004.
Due to damage to his periscope optics, Beharry was forced to open his hatch to steer his vehicle, exposing his face and head to withering small arms fire.
He then drove the disabled Warrior through the ambush, taking his own crew and leading five other Warriors to safety, before extracting his wounded comrades from the vehicle, all the time exposed to further enemy fire.
His own vehicle was then attacked on June 11, 2004, during which he received serious shrapnel injuries to his face and brain.
However, he retained control of his vehicle and drove it out of the ambush area before losing consciousness.
Beharry has worn his actual Victoria Cross on only three occasions; for the Queen, at his wedding and when he met Harry Patch, the last British First World War veteran.
He says he is overcome by guilt when wearing it, reminded that so many other brave friends never came home alive. As a result he loaned his medal to the Imperial War Museum but had the image of it tattooed on his back so he could always carry it with him.
GEORGE CROSS
Left to right: Jim Beaton, 79, a retired police officer who rescued Princess Anne from her would-be kidnapper Ian Ball on The Mall, John Bamford, 85, who at the age of 15 saved the lives of his two younger brothers a house fire at their home in Newthorpe, and Barry Johnson GC
Jack Bamford
John ‘Jack’ Bamford is the youngest person to have been directly awarded the George Cross after saving the lives of his two younger brothers during a house fire when he was just 15.
His parents had just returned from a night out when barking from their pet greyhound Mick alerted Jack’s father that something was wrong. They climbed onto a flat roof and got his mother and what he thought was all of his siblings – his sister and four younger brothers – out through the bedroom window.
But he soon noticed two were missing – Roy, four, and Brian, six, who was deaf and dumb. He recalled: ‘We could hear Roy shouting from the back bedroom. My dad tried to get through the flames by wrapping a blanket round him but the blanket caught fire. I told him to go round the back [of the house] and I would get into their room and chuck them out the window. But it was hot – very hot – and I couldn’t see anything because of the smoke.’
He eventually found Roy, and threw him out to his father who caught him below, but Brian was frightened by the flames and went back into his bed, but Jack bravely grabbed him and they both managed to escape.
The fire brigade eventually put out the blaze which had apparently been caused by an electrical fault. Jack and his two brothers were taken to hospital. The younger boys were soon off the danger list but Jack spent weeks in intensive care at Nottingham General Hospital.
He was left with such severe burns to his face, neck, chest, stomach, back, arms and hands that he was left fighting for his life. Even now the tips of his ears are missing having melted away in the inferno that so nearly claimed the lives of several family members. He received his GC on December 16, 1952.
Jim Beaton, 79, a retired police officer who rescued Princess Anne from her would-be kidnapper Ian Ball on The Mall
Jim Beaton
Retired police officer Jim Beaton, the Queen’s Police Officer from 1983 to 1992, received the George Cross in 1974 for protecting the Princess Royal from the would-be kidnapper Ian Ball during an attack in The Mall.
Princess Anne and her husband Captain Mark Phillips were returning to Buckingham Palace from a royal engagement when their car was stopped by another car, driven by Ball, who was later declared to be mentally ill.
Ball jumped out of his vehicle and tried to force the Princess from her car. He shot the royal chauffeur, Alex Callender, and a passing journalist, Brian McConnell.
Beaton was shot three times, including serious wounds in the chest and abdomen, and a gunshot wound to his hand, sustained when he tried to block Ball’s weapon with his own body, after his own gun had jammed. Beaton also sustained injuries to his pelvis while trying to disarm Ball.
The assailant was taken into custody and went to Rampton Hospital under the Mental Health Act before later being moved to Broadmoor Prison on Dartmoor.
Beaton, when asked about Ball, said: ‘I am not surprised about the lack of remorse because he was mentally ill. But in a sense his comments about Royal security were right.
‘Nobody expected anything like that to happen, not even with the IRA. We took precautions but nothing like you have today. I was walking past the door at the wrong time and they said, ‘We want someone to help with the Royal protection team,’ and that was it. There were no interviews or training.’
Beaton returned to protecting Princess Anne after recovering from his wounds, and held the post until 1979.
Barry Johnson GC at Buckingham Palace
Barry Johnson
Warrant Officer Class 1 Barry Johnson was awarded the George Cross after he defused a mortar bomb in Derry, Northern Ireland during The Troubles.
In October 1989, he was tasked with handling a vehicle rigged with mortars which had been abandoned in the middle of a housing estate and beside a hospital.
Due to the danger to civilian lives and to patients in the hospital, Johnson decided not to use the remote-controlled equipment to deal with the bombs, but to remove them from their tubes and dismantle them by hand.
With help from Corporal Melia, he removed the tubes from the van and placed them on the ground. He then sent Melia back to cover and placed the tubes facing away from the hospital in case they fired.
In the dark and cold drizzle which made handling more difficult, he proceeded to remove the bombs, dismantling them in turn. While he was dealing with the last bomb, it exploded, causing serious injury to his face, eyes and legs.
Despite being blinded by bomb fragments, being thrown across the road and in great pain, such was his courage that he refused to be evacuated until he had briefed his assistant on the precise details of the device, so that the operation could be safely completed.
Trooper Christopher Finney GC
Christopher Finney
After completing his training on the day of the 9/11 attacks, Finney went on to serve in Afghanistan in 2003, when his light tank was engaged in friendly fire by a pair of Coalition Forces ground attack aircraft.
Two vehicles were hit and caught fire, and ammunition began exploding inside the turrets. Finney managed to get clear of his driving position and was making his way towards cover when he noticed that his tank’s gunner, Lance Corporal Alan Tudball, was trapped in the turret.
He then climbed on to the burning tank, placing himself at risk of enemy fire, as well as fire from Coalition aircraft should they return.
Despite the smoke, flames and exploding ammunition, he managed to pull the wounded gunner out of the turret and get him off the vehicle, moving him to a safer position not far away, where he bandaged his wounds.
The troop officer in the other tank had been wounded and there were no senior tanks to take control. Despite his relative inexperience, the shock of the attack and the all-too-obvious risk to himself, he recognised the need to inform his HQ of the situation.
He therefore broke cover, returned to his vehicle, which was still burning, and calmly sent a concise report by radio. He then returned to the injured gunner and began helping him towards a Royal Engineers Spartan which had come forward to help.
At this point Finney noticed that both Coalition aircraft were lining up another attack. Notwithstanding the imminent danger, he continued to help his wounded colleague towards the safety of the Spartan.
Both aircraft fired their cannon and Finney was wounded in the lower back and legs and the gunner in the head. Despite his wounds, he managed to get Tudball into the Spartan.
Then, seeing the driver of the second tank was still inside his burning vehicle, he was determined to rescue him too. Despite his injuries and exploding ammunition, he valiantly attempted to climb on to the tank but was beaten back by the intense heat and explosions. He collapsed exhausted a short distance away and was rescued by the crew of the Spartan.
Left to right: Trooper Christopher Finney GC, Major Peter Norton GC, Royal Marine Reserve Lance Cpl Matthew Croucher GC
Peter Norton
Major Peter Norton went to the aid of a US Army patrol that had been attacked by an improvised explosive device (IED) on July 24, 2005. The explosion completely destroyed one vehicle and killed four US soldiers.
On arrival Norton quickly took command and ensured the safety of the remaining men. He was informed of a possible secondary wire to another IED and decided to conduct a ‘one-man-risk’ examination of the area immediately surrounding the scene in order to allow his team to conduct a post-blast investigation.
Whilst conducting the examination he trod on a concealed device which exploded. He suffered the loss of his left leg, severe injuries to his right leg, abdomen, back and left arm. His comrades came to administer first aid, but Norton had deduced that further devices were probably present.
Before allowing them to help him, he instructed them where was safe to move. A further IED was discovered later 10 yards away.
Norton recovered from his severe injuries, though lost his left leg and hand. On March 23, 2006, he was gazetted for the award of the George Cross, and on November 2, 2006, he was presented with his medal by The Princess Royal at Buckingham Palace.
Left to right: Trooper Christopher Finney GC, Major Peter Norton GC, Royal Marine Reserve Lance Cpl Matthew Croucher GC
Matthew Croucher
Matthew Croucher had less than seven seconds to make up his mind whether to risk sacrificing his own life to save his friends when a hand grenade rolled into their path during an operation in Afghanistan.
Without hesitation he chose to chance death and save his three fellow Royal Marines.
Matt recounts the situation in a manner that epitomises both his bravery and his ability to think clearly under unimaginable pressure, ‘it was a case of either having four of us as fatalities or badly wounded or one’.
Throwing himself to the ground during a reconnaissance mission near Sangin in Helmand Province, he used his rucksack to pin the grenade to the floor, and tucked his legs up to his body.
He was thrown some distance by the explosion, but suffered only a nose-bleed, perforated ear drums and some disorientation – and saved the lives of his comrades.
Croucher has kept his backpack as a trophy of the day he beat the grim reaper, a constant reminder of ‘how lucky I am’.
Corporal Kim Hughes GC
Kim Hughes
During his deployment in Afghanistan, Hughes risked his own life to save the lives of his comrades, foregoing protective clothing and defusing bombs manually in what has been described as the single most outstanding act of explosive ordnance disposal ever recorded in Afghanistan.
Hughes and his men were called into what was effectively an IED minefield, to extract casualties and recover bodies. Speed was essential if further loss of life was to be avoided.
Without specialist protective clothing in order to save time, Hughes set about clearing a path to the wounded men, providing constant reassurance that help was on its way.
On reaching the first injured man he discovered a further IED within a metre of the casualty; given their proximity, it constituted a grave and immediate threat to all the casualties and himself. Without knowing the location of the power source, but acutely aware of the danger he was facing and the overriding need to get medical aid to the casualties rapidly.
He carefully neutralised the device, and then turned his attention to the other wounded men and retrieving the dead. He discovered two more IEDs and again neutralised both. He later had to neutralise four more devices. During his tour, he safely disarmed a total of 120 IEDs.
His citation, read to the audience at Buckingham Palace, said: ‘Dealing with any form of IED is dangerous. To deal with seven Victim Operated IEDs linked in a single circuit, in a mass casualty scenario, using manual neutralisation techniques once, never mind three times, is the single most outstanding act of explosive ordnance disposal ever recorded in Afghanistan.’
Samuel Shephard GC
Samuel Shephard
Captain Samuel Shephard was awarded the George Cross in 2015 for his heroic efforts to recover fellow Marine, Lieutenant Damien Moran, who suffered an embolism and sank 200ft to the seabed off Egypt in August.
Capt Shephard repeatedly dived alone and without oxygen for 25 minutes in a bid to locate his comrade.
Hopes were raised when an instructor equipped with oxygen tanks arrived at the scene, but he ruled out a search on safety grounds. Capt Shephard ignored his warnings, strapped on the equipment and dived again.
As the medal citation reads: ‘At 1700 hours, in fading light and tired after six hours in the water, the pair [Capt Shephard and Lieut Moran] were snorkelling with four others… The other diver briefly surfaced with the others, lost consciousness, and sank rapidly.
‘A qualified and equipped diving instructor judged it too dark, deep and dangerous to mount a rescue. But without hesitation Shephard disregarded the instructor’s advice…
‘Following a series of dives that day, he knew the risk of decompression sickness, paralysis or even death was significant… Disorientated, in almost complete darkness, and with a perforated eardrum, he located the casualty suspended upside-down. His dive watch recorded a depth over 60 metres … Placing himself at even greater risk, he removed his mask to give the lifeless diver two rescue breaths.’
Capt Shephard carried his friend over a coral bank ‘in bloodied feet’ to get him to hospital, but Lieut Moran was pronounced dead on arrival. The pair had just completed a four-month tour of Afghanistan before relocating to Egypt for diving training.
Left: Corporal Kim Hughes GC. Right: Dominic Troulan GC. Both are pictured at an event for George Cross recipients at Buckingham Palace
Dominic Troulan
A retired British Army officer and former Royal Marine, Dominic Troulan was awarded the George Cross on June 16, 2017 for his actions during the 2013 Westgate shopping mall attack in Nairobi, Kenya. He was the first civilian recipient of the award in 25 years.
On September 21 that year, a group of heavily-armed terrorists entered the mall and started to murder men, women and children indiscriminately. Troulan, a security consultant working in Nairobi, was contacted by a friend who asked him to go to the incident to try and locate the friend’s wife and daughter.
Troulan was armed with only a pistol while the area was dominated by terrorists armed with grenades and machine guns, but still he managed to bring the two women to safety.
Realising that large numbers of civilians remained trapped while the terrorists continued to kill indiscriminately, Troulan re-entered the Mall.
Over the course of several hours, he went into the building at least a dozen times and on each occasion managed to bring many innocent civilians to safety. He was fired on twice by the terrorists but managed to force them back.
By now, Troulan was exhausted, dehydrated and at the limit of his mental capacity. He was about to stop when a distress call was received from a woman who was trapped, injured and bleeding. Once again, Troulan entered the Mall and brought the woman to safety.
Despite the strain of his efforts, Troulan had the presence of mind to realise that the terrorists could be hiding among the survivors. He enlisted help and searched the civilians once he had led them to safety, thus ensuring that no terrorists were hiding in their midst.
Tony Gledhill GC
Tony Gledhill
The 84-year-old was awarded the George Cross in May 1967 for an act of bravery for pursuing a recklessly driven car containing five armed criminals in Deptford, south London, less than a year earlier.
Then aged 29, Mr Gledhill, a Metropolitan Police officer, and his colleague pursued the vehicle in a car on the wrong side of the road and against the one-way traffic.
The criminals shot at the unarmed officers 15 times with a sawn-off shotgun and revolvers during the 80mph chase, before their car crashed into a lorry, causing them to flee.
One of them tried to hijack the police car at gunpoint, ordering the officers to leave it, which they did, but as he tried to drive away, Mr Gledhill grabbed the gun and was dragged along as the vehicle accelerated. The officers, both injured, managed to detain the criminal.
Mr Gledhill said ahead of the funeral: ‘I was very sad to hear she had died, she was a wonderful woman, she’s from a good family, everyone I’ve met has been just as nice.
‘I’m a real royalist so it will be an honour to be involved in the procession, we have rehearsals and various other things in the next few days. It’s something I’ll be very proud of.’
Kevin Haberfield
Former Royal Marine Kevin Haberfield was awarded the GC in 2015. The award was backdated to the date of the action in Afghanistan on November 22, 2005. However, the only details released were that the award was made ‘for Services in the Field’.
He served in the Marines – where he became a first class swimmer and canoeist, and was an expert in jungle and sea survival skills – for nearly 33 year, finally retiring in 2012.
He was a qualified boat and dive trainer as well as holding professional certificates for Yacht Master Ocean 200Gt Power and Sail, RYA Power Boat Level 2, Long Range Radio Operator, PADI Assistant Instructor and PADI Dive Master. He also had extensive experience in the Arctic.
Haberfield eventually left the Marines and began to work freelance in the security industry, and now lives in France with his wife.
AUSTRALIAN HEROES WHO RECEIVED THE VC
Ben Roberts-Smith VC
Ben Roberts-Smith
In June 2010, on his third deployment to Afghanistan, Corporal Roberts-Smith was part of a helicopter assault into Tizak, Shah Wali Kot in Kandahar Province, aimed at capturing or killing a senior Taliban commander.
Immediately upon insertion the troop came under heavy fire. Two soldiers were wounded and the troop was pinned down by fire from multiple machine gun positions situated both on the high ground and the buildings to their front.
Corporal Roberts-Smith and his patrol began an assault on an enemy position that contained three machine guns, which were protected behind a high wall and on an elevated position. At times the gunfire was so close and sustained that some patrol members were unable to return fire.
Within 40 metres of the enemy position the fire was so heavy the patrol was unable to advance further. At this point Corporal Roberts-Smith identified a small structure that provided some cover. As he approached the structure he engaged an insurgent, killing him instantly.
Corporal Roberts-Smith then exposed his own position to draw fire away from his patrol. This allowed the patrol to fire against the enemy and the patrol commander to silence one of the machine guns with a grenade.
Seizing the advantage, Corporal Roberts-Smith stormed the enemy position killing the remaining two machine gunners. His actions enabled his patrol to break in to the enemy position thus regaining the initiative for the troop, allowing them to close with the enemy.
The troop continued to fight for another six hours, killing further enemy and causing the remainder of the Taliban to retreat from the area.
Australia’s most decorated living veteran, the former Special Air Service Regiment corporal is suing three newspapers in the Australian federal court for defamation over articles he alleges depicted him as a criminal who broke the moral and legal rules of military engagement in Afghanistan.
Keith Payne
Keith Payne
On 24 May 1969, in Kontum Province, Warrant Officer Payne was commanding 212th Company of 1st Mobile Strike Force Battalion when the Battalion was attacked by a North Vietnamese force of superior strength.
The enemy isolated the two leading companies, one of which was Warrant Officer Payne’s, and with heavy mortar and rocket support assaulted their position from three directions simultaneously. Under this heavy attack, the indigenous soldiers began to fall back.
Directly exposing himself to the enemy’s fire, Warrant Officer Payne, through his own efforts, temporarily held off the assaults by alternatively firing his weapon and running from position to position collecting grenades and throwing them at the assaulting enemy. While doing this, he was wounded in the hands and arms.
Still under fire, he then ran across exposed ground to head off his own troops who were withdrawing in disorder. He successfully stopped them and organised the remnants of his and the second company into a temporary defensive perimeter by nightfall.
Having achieved this, Warrant Officer Payne of his own accord and at great personal risk, moved out of the perimeter into the darkness alone in an attempt to find the wounded and other indigenous soldiers. Some had been left on the position and others were scattered in the area.
Although the enemy were still occupying the previous position, Warrant Officer Payne, with complete disregard for his own life, crawled back on to it and extricated several wounded soldiers. He then continued to search the area, in which the enemy were also moving and firing, for some three hours.
He finally collected 40 lost soldiers, some of whom had been wounded, and returned with this group to the temporary defensive perimeter he had left, only to find that the remainder of the battalion had moved back.
Undeterred by this setback and personally assisting a seriously wounded American adviser, he led the group through the enemy to the safety of his battalion base.
Mark Donaldson
Mark Donaldson
Donaldson was returning to base in the Oruzgan province of Afghanistan on September 2, 2008, in a joint US, Australian, and Afghan convoy when the group was ambushed.
The ambush began with sustained machine gun and rocket-propelled grenade fire, causing several casualties.
Donaldson deliberately exposed himself to fire from the Taliban fighters in order to draw their attention away from the casualties, allowing them to be moved to cover.
When the patrol attempted to withdraw, the number of casualties was such that the unwounded personnel, including Donaldson himself, had to make their way on foot, beside their vehicles, as the casualties filled the vehicles.
As they set off, it was realised that an Afghan interpreter attached to the patrol was wounded, and had not been loaded into the vehicles.
Donaldson immediately crossed the 80 metres or so of open ground between the convoy and the interpreter, under heavy fire, and then carried him back to the vehicles where Donaldson administered first aid.
The patrol eventually broke free of the ambush after two hours.
Daniel Keighran
Daniel Keighran
Corporal Keighran was part of a joint Australian Afghan National Army patrol that came under sustained attack by a strong force on August 24, 2010.
The attack was initiated by a high volume of sustained and accurate machine-gun and small arms fire which pinned down the combined Australian and Afghan patrol and caused a loss of momentum.
In the early stages of the attack, and upon realising that the forward elements of the patrol needed effective fire support, Corporal Keighran and another patrol member moved under sustained and accurate enemy fire to an exposed ridgeline to identify enemy locations and direct the return fire of both Australian and Afghan machine guns.
On reaching this position and with complete disregard for his own wellbeing, Corporal Keighran deliberately drew enemy fire by leaving the limited cover he had and moved over the ridgeline in order to positively identify targets for the machine gunners of the combined patrol.
Throughout the long action, his bravery assisted the patrol to return accurate fire and to successfully withdraw without further casualties.
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is among first dignitaries to begin long journey to UK for Queen’s funeral on Monday as France’s Macron confirms he will be there
Long journeys to the UK for the Queen‘s funeral on Monday began in earnest today – with Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese one of the first dignitaries to set off.
The PM is bringing with him ten ‘everyday’ people with him for the emotional service that takes place next week.
They include wheelchair tennis champion Dylan Alcott as well as horse trainer Chris Waller.
The Queen knew Mr Waller well and was said to be in contact with him before her death last Thursday.
Mr Albanese said earlier this week: ‘These everyday Australians will travel alongside myself and the Governor-General and will join the Acting High Commissioner Lynn Atwood who is currently located in the United Kingdom.
‘We have put together and confirmed all of these people will be able to travel, they will be on the same plane as me that will leave from Sydney on Thursday.
While most nations can send their leader or appointed delegate plus a guest, the Commonwealth realms, which retain the monarch as head of state, are being granted extra representation.
The realms can send prime ministers plus a guest, governors general plus a guest and the high commissioner.
They are also allowed to bring 10 ordinary citizens.
French President Emmanuel Macron has already confirmed he will attend the Queen’s funeral on Monday, and that he offered condolences to King Charles on the death of his mother in a phone call on Wednesday night.
Dignitaries begin to board one of two RAAF aircraft at Sydney Airport, Sydney, this morning ahead of the funeral next week
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Governor General David Hurley and a selection of invited guests including Gai Waterhouse and Dylan Alcot will fly on the Government jets to London for Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and French President Emmanuel Macron are both going to be at the funeral
In a series of tweets, French President Emmanuel Macron said: ‘In a phone conversation with His Majesty King Charles III last night, I expressed France’s condolences on the death of his mother, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. I will attend the funeral in London on Monday.
‘The ties between France and the United Kingdom are unbreakable. We will continue to strengthen them, following the path laid by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.’
Invitations to the Queen’s state funeral have not been sent to Syria, Venezuela or Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.
While most countries around the world have been invited to send their head of state, Syria’s leader Bashar al-Assad, Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro and representatives from the Taliban have all been left off the exclusive guest list.
Those three countries join Russia, Belarus and Myanmar on the list of nations not asked to send a representative, while North Korea and Nicaragua have been invited only at ambassadorial level, joining Iran in that category.
Invitations are being sent to most nations with which the UK has diplomatic ties. The UK does not have diplomatic relations with Syria or Venezuela, while the political situation in Afghanistan since the Taliban swept to power a year ago means no representative has been invited from Kabul.
US President Joe Biden has said he will be attending the funeral and will be allowed to bring his legendary Beast car with him
Macron confirmed his attendance at the funeral during a set of Tweets after he spoke to King Charles III on the telephone
King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands were the first foreign royals to confirm their attendance
King Felipe VI, Queen Letizia of Spain recently paid tribute to their distant relative with a heartfelt statement. They have also confirmed their attendance to the Queen’s funeral
As the world mourns Her Majesty’s death at the age of 96, the globe’s most powerful men and women have been scrambling for seats amid limits on who can join the congregation of 2,000 VIPs.
No guest list has been published yet, but US President Joe Biden was among the first to declare he will be flying in with his wife Jill.
500 world leaders, foreign dignitaries and heads of state including Emmanuel Macron, Justin Trudeau and Japanese Emperor Naruhito will be at the historic service honouring Britain’s longest reigning monarch – the first full State Funeral that Britain has hosted since Winston Churchill died in 1965.
European royalty, who have deep ties to the House of Windsor, have all confirmed they will attend, including Belgium’s King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands and King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain.
The leaders of most Commonwealth countries are expected to be at the funeral, with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern saying she will make the nearly 24-hour journey with a delegation including Maori King Kiingi Tuheitiaand Victoria Cross for New Zealand recipient Bill (Willie) Apiata.
It is understood that all holders of the Victoria Cross or George Cross will also be able to attend the Queen’s funeral.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has not been invited to the funeral. Chinese President Xi Jinping has been invited, but is not likely to leave China for the first time in two years
Belarus’ Aleksandr Lukashenko is not invited. But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and The President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, will fly to London
The leaders of Russia, Belarus and Myanmar won’t get an invite to the Queen’s funeral but a number of controversial figures including Erdogan and Bolsonaro are coming to London and other world leaders are yet to confirm including President Xi
The presence of Brazil’s right-wing populist President Jair Bolsonaro and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan in London could spark protests that would widen if Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum are also invited to Britain.
Earlier this week, Vladimir Putin faced fresh humiliation on the world stage as he was snubbed along with his ally, Belarus’ Aleksandr Lukashenko.
Min Aung Hlaing of Myanmar will also not be asked to attend as relations between the two countries remain frosty since the violent military coup of 2021.
It is not thought the trip will be made by Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky, who took time out from organising his country’s fightback against Putin’s forces to sign a book of condolence for the Queen.
Buckingham Palace had earlier declined to comment on who is on the guest list and when it is expected to be finalised.
Published by Associated Newspapers Ltd
Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group