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Controversial former soldier Ben Roberts-Smith will travel to London to participate in the official commemorations for the late Queen Elizabeth II, reflecting his status as a recipient of the prestigious Victoria Cross.
Paralympic tennis champion and current Australian of the Year Dylan Alcott will also attend the late monarch’s funeral as part of a group of 10 “every day” Australians announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith is expected to attend Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral commemorations in London. Credit:Nick Moir
Roberts-Smith is awaiting the outcome of a high-profile defamation case in which he sued The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Canberra Times over reports he alleges wrongly portrayed him as a war criminal and murderer.
The newspapers are seeking to rely on a defence of truth and allege Roberts-Smith was involved in six unlawful killings, including the execution of a man at Darwan in southern Afghanistan.
A select group of Australian war veterans was invited to the funeral commemorations by the Victoria Cross and George Cross Association on behalf of the Queen, who served as patron of the UK-based group since its founding in 1956.
The invitations were activated as part of the longstanding Operation London Bridge plans for the Queen’s state funeral and official mourning period.
Roberts-Smith said in a statement he was honoured by the invitation to pay tribute to the late queen at the funeral service on Monday.
“In every interaction I had with the Queen, she was warm, insightful and engaging,” he said.
“She was a magnificent monarch, a stoic leader, and importantly just a lovely lady.”
Victorian Cross recipients from several Commonwealth nations have been invited to participate in an order of chivalry procession on the day of the Queen’s funeral.
Afghanistan war veteran Mark Donaldson, who was awarded the Victoria Cross in 2009, is slated to represent Australia’s Victoria Cross and George Cross recipients in the procession and to see the Queen lying in state.
Donaldson will sit in the nave of Westminster Abbey while the other Australian veterans sit elsewhere in the church.
Roberts-Smith and the other Victoria Cross winners will also have the option to see the Queen lying in state.
The 10 “everyday” Australians will travel to London with Albanese on the government’s VIP jet, but not Roberts-Smith and the other war veterans.
A Defence Department spokesman said the government would that cover the cost of commercial flights “upon request” of those invited.
Fellow Victoria Cross recipients Afghanistan War veteran Daniel Keighran and Vietnam War veteran Keith Payne are also expected to attend the event if possible.
Payne, 89, is the last living Australian recipient of the original “Imperial” Victoria Cross.
Former Victorian police constable Michael Pratt, who received the George Cross medal for outstanding bravery in his efforts to thwart an armed bank robbery in 1976, is also among those travelling to London to attend the funeral.
Albanese said Buckingham Palace had requested that 10 everyday citizens who have made important contributions to their local communities be invited to the Queen’s funeral in all 15 Commonwealth realms.
He said the chosen 10 Australians “embody an extraordinary contribution to our nation” and represented the nation’s six states and two territories.
This year’s Senior Australian of the Year Val Dempsey, a volunteer with the St John Ambulance for more than 50 years, is among the 10 chosen Australians.
The others heading to the funeral include 2021 Senior Australian of the year Dr Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr Baumann, 2022 Australian of the Year Local Hero Shanna Whan, Queensland’s local hero nominee, Saba Abraham, and Tasmanian counterpart Kim Smith, South Australia’s Young Australian of the Year, Trudy Lin, and Western Australia’s 2021 Australian of the Year Professor Helen Milroy.
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