Instead of being ushered straight to their seats on arrival at Westminster Abbey, the first couple, aged 79 and 71, had to be gently told to stand and wait as a procession of George and Victoria Crusaders went before them. under the nave of the abbey. After an awkward period of chit-chat at the main entrance as the recipients of the military’s highest honors made their way, the Bidens eventually followed Victoria Cross recipient Pte Johnson Beharry, pushing the wheelchair of 89-year-old Keith Payne VC. The US president was given permission to make his journey to the abbey in ‘The Beast’, a heavily armored limousine used by US presidents for security purposes, rather than being transported to the abbey with the other heads of state and government. CCTV footage shared on social media showed the Bidens making slow progress in central London, even momentarily having to stop outside a Pret a Manger on Oxford Street. After arriving hand in hand, the Bidens finally took their seats in the abbey at 10.05am. The schedule published by Buckingham Palace suggested that the 500 invited dignitaries should have been seated between 9.35am and 9.55am. Perhaps as a consequence of the departure of buses taking other leaders from the assembly point at the Royal Chelsea Hospital, the Bidens also had seats 14 rows back in the south section of the abbey. The US president sat behind Polish President Andrzej Duda and in front of Petr Fiala, the Czech Prime Minister. Seated to her husband’s left, Jill Biden sat next to Ignazio Cassis, the president of Switzerland. The special treatment sought by the White House was by no means the most significant diplomatic difficulty facing the earl marshal, the Duke of Norfolk, who was responsible for planning the funeral. While the decision by Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, avoided some damaging headlines, the decision to invite Spain’s disgraced former king Juan Carlos and then seat him next to his son King Felipe VI and the his wife. Queen Letizia looks likely to make things difficult for the Spanish royal family back home. Felipe, 54, ascended the throne when his father abdicated in 2014 amid a series of scandals over the former king’s financial arrangements. The 89-year-old, who appeared frail and had to rely on an assistant, spends most of his time in self-imposed exile in Abu Dhabi. There had already been a backlash over the presence of Juan Carlos at the funeral, but the Spanish royal house was determined to at least not make it worse by allowing a photo of the two kings together to appear only because the requirements of royal protocol made it unavoidable. Gerardo Pisarello, an MP for the Catalan branch of the far-left, anti-austerity Podemos party, tweeted:[Felipe] he says he wants nothing to do with his father. that he has renounced his inheritance and knew nothing of fiscal disasters. Then they go and sit together like nothing happened while Juan Carlos is being investigated in England. Disgraceful.” Pisarello was referring to a case filed against Juan Carlos by a former lover who accused him of molestation. The abbey witnessed the gathering of royals and world leaders not seen for many decades. Among those in attendance were Japan’s Emperor Naruhito, who rarely visits abroad, and Empress Masako, who has been largely absent from public appearances since suffering from what the Imperial Household Agency described as “adjustment disorder.” after the birth of the couple’s only child. , Princess Aiko.
