If Donald Trump thought his effigy of Queen Elizabeth published on his website Truth Social and the Daily Mail in the days after her death would secure him an invitation to her funeral, he would be disappointed. For it has been revealed that Trump, who is believed to have been looking for an invitation, will not ultimately receive an invitation to attend the Queen’s funeral on Monday next week in London. In a departure from tradition, former US presidents will not be invited to attend the funeral. Instead, the honor will only be extended to current heads of state and their spouses or partners, apparently due to space pressures. The revelations were made in a report by the Politico website, based on documents it has seen, which have been distributed to embassies and ambassadors, as the long-running arrangements for the Queen’s death, codenamed Operation London Bridge, swing into action. The Times of London reported: “Questions have been raised in the US about whether Donald Trump will be invited, but British sources dismissed the idea that he could accompany the US delegation and said there would be no room for Biden’s predecessors.” CBS News reported Monday that President Biden and his wife Dr. Jill Biden will be the only official US representatives at the funeral. “There will be no delegation because we only have two seats for the funeral,” a senior official told CBS senior White House and political correspondent Ed O’Keefe. Before Trump’s snub, advisers had hoped President Biden’s delegation would invite Trump. “Biden should include Trump, like Obama [was] included for Mandela,” a senior Trump adviser told The Daily Beast. “No brain.” A spokesman for Trump did not immediately return The Daily Beast’s request for comment Monday morning. British Foreign Office guidelines state: “Due to limited space at the state funeral and associated events, no other members of the director’s family, staff or entourage may be admitted.” Some believed Trump made a clear case for receiving an invitation when he wrote on Truth Social that meeting the Queen was “the most extraordinary honor of my life.” Trump often brags about his relationship with the queen, saying they “got on fantastically well” when they met when he was president, and that a planned 15-minute meeting organically stretched into an hour due to the quality of their one-on-one interaction. The Times of London reports that the White House caught the Palace “off guard” when Biden told reporters of his plan to attend the event and that “Australia and New Zealand are engaging in soft diplomacy to bring Pacific leaders to London for the funeral. “ Foreign dignitaries have also been asked to fly commercially to the UK, to avoid using helicopters, and have been told they will be asked to reach the venue, Westminster Abbey, by bus rather than in their state cars. “Multiple and comprehensive layers of security will be in place across London and at all official venues used for state funerals and related events,” an official document said. Politico quoted a WhatsApp message from a foreign ambassador based in London that said: “Can you imagine Joe Biden on the bus?”
