The sadness and opportunity of ‘working’ state funerals

The guest list is closed for the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey on Monday.

There has not been a formal international event of such importance, or one where the invitations have been accepted with such alacrity, since the funerals of Nelson Mandela in 2013 and King Hussein of Jordan in 1999.

The last time there was such a high status gathering on British soil was probably in 1965 at the funeral of Sir Winston Churchill, the prime minister during the Second World War.

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Her Majesty was a head of state so, following protocol, the invitations have gone to those of equivalent rank. That means presidents and kings and queens rather than prime ministers.

Joe Biden of the US, Emmanuel Macron of France, Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany and the relatively little known Droupadi Murmu of India are just some of the presidents on their way to London. The emperor of Japan, monarchs of Arab Gulf states and the kings and queens of Belgium, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Monaco, Luxembourg and the Netherlands will also be paying their respects in person, with many of these European royal families having blood ties to the Windsors.

Read more about who is (and isn’t) going to the Queen’s funeral

Politicians serving in current governments will also be involved. The prime ministers from 14 ‘realms’ beyond UK where King Charles is also head of state are coming, including from Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

Both the president and the prime minister of Ireland will be in attendance, as will Michelle O’Neill of Sinn Fein, the first minister designate of Northern Ireland.

The opportunity for a ‘good working funeral’

For all the sadness of the occasion, the funeral is also a remarkable opportunity for the hosts, the UK’s new prime minister Liz Truss and her senior ministers, to make contacts and establish themselves on the world stage at the receptions and meetings which will take place in the days around the service in the abbey.

Multi-faceted spontaneous international gatherings at the funerals of major statesmen and women have only really been possible since the 1960s and the age of jet travel. Because it is now so easy to get about, the British have asked the dignitaries to come on commercial airlines rather than private planes if possible.

In the margins of the funerals for the dying generation of leaders, including John F Kennedy, Churchill, Adenauer and Eisenhower, politicians grabbed the opportunity to do business.

British prime minister Harold Wilson coined the phrase “good working funeral” about the obsequies for Churchill in 1965. He made an effort to rebuild bridges with General de Gaulle after the French president’s “non” to Britain joining the EEC.

In turn, at de Gaulle’s own designedly low-key funeral in 1970, Ted Heath, the new British prime minister, spent an hour with the new president Pompidou, opening the door to Britain’s successful application for membership. The British ambassador was so excited he described it as “the greatest working funeral ever”.

The politicking can get a bit undignified

Leaders of Russia, Syria, Egypt and Israel all jostled heavy-handedly over the Middle East at King Hussein’s funeral in Amman.

Tony Blair was there too, as were Jacques Chirac, Bill Clinton and two former US presidents, Jimmy Carter and George Bush senior.

Alastair Campbell accompanied the prime minister as his press aide and wrote in his diary “if a bomb had dropped on it, it would have been a pretty good hit”.

Prince Charles represented his mother at that funeral, as he often did as her heir, just as vice presidents tend to stand in for POTUS except at events of such high importance as the late Queen’s funeral. Campbell comments on Charles’s “stubby fingers which he is always tapping together and fiddling with his pinky ring”.

On the flight home Blair chatted friendlily over dinner with William Hague and Paddy Ashdown, then the leaders of the two main opposition parties to the Labour government. Topics included how Colonel Gaddafi of Libya survived in charge.

Mandela’s funeral took place in the 95,000-seat FNB Stadium in Johannesburg. David Cameron, president Obama and prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt of Denmark were criticised for posting a cheery selfie of themselves sitting in the stands. Stony-faced Michelle Obama can be seen ignoring her husband and his friends next to her.

The scramble to meet the new people

King Charles is a familiar presence on the international stage after his long apprenticeship but there is likely to be great diplomatic interest in the new prime minister and her team. Funerals inevitably mean changes at the top, and sometimes there is a scramble to meet the new people. This was the case with King Abdullah, who was only named as heir by his father in preference to Prince Hassan shortly before King Hussein died.

Diplomatic telegram traffic records that Sir Alec Douglas Home was more pre-occupied about securing a meeting with the new president Lyndon B Johnson than with honouring the assassinated JFK. The Japanese only belatedly decided to send the prime minister and members of the royal family to Washington DC. India missed the chance altogether. All this is recorded by Professor Geoff Berridge of Leicester University who has made “working funerals” his field of study.

Who does not go or is not invited can have diplomatic consequences.

Turkey was affronted by the poor turnout for Turgut Ozal in 1993; only one foreign head of government attended.

Tito of Yugoslavia snubbed Nasser’s funeral in favour of talks with president Nixon.

Ronald Reagan pointedly did not go to Moscow for the successive funerals of the USSR’s gerontocratic leaders, Brezhnev in 1982, Andropov in 1984 and Chernenko in 85. He stuck to pre-arranged summits with other leaders, including Helmut Kohl of Germany, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, and King Hussein, forcing them to stay away and avoid offending the US. Other politicians took full advantage of mourning in Red Square. Margaret Thatcher built her relationships with Mikhail Gorbachev and president Samora Machel, who eventually took Mozambique into the Commonwealth. East and West German leaders established mutual understanding which would ultimately help the largely peaceful transition to a united Germany.

For some countries attendance is controversial

The UK’s enemies are clearly identified in those left off the guest list for Queen Elizabeth’s funeral. Representatives of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Syria, Venezuela, Russia and Belarus have not been asked. Iran and North Korea will participate at lower, ambassadorial level.

The exclusion of President Putin is the most pointed gesture. Although wartime security is in force, could President Zelenskyy make a fleeting, unheralded appearance?

For some countries attendance is controversial. A minority of Commonwealth leaders, including Prime Minister Modi of India, were reluctant to come because of sensitivities about British imperialism. Senior Tory MPs are angry that President Xi of China has been invited, even though a deputy is coming in his place. In Spain the leader of the left-wing Podemos party is furious that the disgraced former King Carlos and his widely respected estranged wife Queen Sophia will be going as well as the current King Felipe and Queen Letizia.

President von der Leyen will represent the European Union. She, President Macron of France and Prime Minister Martin of Ireland have all paid graceful and personal tributes to the Queen.

President Biden has spelt out that he regards preserving the Belfast agreement as the most important tie in the special relationships.

It remains to be seen what will follow from the many serendipitous encounters Liz Truss will have around this momentous state funeral like no other.