President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden joined a long list of world leaders in London to pay their final respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II on Monday afternoon inside Westminster Abbey. Biden and the First Lady joined King Charles III and a number of other leaders and dignitaries for a reception ahead of the grand state funeral, including President Emmanuel Macron of France and Premier Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil.
The Independent reports Biden’s armored limousine “The Beast” got stuck en route in standstill traffic while heading to the abbey to attend the Queen’s funeral. While on his way, he greeted unexpected mourners with the First Lady outside one of the U.K.’s renowned sandwich and coffee shops, Pret-a-Manger.
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When Biden and the First Lady were eventually able to make it out, the two sat 14 rows back at the funeral, situated in an aisle seat on the south transept of Westminster Abbey behind Polish president, Andrzej Duda. Biden was also reported to be sitting directly in front of Petr Fiala, the prime minister of the Czech Republic, in a section of the church reserved for world leaders per The Independent. First Lady Jill Biden was seated next to Switzerland’s president, Ignazio Cassis during the hour-long service.
While it was noted where Biden sat, The Daily Beast reports Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were seated in the second row at the state funeral, alongside Harry’s cousins Beatrice and Eugenie. Meanwhile, in front of Harry and Markle were King Charles, his wife and Queen Consort Camilla; Princess Anne and her husband Sir Tim Laurence; Prince Edward and his wife Sophie, and the notorious, Prince Andrew, who has since been expelled from the working ranks of the royal family over his association with Jeffrey Epstein.
According to CNN, the coffin will be transferred from Westminster Abbey to Wellington Arch before making its final journey out of London to Windsor. The Queen’s journey will conclude at St. George’s Chapel, within the grounds of Windsor Castle, where the coffin will be lowered into the Royal Vault below the chapel.
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