Dignitaries, VIPs and 10 ‘everyday’ Australians extended an invitation to The Queen’s funeral have begun to make their way to the UK, with some offered a seat on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s private jet.
Australian of the Year Dylan Alcott, 31, was seen boarding Mr Albanese’s RAAF aircraft on Thursday night bound for London where the funeral will be held at Westminster Abbey on September 19.
The wheelchair tennis champion was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2022 for his ‘distinguished service to Paralympic sport and as a role model for people with disability, and to the wider community through a range of organisations’.
Horse trainer and close friend of the Her Majesty, Chris Waller, was invited but had to withdraw on Thursday because a close family member contracted Covid-19, requiring him to isolate.
The Hall of Fame trainer is best known for training Australian Thoroughbred racehorse Winx – a four-time Horse of the Year who won 33 consecutive races. Mr Waller is said to have been in contact with the Queen in recent weeks.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his partner Jodie Haydon (pictured) board a Royal Australian Air Force aircraft at Sydney Airport on Thursday,
Australian of the Year Dylan Alcott (pictured) was offered a seat on the PM’s personal jet
Alcott was seen boarding the RAAF jet on Thursday night bound for London (pictured)
The wheelchair tennis champion is also an Officer of the Order of Australia for his disability advocacy (pictured)
Australian horseracing will be represented with high-profiles champion trainers Gai and Robert Waterhouse attending.
The pair were not among the 10 ‘everyday Australians’ offered invites but were invited by Lord Chamberlain Andrew Parker and had a personal relationship with The Queen.
They were also seen at Sydney Airport on Thursday night after being offered seats on Mr Albanese’s private jet when they he told him they couldn’t find space on a commercial flight.
Ms Waterhouse is one of only three Australian trainers to have looked after the Her Majesty’s horses when they raced here.
‘She was always very charming, always funny, she sounded more like a teenage girl,’ Ms Waterhouse said.
‘Always interested in her horses, she was marvelous.’
Yet another Australian who trained horses for the Queen, David Hayes, will attend the funeral after travelling from Hong Kong where he is based.
But fellow horse trainer Gai Waterhouse and husband Robbie (pictured) were invited by Lord Chamberlain Andrew Parker
Mr and Mrs Waterhouse couldn’t find space on a commercial flight and so were offered a seat on Mr Albanese’s plane
Gai Waterhouse with her daughter Kate who is not attending and is an author and horseracing commentator (pictured)
Champion horse trainer Chris Waller (pictured) has been forced to turn down his invitation to the Queen’s funeral after a family member was struck down by Covid
Not offered a seat on the PM’s plane, however was embattled war hero Ben Roberts-Smith.
The Victoria Cross recipient was spotted at Brisbane International Airport on Thursday boarding a commercial flight to London.
The Afghan and Iraq veteran is suing Nine Entertainment publications The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Canberra Times for defamation over a series of articles that alleged he engaged in unlawful behavior in Afghanistan.
Mr Roberts-Smith, 43, and Afghanistan veterans Mark Donaldson and Daniel Keighran, and Vietnam veteran Keith Payne were invited separately by the Victoria Cross and George Cross Association.
The Queen was patron of the association since it began in 1956, and asked before her death that all living members be invited to her funeral.
The other Australian guests are Senior Australian of the Years Valmai Dempsy and Dr Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr Baumann, Local Heroes Shanna Whan, Saba Abraham, and Kim Smith, Young Australian of the Year Trudy Lin, Western Australian of the Year Helen Milroy, and i4give founder Danny Abdallah.
Ben Roberts-Smith checked in to his commercial flight to attend The Queen’s funeral in London on Monday
Anthony Albanese and his partner Jodie (pictured together in April) are both invited to the Queen’s funeral
Sexologist Chantelle Otten has jointed her partner Dylan Alcott (pictured together in March) as they jet off the Queen’s funeral
Mr Albanese said earlier this week: ‘These everyday Australians will travel alongside myself and the Governor-General and will join the Acting High Commissioner Lynn Atwood who is currently located in the United Kingdom.
‘We have put together and confirmed all of these people will be able to travel, they will be on the same plane as me that will leave from Sydney on Thursday.’
While most nations can send their leader or appointed delegate plus a guest, the Commonwealth realms, which retain the monarch as head of state, are being granted extra representation.
The realms can send prime ministers plus a guest, governors general plus a guest and the high commissioner.
They are also allowed to bring 10 ordinary citizens.
Dignitaries begin to board one of two RAAF aircraft at Sydney Airport, Sydney, this morning ahead of the funeral next week
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Governor General David Hurley and a selection of invited guests including Gai Waterhouse and Dylan Alcott will fly on the Government jets to London for Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and French President Emmanuel Macron are both going to be at the funeral
French President Emmanuel Macron has already confirmed he will attend the Queen’s funeral on Monday, and that he offered condolences to King Charles on the death of his mother in a phone call on Wednesday night.
In a series of tweets, Mr Macron said: ‘In a phone conversation with His Majesty King Charles III last night, I expressed France’s condolences on the death of his mother, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. I will attend the funeral in London on Monday.
‘The ties between France and the United Kingdom are unbreakable. We will continue to strengthen them, following the path laid by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.’
Invitations to the Queen’s state funeral have not been sent to Syria, Venezuela or Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.
While most countries around the world have been invited to send their head of state, Syria’s leader Bashar al-Assad, Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro and representatives from the Taliban have all been left off the exclusive guest list.
Those three countries join Russia, Belarus and Myanmar on the list of nations not asked to send a representative, while North Korea and Nicaragua have been invited only at ambassadorial level, joining Iran in that category.
Invitations are being sent to most nations with which the UK has diplomatic ties. The UK does not have diplomatic relations with Syria or Venezuela, while the political situation in Afghanistan since the Taliban swept to power a year ago means no representative has been invited from Kabul.
US President Joe Biden has said he will be attending the funeral and will be allowed to bring his legendary Beast car with him
Macron confirmed his attendance at the funeral during a set of Tweets after he spoke to King Charles III on the telephone
King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands were the first foreign royals to confirm their attendance
King Felipe VI, Queen Letizia of Spain recently paid tribute to their distant relative with a heartfelt statement. They have also confirmed their attendance to the Queen’s funeral
As the world mourns Her Majesty’s death at the age of 96, the globe’s most powerful men and women have been scrambling for seats amid limits on who can join the congregation of 2,000 VIPs.
No guest list has been published yet, but US President Joe Biden was among the first to declare he will be flying in with his wife Jill.
500 world leaders, foreign dignitaries and heads of state including Emmanuel Macron, Justin Trudeau and Japanese Emperor Naruhito will be at the historic service honouring Britain’s longest reigning monarch – the first full State Funeral that Britain has hosted since Winston Churchill died in 1965.
European royalty, who have deep ties to the House of Windsor, have all confirmed they will attend, including Belgium’s King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands and King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain.
The leaders of most Commonwealth countries are expected to be at the funeral, with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern saying she will make the nearly 24-hour journey with a delegation including Maori King Kiingi Tuheitiaand Victoria Cross for New Zealand recipient Bill (Willie) Apiata.
It is understood that all holders of the Victoria Cross or George Cross will also be able to attend the Queen’s funeral.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has not been invited to the funeral. Chinese President Xi Jinping has been invited, but is not likely to leave China for the first time in two years
The leaders of Russia, Belarus and Myanmar won’t get an invite to the Queen’s funeral but a number of controversial figures including Erdogan and Bolsonaro are coming to London and other world leaders are yet to confirm including President Xi
The presence of Brazil’s right-wing populist President Jair Bolsonaro and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan in London could spark protests that would widen if Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum are also invited to Britain.
Earlier this week, Vladimir Putin faced fresh humiliation on the world stage as he was snubbed along with his ally, Belarus’ Aleksandr Lukashenko.
Min Aung Hlaing of Myanmar will also not be asked to attend as relations between the two countries remain frosty since the violent military coup of 2021.
It is not thought the trip will be made by Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky, who took time out from organising his country’s fightback against Putin’s forces to sign a book of condolence for the Queen.
Buckingham Palace had earlier declined to comment on who is on the guest list and when it is expected to be finalised.
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