![\"No](\"https:\/\/c.ndtvimg.com\/2022-09\/bq83k74o_queen-elizabeth-ii-afp-pic_650x400_09_September_22.jpg\"\/ "\\"No")
<\/div>\nQueen Elizabeth II’s funeral is scheduled to take place on September 19. (File)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
London: <\/b><\/p>\n
Foreign leaders and their spouses attending Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral have been told to fly commercial into Britain and take laid-on buses to reach the service, reports have said.<\/p>\n
Around 500 foreign dignitaries are expected to attend Britain’s first state funeral in six decades as officials mount “a huge-scale operation” for the event on September 19, a source at the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office told AFP.<\/p>\n
“The logistics have been meticulously planned to try to make it as smooth as possible for those attending,” the source added.<\/p>\n
News website Politico reported that attendees have been told not to use their own vehicles to reach the service at Westminster Abbey or travel across London by helicopter.<\/p>\n
Instead, they will be transported by escorted private buses to the abbey from a site in west London where they will have parked, it reported, citing an official protocol message sent to overseas embassies.<\/p>\n
“Tight security and road restrictions” were cited by Politico as the reasons, but the purported stipulations have raised eyebrows, with one London-based foreign ambassador telling Politico: “Can you imagine Joe Biden on the bus?”<\/p>\n
US presidents travel long-distance on Air Force One — typically one of two customised Boeing 747 planes — and then use their Marine One helicopter and an armoured limousine dubbed “The Beast” to get around.<\/p>\n
The US embassy in London did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n
The state funeral, the first since that of former prime minister Winston Churchill in 1965, will be one of the biggest security and logistical operations Britain has ever staged.<\/p>\n
Thousands of police officers from across the country will be redeployed to London to help manage the huge crowds expected.<\/p>\n
As well as world leaders and royals, up to a million people are expected to descend on the streets of capital during the four-day period leading up to the funeral, when the queen’s coffin will lie in state at parliament.<\/p>\n
Visiting global leaders can attend the lying-in-state and sign a condolence book at Lancaster House immediately afterwards, according to the leaked document quoted by Politico.<\/p>\n
They will also be able to deliver a tribute to the late queen of up to three minutes, which will be recorded for the media, it said.<\/p>\n
King Charles III will reportedly host a reception at Buckingham Palace for overseas leaders on the eve of the funeral.<\/p>\n
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n