President Droupadi Murmu in UK to attend state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II

President Droupadi Murmu has arrived in UK on a threeday visit to attend the state funeral of British Queen Elizabeth II scheduled at Westminster Abbey on Monday and to offer condolences on behalf of the Indian governmentThe Indian head of state who arrived on Saturday evening will join around 500 world leaders including US President Joe Biden and royals from across the world in a congregation of around 2000 expected at the Abbey for a sombre ceremony starting at 11 am local time and concluding with a twominute silence around the country an hour laterPresident Droupadi Murmu arrives in London to attend the state funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II the Rashtrapati Bhavan tweetedAhead of Mondays funeral service the President is invited to a reception hosted by King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla at Buckingham PalaceAll visiting heads of state government and official overseas guests are expected at what has been described as an official state eventDuring the day on Sunday a visit to Westminster Hall where the Queens coffin is LyinginState and Lancaster House nearby to sign a condolence book is also likely to be on the Presidents scheduleZaki Cooper who worked in the Queens Royal Household between 2009 and 2012 and has written widely about the monarchy believes the Queen enjoyed an affectionate relationship with India and was instrumental in the transition from empire to CommonwealthBy recognising the desire for many countries to selfdetermination she embraced the Commonwealth said CooperThe Commonwealth often featured in her messages and speech She was the organisations head and also its inspiration Her legacy of developing friendly relations between nations is one that will continue to inspire the Commonwealth as it embarks on a new chapter with King Charles III as its head he saidAlso Read Rules issued for those wanting to pay respects to Queen Elizabeth IIRepresentatives of the Realms and the Commonwealth will be among those in the congregation at Mondays funeral serviceHours before the ceremony the Queens LyinginState will close to members of public queuing for the past few days with waits of around 24 hours expected over the weekend as the queue stretches to around 10kmlongThe gates to Abbey will open at 8 am local time on Monday for the visiting dignitaries and guests invited to the funeral which will include hundreds of people who were recognised in the Queens Birthday Honours earlier this year many honoured by the late monarch for their extraordinary contributions to the response to the COVID19 pandemic and volunteering in their local communitiesUnder the plans in place for the day all heads of state and overseas government representatives including foreign royal families are expected to gather at a central venue and travel under collective arrangements to the AbbeyThe state funeral service will be conducted by the Dean of Westminster with Prime Minister Liz Truss and Commonwealth SecretaryGeneral Baroness Patricia Scotland reading lessonsThe Archbishop of York the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and the Free Churches Moderator will say prayers and the sermon will be given by the Archbishop of Canterbury who will also give the CommendationThe conclusion of the first state funeral in the UK in 57 years last held at the Abbey for Britains wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1965 will be followed by a service and a private burial ceremony at St Georges Chapel in Windsor The late monarch will be laid to rest in the chapel at Windsor CastleMeanwhile King Charles has thanked police officers involved in the longterm planning of Operation London Bridge the codename for the operation following Queen Elizabeth IIs deathDuring a visit to the Metropolitan Police Service Special Operations Room on Saturday the King asked officers if the plans are workingThe officers who have been involved in the operation for three years said they are absolutelyThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever