Californian Reacts | World leaders gather for Queen Elizabeth's funeral

On 8 September 2022, Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, and the oldest living and longest-reigning British monarch, died at the age of 96 at Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Her death was publicly announced at 18:30 BST. She was succeeded by her eldest child, Charles III.

The Queen's death set in motion Operation London Bridge, a collection of plans including arrangements for her funeral, including Operation Unicorn, which set protocols for the Queen's death occurring in Scotland. The United Kingdom observed a national mourning period of 10 days. The Queen lay in state in Westminster Hall from 14 to 19 September, during which time an estimated 250,000 people queued to pay their respects.

A state funeral service was held at Westminster Abbey on 19 September, followed by a committal service at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. The Queen was interred in the King George VI Memorial Chapel at St George's. The occasion of her state funeral was a public holiday in the UK and several Commonwealth states. The state funeral was one of the United Kingdom's most watched special events, surpassing the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, the previous most watched royal event of the 21st century.

- List of leaders who were invited (among many others) -
- UK leaders -
Prime Minister Liz Truss, who met with Queen Elizabeth just two days before the monarch died, will be in attendance, as will the Labour party leader, Sir Keir Starmer, First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, and First Minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford.

- Commonwealth leaders -
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia
Governor-General David Hurley of Australia
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand
Prime Minister Andrew Holness of Jamaica
Governor-General Patrick Allen of Jamaica
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh
Prime Minister James Marape of Papua New Guinea
Governor-General Bob Dadae of Papua New Guinea
President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa
President Ranil Wickremesinghe of Sri Lanka
President Paula-Mae Weekes of Trinidad and Tobago
President Droupadi Murmu of India
Other world leaders
Taoiseach (similar to 'Prime Minister') Micheál Martin of Ireland
President Michael D. Higgins of Ireland
President Emmanuel Macron of France
President Alexander Van der Bellen of Austria
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany
President Sergio Mattarella of Italy
President Isaac Herzog of Israel
President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil
President Sauli Niinistö of Finland
President Hage Geingob of Namibia
President Yoon Suk-Yeol of South Korea
President Katalin Novak of Hungary
President Egils Levits of Latvia
President Andrzej Duda of Poland
President Gitanas Nauseda of Lithuania
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen
European Council President Charles Michel

- US presidents -
The White House confirmed that President Joe Biden will attend Queen Elizabeth's funeral along with First Lady Jill Biden.

Video Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
1:07 - World Leaders Gathered
5:15 - Thoughts & Questions

#queenelizabeth #kingcharles #royalfamily

[californianreacts]

I'm not sure if I said "world" enough within the first 30 seconds BUT it does show the true respect that Queen Elizabeth II had from all corners of our beautiful planet. No one comes anywhere close in my opinion. Incredible to see.

The world shows their upmost respect for the British!

[richt]

You are right. I've heard many world leaders and ex leaders who said The Queen was a great, in private sounding board with her vast decades of experience.

[lyndarichardson]

Thank you for watching this, and your respectful comments.

[thegroovetube]

There were around 500 Heads of State and Royals there. There has never been, and will never be, another gathering like that.

[pzpete]

The first, and probably only, time when there were so many world leaders present they had to bus them in.

[jacquelinepearson]

King Charles hosted a reception at Buckingham Palace the evening before the funeral for all the world leaders who were attending - 500! This was the largest gathering of world leaders in modern times. No-one can recall when this happened before.

[Diamondmine]

Every crowned head, Presidents, Prime Ministers, High commissioners, she invited all her Victoria and George cross holders, personal staff, . Even the Emperor and Empress of Japan came and they never go to state funerals( it’s only been done once before) .The Emperor has said she was very kind to him when he was studying over here at university. We, ll not see the like again. Well, almost,the next huge thing will be the King and Queens coronation next year. Even Oprah is hoping for an invite🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[darrellpowell]

Even Putin wanted to go. That's how much she was respected.
The history books will call her Queen Elizabeth the Great. Queen for the World. Probably the last reigning British Queen for at least 100 years.

[Jamie_D]

Very interesting video :) and first viewer comment again :) Very surprised by Japan breaking normal tradition to attend the funeral, shows the amount of respect.

[susanashcroft]

For one moment in time Kings, Emperors, Presidents, Religious leaders, Heads of States were united, had put aside their 'differences' for HMTQ. IMO what does this say about the regard, respect and longevity of duty and service that The Queen had globally. People who would never normally get on a coach, let alone with each other, did so for this moment in time doing so for The Queen. Not sure if we will ever see the likes of this again and yes some careful well rehearsed and put together planning not only by a team but no doubt with The Queen's involvement in the planning of her funeral I'm sure which just shows that it can be done.

[lisajames]

Thank you for being so respectful. The only positive out of this is that it’s brought the world together temporarily. She will be sorely missed.

[carolemiller]

Also Euorpean Royal families attended.

[essexginge]

not one of these world leaders sat closest to the queen than the VC winners

[krissie]

The president was 10 minutes late because his car got a bit stuck on london's roads then he had to what to be seated because the VC winners and Knights of the Garter were walking down. I read he was seated quite far back with all the commonwealth countries in front of him :) why does he get so much privilege when he only has the job for 8 or10 years if he's lucky when everyone else who has a more permanent job rode on a coach like they were asked ?

[gmdhargreaves]

The Late Queen.. “ Sometimes you’ve just got to get on with it” truer words never more powerful

[glenn]

The biggest gathering of world leaders ever.

[davebooth]

I'm glad I was born an Elizabethan, under the reign of Queen Elizabeth the great, I watched the funeral at Wakefield cathedral on a screen, I noticed there was quite a few veterans, after I went to the pub and it was loaded with veterans wearing our medals and black ties. Spontaneously we raised our glasses to our late great Queen and then we all shouted "God save the KING" it was quite a moment, I then had had quite a few drinks and nearly missed my train😐

[bravesoul]

The Queen is highly respected! ❤️ This is so nice to see all of them together 🥺❤️

[petragrevstad]

Geez, that collection..! How often does that happen 😬?

[lowlygrinder]

The only way to describe the impact of our Queen's passing to those who do not understand, is to compare it, symbolically speaking, to the death of Superman if he were real.