In order to attend the State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II on Monday and express condolences on behalf of the Government of India, the President will be travelling on official business to the United Kingdom from September 17 to September 19. At 20:50 IST, Murmu and her entourage, which included Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra, arrived at London’s Gatwick Airport from the hotel she had just left on her way to the hotel where she will be staying during this tour.
The president was greeted by the Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom as she arrived at the airport.
Official reports state that she will sign a condolence book on behalf of the Indian government at Lancaster House near Buckingham Palace on Sunday. She will also attend the Queen’s coffin’s lying-in-state service at the Palace of Westminster.
She will attend King Charles III’s reception for world leaders later in the day at Buckingham Palace in London before the funeral service on Monday at 11 a.m. local time.
She will attend the state funeral service the next day at Westminster Abbey’s West Gate. She will also attend James Cleverly, the UK’s Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Affairs reception, in the afternoon.
On September 8, Queen Elizabeth II, 96, who served as the Commonwealth of Nations’ and the United Kingdom’s head of state, passed away. On September 19, she will be buried at Westminster Abbey with military honours.
In India, a day of state mourning was marked on September 11 in remembrance of UK monarch Queen Elizabeth II.