Queen Elizabeth II and President Donald Trump attend an event to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day in Portsmouth, England Wednesday, June 5, 2019.
Matt Dunham/Associated Press
President Donald Trump posted a long tribute to the Queen after her death on Thursday.
Biden said he’ll attend the funeral, but CNN reported it’s up to him to invite former US presidents.
Around 2,000 people are expected to attend The Queen’s funeral, which is set for September 19.
The Royal Family announced on Saturday that the funeral for Queen Elizabeth II will take place on September 19, but who exactly will make the guest list is still up in the air.
The Queen died on Thursday at age 96 after a historic 70-year reign. Buckingham Palace has long planned for her death, upon which her son, now King Charles III, immediately ascended to the throne.
The Queen’s coffin is being prepared to lie in state in Westminster Hall for four days prior to the funeral to allow the public to pay their respects. Officials anticipate more than one million people will attend.
An official funeral service is expected to be held at Westminster Abbey, where the Queen was crowned and where she married Prince Philip in 1947. Around 2,000 people are expected, including Europe’s royal families and leaders from around the world.
President Joe Biden said Friday that although he did not yet have details about the service, he would be attending. Whether former US presidents will make the guest list is unclear.
CNN reported Friday that the UK was leaving that decision to Biden.
“I am told by a couple diplomatic officials that Buckingham Palace is leaving it up to every country individually,” Jeff Zeleny, CNN’s chief national affairs correspondent, said, noting that former President Barack Obama invited George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter to go with him to the funeral of Nelson Mandela in 2013.
“So there is protocol for having US presidents invite other presidents,” he continued. “Who knows, maybe in the spirit of forgiving and giving President Biden will invite Donald Trump on Air Force One. I doubt that will happen, but I do expect some type of a bipartisan delegation.”
Former President Donald Trump, for his part, was a vocal fan of the Queen, whom he met on several official state visits during his presidency. After the news of her death, Trump shared a long tribute to the Queen in a series of posts on Truth Social.
“Melania and I will always cherish our time together with the Queen, and never forget Her Majesty’s generous friendship, great wisdom, and wonderful sense of humor. What a grand and beautiful lady she was—there was nobody like her!” he wrote, adding: “May God bless the Queen, may she reign forever in our hearts, and may God hold her and Prince Philip in abiding care.”
Trump also shared several photos of him and the Queen smiling together during their visits.
Trump and Biden, on the other hand, may be on more hostile terms than ever after the president’s address on September 1 in which he said “MAGA Republicans” represented a danger to American democracy.
While discussing whether or not Biden would invite Trump to the funeral, CNN’s Jake Tapper said he thought it would be a “clever” move for the president to invite him and see if he goes.
“I don’t think former President Trump would want to be subordinate on Air Force One, and I think probably he prefers his own plane anyway,” Tapper said.