Regina: River of People to Honor Elizabeth. Charles III receives world leaders

King Charles III thanked tonight, also on behalf of Queen Camilla, for the honors and testimonies of “respect for my dear mother’s spirit of service” that has been so evident in these ten days in the four nations of the United Kingdom and around the world. “As we prepare for our final farewell – Charles wrote in connection with Queen Elizabeth’s funeral and with the entrances to the funeral home in Westminster Hall closed – I simply want to thank all the countless people who have provided so much support and comfort to me and my family at this time of pain.”

The queue to enter Westminster Hall and honor the casket of Queen Elizabeth II is closed. This was announced at 10:40 pm (11:40 pm in Italy) by the Department for Digital Culture, Media and Sport, according to the Guardian. The endless crowd that lined up for hours during four days and four nights as the last act of honoring Queen Elizabeth is expected to stream until dawn. The most extreme rearguard ran to Southwark Park, breathless, to catch him – as in the case of Sarah Westin, a 44-year-old teacher, who lost her breath from Birmingham after two-and-a-half hours by train in the name of a promise given to his pupils – the chance to reach Westminster Hall before closing.

And to a procession in front of the coffin of the owner of the age who took a leave of absence from history on September 8 at the age of 96, 70 of whom died on the throne of the United Kingdom. Country – though not without the obvious exception of those who dislike the monarchy – seals a long farewell to George VI’s daughter in a sign of tribute, affection and memory. And the silence in the dusk is depressingly noticeable when Big Ben is stormed at eight in the evening.

The hour when the people’s salute to His Majesty gave way to the first collective appointment of the official and venerable ruler of the mighty of the earth: some 500 dignitaries from around the world honored a woman who wore the crown in 1952 at the time. Of the 26 on a planet where state leaders were still occupied by men, the new Queen Consort Camilla recalls him: a woman, in the words of London’s poignant praise for US President Joe Biden, helped leave “the best of the world.”

Notables will close the funeral service circuit with a stately funeral at Westminster Abbey, the first since Winston Churchill’s conferment in 1965 and the most impressive in the contemporary history of the world. But already in the evening – on the planned program of senior leaders, such as Biden or Sergio Mattarella among others – they were invited to take part in a traditional welcome reception at Buckingham Palace, which was given by Charles III, the new king and eldest son. Elisabetta and Camilla are next to her.

An opportunity to share scraps of memory, messages of condolence and glimpses of the future. Not without some geopolitical background controversy. And some curiosity about the inner flicker of the royal family: In the foreground is yellow on Harry and Meghan’s invitation, which was first delivered by the festivity and then canceled, to give credit to the press, as the Dukes of Sussex are no longer active members of the dynasty after the transfer in the United States. It happened in which the 74-year-old Carlo and a very long public life as the heir behind him now have to play the role of the main actor in every way. With the neighboring island’s political leaders, starting with the new Conservative Prime Minister Liz Truss, forced to debut in the midst of a historic transition, as well as an increasingly troubling international and domestic crisis. While the echo of the controversy remains about the invitations directed or rejected to make noise.

From that he assured China, in the person of Vice President Wang Qishan, despite the protests over the “Uyghur genocide in Xinjiang” recently denounced in black and white by the British Parliament. To those who disappeared from the table for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, an embarrassing Gulf ally. Above all, what Vladimir Putin’s Russia has rejected from the start: it has excluded the likes of Afghanistan, Belarus, Burma, Syria and Venezuela. This exclusion is clearly on fire in Moscow, where spokeswoman Maria Zakharova did not hesitate to accuse Downing Street of wanting to “take advantage of a national tragedy that has captured the hearts of millions of people around the world to settle some scores against our country”. . and acting in a “deeply immoral” and even “blasphemous” manner against the very memory of Elizabeth II. Alarming tones, at a time when the war in Ukraine has pushed relations between London and Moscow to the point of the Cold War, if not worse.

While the effect of the slap in the Kremlin is compounded by the treatment as head of state held by the kingdom of Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska: a procession through Westminster Hall in front of the royal casket immediately after stopping by the sign of the cross by Biden and his wife Jill; I was received with full honors in the palace at the banquet; She is first met face to face by Kate, the new Princess of Wales and consort of the heir to the throne. The mourning framework is reflected in the ritual black dresses that were worn on the occasion only in honor of the death of a queen.