The dictatorial president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, is among the cast of contentious international leaders paying their homage to the Queen at Westminster Abbey today.
Today in London, the leader of a country with a questionable human rights record joined a number of other heads of state from nations with questionable human rights records, but he was welcomed among the 2,000 mourners gathered to honor the late king.
Representatives from Saudi Arabia, China, Brunei, Bahrain, and Kuwait were sighted in the congregation, despite the fact that a number of nations were prohibited from the ceremony due to fragile diplomatic relations with the UK.
Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman, China’s Xi Jinping, and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan were each invited, but decided to send dignitaries in their place due to the possibility of a backlash against their presence.
After delegating his invitation, Prince Turki bin Mohammed al Saud now represents Saudi Arabia, a country that supports stoning and oversaw the murder of writer Jamal Khashoggi.
Today, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and his wife Michelle arrive at London’s Westminster Abbey.
Today, China’s vice president Wang Qishan arrives at Westminster Abbey in lieu of President Xi Jinping.
Saudi Prince Turki bin Mohammed al Saud, who travelled in place of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is pictured in the third row, far left.
According to a source quoted by Reuters, the alteration was made by Saudi Arabia.
Human Rights organizations had criticized the decision to invite the Crown Prince.
Mr. Khashoggi’s fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, had also condemned the contentious invitation.
She stated that his participation at Her Majesty’s state funeral would’stain her memory,’ a feeling shared by campaigners who claim that permitting Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, known as MBS, to attend is an attempt to ‘whitewash’ his record on human rights.
The vice-premier of China, Wang Qishan, attended the burial, mere hours after infuriating Conservative MPs by visiting the Queen while she lay in state.
The representative donned a face mask with a Chinese logo throughout the service.
Senior MPs had protested that Beijing was being “appeased” by permitting him to visit and observe the Queen lying in state, despite the fact that a number of British lawmakers had been sanctioned for criticizing human rights violations.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the House of Commons, has denied being “leant on” to grant access to the officials.
King Abdullah II and Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan are seated in the front row, next to Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako of Japan and King Abdullah of Pahang of Malaysia.
Wang Qishan, vice-premier of China, attended the burial hours after provoking outrage among Conservative MPs by visiting the Queen while she lay in state.
Initially, it was anticipated that Chinese officials would be excluded from Westminster, but Beijing continues to blacklist seven British lawmakers and peers.
The ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, was also present today. He was entangled in a lengthy legal dispute in the United Kingdom with his ex-wife Princess Haya, to whom he was ordered to pay a record £500 million settlement.
The Sheikh was accused of kidnapping his two daughters, Shamsa and Latifa, the latter of whom had been missing for months and was allegedly being held against her will.
His ex-brother-in-law, King Abdullah of Jordan, is also among the large crowd of mourners, making for an unpleasant reunion today.
Due to poor relations, the United Kingdom has decided to invite ambassadors instead of heads of state from Iran, Nicaragua, and North Korea.
As a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus are among a select set of countries that have been completely excluded.
As the Queen’s burial begins, dozens of international leaders, dignitaries, and diplomats take their seats inside Westminster Abbey.
Vladimir Putin, who is prohibited from entering the United Kingdom due to sanctions, has previously stated that he will not attend.
However, not inviting a Russian delegate to the queen’s burial was ‘especially insulting to Elizabeth II’s memory’ and ‘very immoral,’ a spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry said Thursday.
Russia and Belarus have embassies in London, and their respective presidents delivered condolence notes to King Charles III.
Myanmar, Syria, Venezuela, and a Taliban-led Afghanistan are the other nations without invites.
Yesterday, opposition leaders criticized Bolsonaro, a notorious anti-vaxxer who has been accused of uttering homophobic and misogynistic remarks, for turning his trip to London into an election campaign event.
His presence occurs just two weeks before the first-round election vote, in which he trails his leftist opponent, former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in opinion polls.
In his address to his yellow-and-green-clad supporters from the balcony of the Brazilian embassy, far-right former army captain Bolsonaro briefly mentioned the queen’s legacy before accusing the opposition of attempting to implant communism in the largest country in South America.
Bolsonaro stated, “We are a country that does not want drug liberalization, does not want to discuss legalizing abortion, and does not embrace ‘gender ideology’.”
This week, Reuters reported that Bolsonaro’s team intended to exploit his trip to portray him as a respectable statesman with international support.
Western politicians have mostly snubbed the president due to his ineffective management of the Amazon rainforest and his connection to Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.