Prince Harry and Meghan are not expected to attend one of the biggest gatherings of world leaders and dignitaries in history after they were reportedly “uninvited”.

King Charles will host a reception at Buckingham Palace for the heads of state and royalty attending the funeral of Queen Elizabeth.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were believed to have initially been invited to the event on Sunday (local time), but a number of outlets report that the palace now says the reception is “for working members of the royal family.”

The couple stood down as working royals in 2020 and have been living in California and undertaking private paid work.

Since landing back on British soil, media have kept close watch on Harry and Meghan as a side note to the main events following the Queen’s death.

The Duke joined his brother William and cousins for a historic vigil by their grandmother’s coffin in Westminister Hall and was given special permission to wear military uniform.

Harry, who saw action on the front line during two tours of duty in Afghanistan, has previously been denied the chance to wear his military uniform as he publicly mourns, because he is no longer a working royal.

But royal sources said the King decided his youngest son could wear uniform for the vigil.

Despite being a former Army officer, Harry has been in civilian dress for official events, including walking behind the Queen’s coffin on Wednesday.

Presidents, prime ministers and monarchs from around the world are arriving in London to pay their respects and attend a reception at Buckingham Palace to be hosted by King Charles the day before the funeral on Monday.

US President Joe Biden is reportedly en route and will join leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron.

Heads of state and other senior foreign dignitaries will be asked to gather at the Royal Hospital, a retirement and nursing home for veteran soldiers in west London, and are expected to travel in groups to Westminster Abbey, a senior Buckingham Palace official said.

The funeral will be one of the biggest policing events in the United Kingdom’s history as world leaders, kings and queens and huge crowds from home and abroad descend upon London for the event.

King Charles and Camilla, the Queen Consort, will hold the reception at Buckingham Palace on Sunday (local time), the official state event before the funeral.

Foreign dignitaries who do come to the UK will also be invited to visit the Queen’s lying in state inside parliament’s Westminster Hall ahead of the funeral.

Immediately after the funeral on Monday, UK foreign minister James Cleverly will host a reception for guests at nearby Church House as members of the royal family head to Windsor for the Queen’s burial.

While the dress code for the funeral is up to Buckingham Palace, British diplomats are advising foreign attendees to to wear dark formal clothing although national dress may also be worn.

Serving military personnel will be able to wear ceremonial dress – with or without swords.

Invitations were sent out by the UK to heads of state of nearly every country in the world apart from Syria, Venezuela, Afghanistan, Russia, Belarus, and Myanmar.

Syria and Venezuela are not invited because the UK does not currently have diplomatic relations with those states.

Afghanistan was not invited due to the current political situation, a source said.

Russia and Belarus are not being invited to send any representatives because of the invasion of Ukraine.

In total, foreign office officials have handwritten about 1000 invitations for the funeral and the reception with King Charles on Sunday.

Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan is expected to represent China.

The UK government will not provide a guest list of all the foreign leaders who will attend, partly for security reasons.

Among the politicians who will also attend are European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and the President of India Droupadi Murmu.

-with AAP

The post Harry and Meghan reportedly ‘uninvited’ from palace reception for world leaders appeared first on The New Daily.