London —1000's of individuals from the world over are set to reach in the UK to attend Queen Elizabeth II's state funeral service on Monday. The visitor listing for the service consists of round 500 international dignitaries, together with about 100 heads of state. As CBS Information senior international correspondent Holly Williams experiences, that makes it an enormous safety problem.
The U.Ok. has loads of expertise organizing elaborate public occasions, from the funeral of Princess Diana in 1997, to the royal weddings of her kids which have come since.
All these occasions have required meticulous preparation. However that is completely different. The queen's funeral is reportedly bringing with it probably the most advanced safety operation London has ever undertaken.
Round 10,000 cops and 1,500 navy personnel have already been deployed, together with armed police, which is extra uncommon within the U.Ok. as most police do not carry weapons. Police snipers have been noticed on rooftops within the capital, holding cautious watch over the massive crowds already gathering to pay their respects to the late monarch.
The funeral can be held on the historic Westminster Abbey within the coronary heart of London. Britain's capital is stuffed with historic buildings and slender, irregular streets. In comparison with the tidy grid of Manhattan and even the broad avenues of Washington D.C., London can really feel like a tough maze to navigate, even with out the large crowds at present swelling its inhabitants.
Westminster Abbey sits straight throughout the road from the British Homes of Parliament, simply down the street from the prime minister's residence, Quantity 10 Downing Avenue, and solely a stone's throw from London's crowded purchasing and leisure district, the West Finish.
On Friday morning, two cops had been stabbed and hospitalized within the bustling district.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan praised the cops for "doing their responsibility and helping the general public at this momentous time for our nation." He mentioned neither officer sustained life-threatening accidents, and the incident was not thought-about terrorism-related.
However the violence did spotlight the tense safety scenario as President Biden and first girl Dr. Jill Biden, together with scores of different leaders, put together to attend the queen's funeral on Monday.
They'll be part of the topped royalty from different European nations, the Japanese emperor, and naturally the opposite members of Britain's personal royal household.
One British official likened the logistics across the queen's funeral to organizing 100 official state visits, all on the identical time.