Trump is invited to attend D.C. memorial service for Queen Elizabeth II and headlines are dumb

AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson

Space is limited in Westminster Abbey where Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral will be held on Monday. The funeral is expected to be the biggest world event since the funeral of Winston Churchill. Invitations are not easy to come by. Joe and Jill Biden have been invited but none of the former U.S. presidents have been invited, nor should they expect to be. There is only room for the current leaders of countries. So, a memorial service will be held for the Queen at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. next Wednesday. All former presidents are on the invitation list.

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So, what are the headlines for this story? Trump is invited to the memorial service. The headlines I’ve been reading all start off with the fact that Trump was invited. It’s ridiculous and shows how Trump-deranged the press still is after Trump being out of office for almost two years. The story is that all of the former presidents are being accommodated with a separate memorial service in D.C. because they can’t be accommodated in London next week, though typically they would attend such a funeral. They all interacted with Queen Elizabeth II. They all tell stories of meeting her or hosting her at the White House.

Here’s the thing – it’s as though the press didn’t realize that this is something the anti-Trump former presidents will have to deal with every time something like this happens. There will be plenty of times that they will be expected to show up for funerals or other ceremonies and the press is just going to have to cope with the fact that Trump is one of them. If he chooses to attend and put up with all the nonsense likely coming his way, that’s for him to decide.

I will be surprised if Trump doesn’t accept the invitation. He speaks glowingly of his time spent with the Queen. Pictures indicate that she enjoyed their time together, too. Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush have also received invitations.

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‘We are following convention as you’d expect and have invited all former Presidents as well as President and Dr. Biden and other members of the Administration,’ a British embassy spokesperson told DailyMail.com.

It is not yet clear if Mr. Trump or the other three former US presidents will attend the event in Washington. The former Republican president was spotted at one of his golf properties in the US capital this week.

The invitations were being sent out in the name of the UK ambassador to Washington on Thursday.

The headlines are dumb from all the various media outlets:

  • “Trump invited to US service for Queen Elizabeth II after being snubbed from funeral” by the Independent.
  • “Consolation prize: Donald Trump invited to Queen’s memorial service in Washington DC after funeral snub” by meaww.com
  • From the Daily Mail, referenced above- “Donald Trump is not invited to the Queen’s funeral – but does instead get an invitation to attend Washington DC memorial service along with three other living former US presidents”.
  • “Donald Trump to be invited to Washington service for Queen Elizabeth after not making funeral guest list” at The Telegraph.
  • From the Business Insider – “Donald Trump potentially snubbed for the Queen’s funeral after the Bidens receive two invites”.
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You get the point. Apparently, the story for some publications isn’t that the Queen’s life will be celebrated in D.C. next week but that the bad Orange Man has been invited to attend.

The point some made was that with only Joe and Jill receiving invitations, Joe didn’t have to make a decision if he should invite Trump with other former presidents to the funeral. Biden only received two invitations.

Looks like the guest list for Queen Elizabeth’s Sept. 19 funeral doesn’t include Donald Trump or Barack Obama.

That’s because the United Kingdom has decided only to invite current heads of state and their spouses or partners, as opposed to letting each country send a delegation featuring members of their own choosing, the Daily Beast reported.

The memorial service in D.C. is described as ‘a Service of Thanksgiving for the Life of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’ on the invitations.

The event will reportedly feature an honour guard from the Queen’s Colour Squadron – the unit of the Royal Air Force charged with the safe-keeping of the Monarch’s Colour for the RAF.

The Right Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde, the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, is believed to be presiding over the service.

The Most Reverend Michael Bruce Curry, the presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, who delivered a sermon at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018, is also reportedly set to speak on Wednesday.

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Trump is a former president and entitled to all the same invitations the other former presidents receive. The media will just have to deal with that fact. The story isn’t that Trump was invited, it’s the amazement expressed by the press over it.

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