Albanese and his partner Jodie were joined by hundreds of world leaders and dignitaries including Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron. Source: Anthony Albanese, Twitter.
Anthony Albanese attended Her Majesty’s funeral yesterday in London, paying tribute to the late monarch who he said, “meant so much to so many”.
Albanese was just one among a plethora of world leaders in London to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth II, attending the service with his partner Jodie Haydon.
He sat alongside other Commonwealth Prime Ministers including New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern and Canada’s Justin Trudeau and was also joined at the service by fellow Australian representatives Dylan Alcott and Shanna Whan.
Prior to the funeral, the PM and Governor-General David Hurley walked through Westminster Hall for The Queen’s lying-in-state where Albanese said, “the raw emotion of those attending to pay their respects made this moment one I will never forget”.
The PM has been in UK since last Wednesday where he has met with several leaders including the new monarch, King Charles III who he saw at Buckingham Palace over the weekend.
“It was an honour to meet with His Majesty King Charles III at Buckingham Palace. I extend my personal condolences and those of the Australian people to the King,” he said in a Twitter post.
After his meeting with The King, media asked him if he poached the idea of Australia becoming a republic, to which he replied, “now is not the time”.
“It was a warm gathering and I’ve made my views very clear on that. This is a time of respect”.
On a separate occasion, Albanese met with the newly appointed UK Prime Minister Liz Truss saying that he’s looking forward to working with her and strengthening the Australian-UK partnership.
“We’ll continue to engage in the future. The economic relationship is very important. As you know, there was a trade agreement between Australia and the UK. That needs to be progressed through our parliamentary systems and we’re both very conscious of that.”
He also met with Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, who he called “a friend of Australia and member of our Commonwealth family”.
Australia will see a one-off nationwide public holiday on September 22 to mourn the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
