The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, will depart on Thursday evening to represent Australia at Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in London.
Here is the rundown of what he will be doing in the UK and which other Australians are attending.
Who is attending the funeral?
The Queen’s funeral will be held at Westminster Abbey in London on Monday 19 September at 11am local time (8pm AEST).
Australia will be represented by Albanese, the governor general, David Hurley, and the acting high commissioner to the UK, Lynette Wood, and their partners.
At the request of the late Queen, 10 “everyday” Australian citizens are also invited: the Australian of the Year, Dylan Alcott; Senior Australians of the Year from this year and last, Valmai Dempsey and Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr Baumann, “local heroes” Shanna Whan, Saba Abraham and Kim Smith; Western Australia’s Australian of the year, Helen Milroy; the South Australian Young Australian of the Year, Trudy Lin; the i4give Day founder, Danny Abdallah; and the Australian Racing Hall of Fame’s Chris Waller.
Albanese told KIIS FM on Thursday that in addition to the 10 guests, horse trainers Gai and Robbie Waterhouse had been separately invited by Buckingham Palace.
Gai Waterhouse – who trained some of the Queen’s horses – “sat down and had quite a few afternoon teas at Royal Ascot with the Queen” and “the Queen Mother as well was known to Gai”, he said.
Victoria cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith, a former soldier who is engaged in a defamation case over reports that he alleges wrongly portrayed him as a war criminal and murderer, has also accepted an invitation to attend.
Who flies with the prime minister?
Australia offered support to the 10 Pacific countries in the Commonwealth, and will help officials from Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Samoa attend the funeral.
Albanese said Gai and Robbie Waterhouse “couldn’t get on a commercial flight so they contacted us … and so [they] will be on the plane as well”.
“And of course we have departmental people as well. It will be a pretty full plane going across.”
Albanese told ABC radio he didn’t know “down to … that level of detail” whether the Waterhouses would be charged for the costs, but Guardian Australia understands they and Pacific leaders will be billed.
What other events will Albanese attend?
Albanese and his partner, Jodie Haydon, will attend all official events: the lying in state, the signing of the condolence book at Lancaster house, the King’s reception, the funeral, and the committal service.
On Saturday morning, Albanese will meet new UK prime minister, Liz Truss, at the prime ministerial estate in Kent.
Albanese has said he will “catch up with Justin Trudeau, the prime minister of Canada”, on Sunday morning. Other bilateral meetings, such as with US president Joe Biden, have not been ruled out and are still being organised.
Also on Sunday, a lunch reception will be held at Australia House in London for the PM, 10 funeral invitees and other prominent Australians.
Albanese will have a one-on-one audience with King Charles III over the weekend, before a reception hosted by the King on Sunday night for heads of government and of state.
And when is Albanese back?
Albanese arrives back in Australia on Wednesday 21 September, a day before the national day of mourning public holiday on 22 September.
Parliament resumes on Friday 23 September for condolence motions, and will meet again from Monday 26 to Wednesday 28 September to make up for sitting days lost when parliament was cancelled for two weeks out of respect for the Queen.
Albanese told ABC Brisbane that this session would see the government introduce legislation to make childcare cheaper and to establish a national anti-corruption commission.
On 26 September, Albanese will travel to Japan with former prime ministers John Howard, Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull for the memorial service of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.
Richard Marles will be the acting prime minister for at least two days in that parliamentary sitting.
