Logistics of Queen’s funeral equivalent to hundreds of state visits, officials say

The FCDO has transferred an extra 300 staff on to the task of preparing for the funeral in Westminster Abbey. Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images

The Foreign Office is organising the arrival of as many as 500 heads of state and dignitaries for Queen Elizabeth’s funeral in what officials say is the equivalent of telescoping hundreds of state visits into the space of two days.

Invitations have been sent out to every country with which the UK has diplomatic relations, except Russia, Belarus and Myanmar.