President Biden and Jill Biden pay their respects as they view the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II as it lies in State inside Westminster Hall. Photo: AFP / Pool
US President Joe Biden paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth on the eve of her state funeral, praising her dignity and dedication to service after he appeared at her lying-in-state in Westminster.
Biden is among the scores of dignitaries and royals from across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas who will attend Monday's funeral. Hundreds of thousands of people have descended on London to pay tribute to Britain's longest-reigning monarch, who died on 8 September aged 96.
"She was the same in person ... as her image: decent, honorable and all about service," Biden said after he signed a book of condolence. "Our hearts go out to the royal family."
Biden earlier appeared on a balcony overlooking the queen's coffin in the vast historic Westminster Hall, making a sign of the cross and briefly placing his hand on his heart in reverence.
Elizabeth's body has been lying in state since Wednesday, and people from all walks of life and from around the country and overseas have queued for hours to file past her coffin in a constant, emotional stream.
The US president was joining King Charles and other leaders from around the globe for a reception on Sunday evening ahead of the grand state funeral
Biden was one of the 14 US presidents in office during the queen's 70-year reign, of which Elizabeth met all except Lyndon Johnson, starting with Harry Truman in 1951 when she was still a princess.
He will join presidents, prime ministers, kings, queens and sultans representing nearly 200 countries and territories at the funeral.
French President Emmanuel Macron was seen walking near the River Thames earlier on Sunday, mingling with those gathered in the streets around parliament.
Liz Truss, who the queen appointed as Britain's prime minister just two days before her death, took the opportunity to meet with leaders from Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Canada and Poland over the weekend.
US President Joe Biden signs a book of condolence at Lancaster House in London. Photo: AFP
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, however, is no longer expected to attend, according to a British government source. Inviting the man Western leaders believe ordered the murder in 2018 of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi had been controversial. He has denied any role in the killing.
Britain has invited heads of state or ambassadors from any country with which it has full diplomatic relations, but it is up to those nations who they send. The change was made by Saudi Arabia, the source added.
For all the high ceremony and careful diplomacy of the funeral, for the queen's family, it is also when they will bid farewell to a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.
Prince Andrew, the queen's second son, paid tribute to "Mummy, Mother, Your Majesty" on Sunday, reflecting the roles he said Elizabeth fulfilled during her reign. "Mummy, your love for a son, your compassion, your care, your confidence I will treasure forever," he said.
Andrew has fallen from grace, stripped of the "His Royal Highness" title and removed from royal duties after a scandal over his friendship with late US financier Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender, and a related sex assault allegation.
Andrew, Duke of York, has not been charged with any criminal offence and has denied any wrongdoing. He paid to settle a US civil court case.
On Saturday evening, his two daughters joined the queen's other six grandchildren, including Charles' sons Princes William and Harry, at a vigil around her coffin.
Camilla, wife of the new king and now Queen Consort, said the smile of the late queen was "unforgettable", in her own tribute on Sunday.
King Charles III meets Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on 17 September. Photo: STEFAN ROUSSEAU
Monday's funeral and the period of mourning has already drawn hundreds of thousands of people to central London's streets and parks, with many clamouring to view floral tributes and experience the atmosphere.
Such has been the desire to pay tribute to the popular monarch, the only one most Britons have known since her accession in 1952, that tens of thousands have waited patiently for hours alongside the Thames to spend a few brief seconds at the side of her coffin.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the "sheer silence" was one of the things that made the lying in state so moving, adding that she had shared her moment beside the coffin on Friday with people who had queued for 20 hours or longer. "The queen was here for her people and now her people are there for her," she told the BBC on Sunday.
Prince William joined his father Charles to speak to mourners waiting in line on Saturday. "She wouldn't believe all this, she really wouldn't," he said. "It's amazing."
Britain has hosted a series of carefully choreographed ceremonies in the 10 days that have followed Elizabeth's death, reflecting years of advance planning as the queen aged, as well as the traditions and pageantry of a royal family whose lineage stretches back almost 10 centuries.
A minute of national silence will be held at 8pm on Sunday, marked by the striking of Big Ben, which towers over Westminster Hall.
London's police force has described the funeral ceremony as the biggest security operation it has ever undertaken.
Members of the public were camping out to secure positions on the procession route and near Westminster Abbey, the site of coronations, weddings and burials of English and then British kings and queens since William I in 1066.
Britain has not held a state funeral on the scale planned for the queen since that for World War II leader Winston Churchill in 1965.
- Reuters