Prince Edward, not Prince William, will attend Jimmy Carter’s state funeral

Jimmy Carter’s days-long state funeral began on Saturday. President Carter’s funeral procession began in Plains, Georgia, where he lived for much of his life pre- and post-presidency. From Plains, President Carter’s casket went to Atlanta, home of the Carter Center, with a global staff of 3000. Jimmy Carter will lie in repose there through Monday, when he will be moved to Washington. The state funeral will be on Thursday at the Washington National Cathedral, after which President Carter will be moved back home to Georgia for a private funeral and burial in Plains. Most of the big-name Democrats and some Republicans will make a point of attending the state funeral on Thursday. I don’t know what kind of international turnout there will be, but Carter was internationally acknowledged as a humanitarian and a global leader on many significant issues. When he passed, leaders from around the world praised Carter and his legacy. You would think that all of America’s strongest allies would send some high-profile delegations to the state funeral. In Britain’s case, not so much. King Charles will not attend, and neither will Prince William. They’re sending Prince Edward.

Neither Prince William nor King Charles plan to attend Jimmy Carter’s funeral next week, following the former president’s death on Sunday at age 100.

As of Friday, the British royal family’s Royal Diary only lists the monarch’s younger brother, Prince Edward, also known as the Duke of Edinburgh, as being an attendant of the State Funeral on Jan. 9.

Following 76-year-old Charles’ cancer diagnosis early last year, William has attended certain events on his father’s behalf, as he did last month at the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, where he rubbed elbows with President-elect Donald Trump.

Earlier this week, Charles expressed his “great sadness” over Carter’s death on Dec. 29, nearly two years into hospice care.

Carter’s funeral on Thursday will be held at the Washington National Cathedral and is considered a potential target “for violent extremists to attack,” according to a new security assessment obtained by ABC News.

The document attributes the risk to the “large gathering of senior U.S. government officials, foreign dignitaries, and heads of state, as well as the symbolic nature of the venues and media attention expected.”

It’s unclear if the absences of William and Charles are because of previous commitments or security concerns. As of Friday, neither had any official engagements listed for next week in the Royal Diary.

[From Yahoo]

I saw some Derangers suggest that Prince Harry and Meghan were being “snubbed” because they weren’t asked to represent the monarchy at the funeral… it’s truly mind-boggling. Harry and Meghan haven’t worked for the Firm in five years. The real issue is that no one has figured out how to force Prince William to take one day out of his lengthy Christmas holiday to fly in for a state funeral, a funeral in which he could pretend to be a “global statesman” and rub elbows with dozens of American politicos. This is a constant thread since QEII died too – William refusing to attend international events like this on behalf of the crown, events which Charles ALWAYS attended when he was Prince of Wales.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.