Saudi crown prince to travel to London but will not attend Elizabeth II’s funeral

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman will travel to London to personally express his condolences on the death of Queen Elizabeth II, but is not scheduled to attend the state funeral planned for Monday at Westminster Abbey.

The British government has included Saudi Arabia on its guest list for the event, which is expected to be attended by some 500 international leaders. The Saudi Embassy has merely confirmed that Bin Salman, who ‘de facto’ rules the country, will travel to the UK, reports the BBC.

It will be the heir’s first visit to the UK since he was fingered in 2018 as the alleged mastermind behind the murder of journalist Yamal Khashogi, who went missing after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Bin Salman is scheduled to meet Britain’s new King Charles III, who will host a reception for international leaders on Sunday, but will not attend the funeral on Monday, according to sources quoted by Sky News. The funeral will be attended instead by representatives of the Saudi Foreign Ministry.