Bidens forced to sit 14 rows back behind Poland's President at Queen's funeral; Know why

In what is being perceived as a strange seating plan, US President Joe Biden who joined a long slate of world leaders for Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral inside London’s Westminster Abbey was made to sit in the 14th row. Bidens were perched behind the Polish President Andrzej Duda and his wife Agata Kornhauser-Duda. They were among the 2,000 attendees at Queen Elizabeth II's funeral that included global dignitaries, high-profile politicians, public figures and European royals.

Royal pageantry was on full display to pay tribute to a monarch whose rule spanned seven decades in Britain and Biden, even as he was shunted to the 14th row, was seated in front of Czech Republic Prime Minister Peter Fiala and his wife Jana Fialová and alongside the heads of Commonwealth states. Members of other royal families, such as Japanese Emperor Naruhito, were made to sit in front of the abbey for the Queen's funeral ceremony. First Lady of the United States Jill Biden was made to sit next to Ignazio Cassis, the president of Switzerland.

President Biden and first lady Jill were seated 14 rows back at Queen Elizabeth’s funeral on Monday. Credit: AP

Was Biden late to Queen Elizabeth's funeral? 

It is being speculated that the Bidens must have gotten stuck in the traffic, and their VVIP treatment by the Royals ended there, although those claims remain unverified. Most of the VIPs attending the Queen's funeral were commanded to take a bus to Westminster Abbey. US president, although, chose to travel in “the Beast,” a heavily armoured limousine. It was reported that US head of the State Biden received an "exception" to the strict security protocols recommended by the Royal family that had strictly forbidden the guests from taking private aircraft to London or even using the state vehicles. 

While the foreign dignitaries were required to settle in their seats in Westminster Abbey between 9:35 and 9:55 a.m., well ahead of the official start time at 11 am for the funeral ceremony, the US presidential limousine was still crawling past a Pret a Manger in heavy traffic congestion. Footages circulating on Twitter showed Biden's presidential limousine stuck in a traffic jam, and the president of the United States could not arrive at the venue until 10:07 am. 

While customarily, when the president of the United States runs late for an event, he may be greeted by the officials waiting eagerly. Such was not the case at the funeral of Britain's longest-serving monarch. A Guardian reporter found that the Bidens were “gently” told to wait until a seat was arranged among a line of British veterans. Biden, although, did not seem to mind as per the paper's sources. When he signed the official condolence book for Queen Elizabeth II the day before the funeral, he noted that the Queen reminded him of his mother, and it was “an honour to meet her." 

“To all the people of England, all the people of the United Kingdom, our hearts go out to you,” he wrote of the Queen in his remarks. “You were fortunate to have had her for 70 years. We all were. The world is better for her."