US president Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrived in Rome as the world prepares for Pope Francis’ funeral today.
Trump is one of dozens of world leaders jetting into Italy to attend the historic funeral of the pontiff, who died at the age of 88 on Monday.
After three days dedicated to mourning the deceased Catholic leader, the global elite will come together tomorrow for the official funeral of the pioneering religious figure.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the leader of Catholics in England and Wales, anticipates that the funeral will be expertly orchestrated to manage the presence of influential individuals.
A Vatican spokesperson has confirmed Francis’s birth country of Argentina, then Italy, will take precedence.
Thereafter, reigning sovereigns will be seated ‘in alphabetical order, but in French language’, followed by heads of state.
Despite being an early confirmant of attendance, Trump is projected to occupy a less prominent position at Pope Francis’ funeral ceremony, potentially indicating a ‘third-tier seat.’
Trump, who is accustomed to being front and centre at world events, is unlikely to have a prominent position in the seating arrangements.
Trump, however, is not likely to be pleased with the seating arrangements, given that he mocked his predecessor Joe Biden for having to sit in the rear at Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral three years ago.
He said that Biden’s 14th row seat showed there was ‘no respect’ for the US anymore and alleged that if he was president he would have been moved closer to the front of the audience of 2,000 mourners.
Trump did not attend the service bidding farewell to Britain’s longest reigning monarch – as invites were limited to current heads of state.
Ireland’s delegation comes ahead of both Prince William and the British Government delegation in the official order of precedence, because it is led by head of state Mr Higgins.
It falls between groups from Indonesia and Iceland, also led by those countries’ heads of state.
Haakon, the Crown Prince of Norway, and William follow soon after in a category set aside for crown princes.
The British Government delegation includes Sir Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria, as well as Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
US President Donald Trump and his wife First Lady Melania are seated ahead of both the Irish and British delegations, in between Estonia and Finland.
Cardinal Nichols, who will take part in his first conclave to elect a new pope in the coming weeks, said the funeral organisers are well used to dealing with the sensitivities of such big events.
In an interview with the PA news agency in Rome, he said the funeral will be ‘without a doubt another masterpiece of stage management when you consider those state leaders who have high opinions of their importance’.
He added: ‘In the past, I’ve seen it here over and over again that the combination of Rome and the Holy See, they actually are geniuses at dealing with these big events.
‘I think they’ve been doing it since the emperors ruled Rome – that they know how to deal with big egos.
‘And I think every leader of a nation that comes here on Saturday will go home reasonably content.’
Scaffolding has been erected to provide international media with the best vantage points overlooking St Peter’s Square while there is a strong Italian police presence managing numbers and security.
Following Saturday’s open-air funeral in the square, Francis’s remains will be taken through the streets of Rome in another break with tradition, as his body is brought to a simple underground tomb in the basilica of Saint Mary Major, as per his instructions.
The Vatican said a group of ‘poor and needy’ people will be present on the steps leading to the basilica to pay their last respects before the interment of the coffin, in a nod to Francis’s particular care for the downtrodden.
