By John Ikani
As hundreds of world leaders and foreign royals take off for the UK to attend the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, three countries have been barred from the ceremony.
Representatives from Myanmar, Belarus and Russia will not be in attendance at the Queen’s funeral, whilst Iran will only be represented on an ambassadorial level.
Vladimir Putin has missed out on an invite to the funeral due to Russia’s continued attacks on Ukraine, whil Myanmar’s leaders have been excluded due to their acts of violence against opposition democracy activists.
And in Iran the brutal Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei continues to have sour relations with Britain.
Queen Elizabeth’s funeral is expected to draw in around 500 foreign dignitaries.
Most countries have their head of state and one guest invited.
World leaders have been urged to travel on commercial flights to ease the carbon footprint of the event, whilst state cars and helicopters have also been banned.