London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Oct 04, 2025

London police say queen's funeral poses biggest ever security test

London police say queen's funeral poses biggest ever security test

London's police force said the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth will be the biggest security operation it has ever undertaken as prime ministers, presidents and royals come together on Monday to pay their respects to Britain's longest-reigning monarch.

The queen's funeral is expected to attract hundreds of thousands of people to London's streets, echoing other important events in Britain's history, including her coronation in 1953, the funeral of former Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1965 and the death of Princess Diana in 1997.

Stuart Cundy, London's Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner, said the force was preparing for events ranging from terrorism threats to protests and crowd crushes.

He said his force would be deploying the largest ever number of officers on the city's streets and the largest protection operation for world leaders and royals in the police's almost 200 year history, with officers from almost every force in the country deployed.

Among the specialist officers on duty will be divers, dog handlers, police on horses, motorcycle outriders, firearms officers and close protection officers, who will guard leaders and members of the royal family from around the world.

U.S. President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron are among the most high-profile guests from overseas who have confirmed they will be attending.

Cundy said the massive policing operation would surpass other major policing events in London, including the 2012 Olympics and the celebrations in June for the queen's Platinum Jubilee, which celebrated her 70 years on the British throne.

To give an idea of the scale of the operation, Cundy said 22 miles (36 km) of barriers had been deployed in central London to help control the crowds.

"There’s absolutely nothing that compares to our policing operation this week, and particularly on Monday for the state funeral," Cundy told Reuters. "This will be the single largest policing operation that the Met police has ever undertaken and I think is every likely to undertake."


PROTESTS


The police operation will be overseen by Mark Rowley, who is in his first week in the job as the head of London's police after rejoining the force having previously served as the national lead for counter-terrorism.

London police have so far made 34 arrests in the run up to the funeral, but none of them were related to protests. There has been criticism that in Scotland police had been overly heavy-handed in dealing with those voicing objection.

"People have the right to protest," Cundy said. "Our response will be proportionate, it will be balanced, and our officers will only be taking action where it is absolutely necessary."

Tim De Meyer, the assistant chief constable of Thames Valley Police, who will be in charge of the policing operation in Windsor where the queen will be taken from London to be buried, said the public will face airport-style screening.

"Our contingency planning considers a whole range of different scenarios which includes everything from terror attacks to criminal activity to crowd surges and crushing," Cundy said.

Two police officers were stabbed in an incident unrelated to the funeral, or terrorism, in central London on Friday which he said brought "into sharp focus, the need for all officers who are on duty, the members of the public, to keep that vigilance".

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×