Trump, Macron, Prince William and others

Numerous world leaders and royals have gathered in Rome for Pope Francis’ funeral.

Among the most prominent figures at the Vatican’s St Peter’s Square on Saturday morning were Prince William, US President Donald Trump and his predecessor Joe Biden, Britain’s Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Their attendance comes at a fragile time for international diplomacy, with Trump meeting Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky before the service.

So among the VIP attendees, who sat next to whom?

Trump was in a front-row seat near Francis’ coffin, alongside his wife Melania Trump, across the aisle from Macron and his wife Brigitte.

Intriguingly, he and First Lady Melania were sitting between two staunch supporters of Ukraine. Estonia’s President Alar Karis was to Melania’s left, and Finland’s Alexander Stubb to Trump’s right.

Estonia and Finland are both staunch allies of another man of the moment in attendance – Zelensky, who looked sombre-faced at the Vatican. He was sitting on the same row as Macron, separated by a few other dignitaries.

Zelensky, who has been locked in negotiations and public arguments with Trump in recent weeks, was just 10 seats and one aisle away from him, on the same row.

Shortly before the funeral started, the pair were pictured sitting locked in deep discussion.

The White House described the 15-minute meeting as “very productive,” while Zelensky said it was “very symbolic” and had “potential to become historic”.

The VIPs were in a separate section from the hundreds of thousands of members of the public who have descended on Rome for the event.

Dignitaries were sitting on the the right-hand side of the square, next to St Peter’s Basilica.

Those with the best seats were Javier Milei, president of Francis’ native Argentina, Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Italian President Sergio Mattarella, representing the country that surrounds the Vatican City state.

Behind them were reigning sovereigns, and other delegations were seated in alphabetical order in French, the official language of diplomacy, on other benches.

Representing British royalty, the Prince of Wales was sitting next to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz several rows back from the front, and some distance away from Starmer.

Starmer himself sat in the fifth row with his wife Victoria.

Behind the British leader was the World Health Organization’s (WHO) director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Former US President Joe Biden was seen hand in hand with his wife Jill. He was sitting four rows behind Trump.

Many European leaders, as well as royalty from European countries, were in attendance.

The Macrons watched the service closely from their front row position, and the French president shook hands with Trump.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was at the proceedings, and was seen chatting with Macron.

Other political figures and royals attending the Pope’s funeral included:

• Poland President Andrzej Duda
• Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader
• Belgium King Philippe and Queen Mathilde
• German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier
• Croatia President Zoran Milanovic
• Ecuador President Daniel Noboa
• Ireland Taoiseach (prime minister) Micheál Martin
• Moldova President Maia Sandu
• Latvia President Edgars Rinkevics
• New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon
• Sweden King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia
• UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres
• Queen Mary of Denmark
• Jordan King Abdullah II and Queen Rania
• Hungary President Tamas Sulyok and Prime Minister Viktor Orban
• European Council President Antonio Costa

Correction 26 April 2025: This story has been updated to remove reference to Chen Chien-jen, who is the former vice-president of Taiwan, not the vice-president of China as originally stated in this story.