Donald Trump is expected to have a ‘third-tier seat’ at Pope Francis‘ funeral mass despite being among the first to confirm that he would be attending the service.
Trump, who is accustomed to being front and centre at world events, is unlikely to have a prominent position in the seating arrangements when he arrives at St. Peter’s Basilica tomorrow morning.
The Vatican is today making final preparations for the pontiff’s funeral and has not yet released the official seating chart.
Many of the 50 heads of state and 10 reigning monarchs will be in attendance, but tradition suggests that precedence for front row seating will be given to Catholic royalty.
Foreign dignities will likely be sat in large block on one side of the coffin, across from the cardinals, patriarchs, bishops and archbishops, The Telegraph reports.
Catholic royals will be seated in the front row, followed by non-Catholic royals, including Prince William. World leaders, heads of states and other foreign dignitaries will then be sat behind them.
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.
Donald Trump (pictured with Pope Francis in May 2017) is expected to have a ‘third-tier seat’ at Pope Francis’ funeral mass despite being among the first to confirm that he would be attending the service
Pope Francis lies in state in a coffin as people pay their respects at St Peter’s Basilica at The Vatican, on April 25, 2025
A solemn looking woman takes to her knees and cries as she mourns Pope Francis while he lies in state in St. Peter’s Basilica, at the Vatican, April 25, 2025
Faithful queue to enter St. Peter’s Basilica to pay respects as Pope Francis lies in state today
Donald Trump mocked his predecessor Joe Biden for having to sit in the 14th row at Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral three years ago (pictured)
Ivanka Trump, first lady Melania Trump, and President Donald Trump stand with Pope Francis during a meeting at the Vatican in May 2017
The Vatican is making final preparations for the pope’s funeral today as the last of the huge crowds of mourners file through St Peter’s Basilica to view his open coffin.
Many of the foreign leaders attending Saturday’s ceremony, including Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, are expected to arrive in Rome later today.
Trump, who is travelling with first lady Melania Trump, is scheduled to arrive today after Francis’ coffin has been sealed.
Italian and Vatican authorities have placed the area around St Peter’s under tight security with drones blocked, snipers on roofs and fighter jets on standby. Further check-points will be activated tonight, police said.
At least 130 foreign delegations are expected at his funeral, including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Argentina’s President Javier Milei and French President Emmanuel Macron. A no-fly zone will be in force.
Prince William, who is attending the funeral on behalf of King Charles, will be in the company of other royals, including Spain’s King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia.
The King and Queen of Sweden and the Crown Prince and Princess of Norway will also be present.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered his condolences late Thursday, after a notable delay that some attributed to strained ties with the Vatican, as Francis had repeatedly criticised Israel’s conduct in Gaza.
Netanyahu will not attend tomorrow’s service, with Israel only being represented only by its ambassador to the Vatican.
Huge crowds of mourners queue outside St Peter’s Basilica today to view Pope Francis’ open coffin on the final day of his lying in state
Over 128,000 people have already queued to pay their last respects to Francis, whose coffin will be closed at 8pm (6pm GMT) today in a ceremony attended by senior cardinals
Mourners, some feeling emotional, pay their respects to Pope Francis on April 24, 2025 in Vatican City, Vatican
Dutch Cardinal Wim Eijk arrives at the Vatican today as Pope Francis lies in state in St. Peter’s Basilica for the final day
Vast crowds of people this morning packed Via della Conciliazione, the wide avenue leading to the Vatican, for the third and final day of the pope’s lying-in-state.
Over 128,000 people have already queued to pay their last respects to Francis, whose coffin will be closed at 8pm (6pm GMT) today in a ceremony attended by senior cardinals.
For a second night in a row, the Vatican kept St Peter’s open past the scheduled hours to accommodate the queues, only closing the doors between 2.30am and 5.40am Friday.
The Catholic Church’s first Latin American pope died on Monday aged 88, less than a month after spending weeks in hospital with severe pneumonia.
The Argentine pontiff, who had long suffered failing health, defied doctors’ orders by appearing at Easter, the most important moment in the Catholic calendar. It would be his last public appearance.
Condolences have flooded in from around the world for the Jesuit, an energetic reformer who championed those on the fringes of society in his 12 years as head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
He used his last speech to rail against those who stir up ‘contempt… towards the vulnerable, the marginalised, and migrants’.
The pope’s coffin was set before St Peter’s altar for his three days of lying-in-state, with Francis dressed in his papal vestments – a red chasuble, white mitre and black shoes.
Faithful pay their respect to the late Pope Francis who will lie in state inside St. Peter’s Basilica until Friday, at the Vatican, Thursday April 24, 2025
Faithful are seen inside St. Peter’s Basilica to pay homage to the body of Pope Francis on April 24, 2025 in Vatican City
People wait in line under the rain to enter St. Peter’s Basilica to view Pope Francis lying in state, at the Vatican, Thursday, April 24, 2025
Italy’s civil protection agency estimates that ‘several hundred thousand’ people will descend on Rome on what was already set to be a busy weekend due to a public holiday on Friday.
After the funeral, Francis’s coffin will be driven at a walking pace to be buried at his favourite church, Rome’s papal basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.
The hearse will pass down Rome’s Fori Imperiali – where the city’s ancient temples lie – and then the Colosseum, according to officials.
Big screens will be set up along the route on which to watch the ceremony, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said.
The pontiff was a champion of underdogs, and a group of ‘poor and needy’, will be at Santa Maria Maggiore to welcome the coffin, the Vatican said.
Francis will be interred in the ground, his simple tomb marked with just one word: Franciscus.
People will be able to visit the tomb from Sunday morning, as all eyes turn to the process of choosing Francis’s successor.
Cardinals from around the world have been returning to Rome for the funeral and the conclave, when a new pontiff will be elected.
Members of the Swiss Guard stand next to the coffin containing Pope Francis’ body, on the day of the translation of his body, in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, April 23, 2025
Pope Francis’ body is carried in a coffin into Saint Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on the day of its translation, at the Vatican, April 23, 2025
The faithful queue to pay respects as Pope Francis lies in state in St. Peter’s Basilica, at the Vatican, April 23, 2025
In the absence of a pope, the cardinals have been meeting every day to agree the next steps, with another meeting held on today.
They have yet to announce a date for the conclave, but it must begin no fewer than 15 days and no more than 20 days after a pope’s death.
Only those under the age of 80 – currently some 135 cardinals – are eligible to vote.
Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who was number two to Francis, is the favourite, according to British bookmakers William Hill.
They put him ahead of Filipino Luis Antonio Tagle, the Metropolitan Archbishop emeritus of Manila, followed by Ghana’s Cardinal Peter Turkson, and Matteo Zuppi, the Archbishop of Bologna.
