The delicate diplomacy of the seating plan for the Pope’s funeral

The seating plan for international leaders at the funeral of Pope Francis is a delicate effort in diplomacy.

It has been described as a “master plan” in stage-managing the “big egos” of world leaders by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the leader of Catholics in England and Wales.

Francis’s birth country of Argentina will take precedence in the seating arrangements.

Its delegation includes President Javier Milei, who was a vocal critic of the Pope before he became the nation’s head of state.

Italy will then follow, as the Pope is the bishop of Rome and leader of the nation’s Catholic bishops.

Thereafter, reigning sovereigns will be seated “in alphabetical order, but in French language”, followed by heads of state, and later heads of government – like the UK Prime Minister – and other representatives.

First listed among the sovereigns which follow Argentina and Italy is one of the the co-princes of Andorra, the landlocked micro-nation in the Pyrenees between France and Spain.

The Bishop of Urgell, Joan-Enric Vives i Sicilia, will fulfil this role, as the other co-prince is the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, who will lead his nation’s delegation as head of state further down the order of precedence.

French is used in the seating arrangements because it is considered the language of diplomacy, but it also shakes up the order of precedence an English speaker may expect.

US President Donald Trump, for example, appears relatively early in the running, because America is listed as “Etats-Unis d’Amerique”.

The likelihood of an encounter with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky would therefore be avoided, as he would not be sat near to his US counterpart as might be expected.

Mr Zelensky is expected to attend, after he had cast doubt on whether he would be able to travel to Rome amid the war in his country.

The two leaders involved in negotiating a peace deal will also avoid coming face-to-face with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, who is not listed as attending.

His nation is set to be represented by culture minister Olga Lyubimova.

Ireland’s delegation comes ahead of both of the UK’s representatives: Prince William, and the British Government delegation.

This is because it is led by a head of state, the Irish President Michael D Higgins, a title which has a higher precedence than William, who is listed as a crown prince further down the list.

The Prince of Wales is attending on behalf of the King, who is also the head of the Church of England, and will sit alongside Haakon, the Prince of Norway.

The British Government delegation includes Sir Keir Starmer, his wife Victoria, as well as Foreign Secretary David Lammy.

It is listed between groups from Qatar and Serbia, led by those countries’ heads of government.

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.”