Donald Trump managed to bag a front row seat at Pope Francis’ funeral due to a little-known protocol described as a “master plan”. Mr Trump is among the world leaders who have travelled to Rome for the final farewell to Francis, joining the likes of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and heir to the throne Prince William among the 54 heads of state and 12 reigning sovereigns.
As he and First Lady Melania Trump watched the service, they were seated in the front row among dignitaries next to the President of Estonia, Alar Karis. It had been previously reported that Trump would not have received such a high-profile seat due to priority being given to royalty.
However, it appears the seating plan for international leaders at Pope Francis’s funeral is a delicate diplomatic effort. Francis’s birth country, Argentina, took precedence in the seating arrangements. Argentina’s delegation includes President Javier Milei, who was a vocal critic of the Pope before he became the nation’s head of state.
Italy followed, as the Pope was the bishop of Rome and the leader of the nation’s Catholic bishops. Thereafter, reigning sovereigns will be seated “in alphabetical order, but in the French language”, followed by heads of state, and later heads of government, like the UK Prime Minister, and other representatives.
French is used in the seating arrangements because it is considered the language of diplomacy, but it also shakes up the order of precedence that an English speaker may expect. Trump, for example, appears relatively early in the running because America is listed as “Etats-Unis d’Amerique,” which bagged him a front-row seat.
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.
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 that has a higher precedence than William, who is listed as a crown prince further down the list.
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The Prince of Wales is attending on behalf of the King, who is also the head of the Church of England. 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.”
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