BREAKING NEWS Pope Francis funeral: Donald Trump arrives to pay tribute to 'people's pope' as world leaders join the hundreds of thousands gathering in Rome for emotional service
Donald Trump has arrived at the Vatican to join world leaders and pilgrims in solemn reflection for the funeral of Pope Francis.
The U.S. president is joined by his wife, Melania, in the Vatican City, among some 170 heads of state or government in attendance.
Sir Keir Starmer, Prince William, Emmanuel Macron, Volodymyr Zelensky, Giorgia Meloni and the Spanish royal family are also among those expected to attend.
Donald Trump is set to have a 'third-tier' seat at the funeral mass, with precedence for front row seating given to Catholic royalty.
The pontiff's funeral is expected to start at 10am local time (9am GMT), with at least a quarter of a million members of the public to attend.
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, leads the service, addressing hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, and world leaders and dignitaries.
But it will be prisoners and migrants who ultimately usher the pope into the basilica where he will be buried, reflecting his priorities as head of the Catholic Church.
Francis is breaking with tradition and will be buried in the St. Mary Major Basilica, where a simple underground tomb awaits him with just his name: Franciscus.
Pope Francis died on Monday, aged 88, from a stroke and irreversible heart failure in his beloved Casa Santa Marta residence.
In his final hours, he had joined crowds for an Easter Sunday blessing at St Peter's Square. The pontiff had only recently been discharged from hospital, after five weeks of treatment for an infection that led to double pneumonia.
U.S President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump disembark Air Force One at Fiumicino Airport, to attend the funeral of Pope Francis, near Rome, Italy, April 25, 2025
Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden walk ahead of the funeral Mass of Pope Francis, at the Vatican, April 26, 2025
Francis, heralded as the 'people's pope' due to his focus on society's neediest, had been lying in state in St Peter's Basilica for three days, with some 250,000 mourners passing him day and night.
The Vatican had to extend hours to meet the overwhelming demand to see his body, lying in an open casket, before it was formally sealed in private on Friday, with his face covered by a simple white shroud.
Members of the public are today be joined by world leaders in St. Peter's Square.
The British Government delegation includes Sir Keir Starmer and his wife, Victoria, as well as Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
Prince William is also in attendance on behalf of the royal family.
Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky arrived on Saturday morning and will attend with his wife Olena Zelenska, following uncertainty over where he could, after his travel plans were disrupted by air strikes in Kyiv.
Former U.S. president Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, were also pictured arriving on Saturday, joining president Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, from the United States.
A seating order was published on the eve of the funeral, showing Francis's birth country of Argentina, then Italy, take precedence.
Thereafter, leaders are seated 'in alphabetical order' in French - considered the language of diplomacy.
Ireland's delegation comes ahead of both Prince William and the British Government delegation in the official order of precedence, because it is led by head of state Mr Higgins.
Haakon, the Crown Prince of Norway, and William follow soon after in a category set aside for crown princes.
French president Emmanuel Macron is seen at St Peter's Basilica in Rome on Saturday ahead of the Pope's funeral
President Trump and his wife First Lady Melania are seated ahead of both the Irish and British delegations.
However, the Pope will be ushered into his final resting place by prisoners and migrants - in a nod to his focus on the needy and the poor during his time as leader of the Catholic church.
Scaffolding has been erected to provide international media with the best vantage points overlooking St Peter's Square while there is a strong Italian police presence managing numbers and security.
The complex security operation, estimated to cost five million Euros (£4.3m), comprises 8,000 security staff members, including 2,000 uniformed police officers and 1,400 plainclothes officers.
The Vatican has a small ceremonial army of Swiss Guards and there is also the Vatican Security Service, the Pope's bodyguards.
But the main security will be provided by the Italian government and there will be thousands of police and soldiers in and around the Vatican and along the four-mile route from St Peter's to the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica where Francis will be buried.
Anti-drone technology is being deployed to jam any UAVs that attempt to film proceedings from above.
The operation also includes special forces sharp-shooters on rooftops, undercover units, security teams on horseback, helicopter patrols and boats on the nearby River Tiber.
Former US President Joe Biden and his wife Jill are seen within Vatican City ahead of Pope Francis' funeral
Following the funeral, Francis will be taken through the streets of Rome in a break with tradition as he is carried to his final, unconventional resting place.
Rather than in the Vatican, where popes are typically buried, Francis will be laid to rest in the church of Santa Maria Maggiore in the centre of Rome, where he regularly prayed before and after trips overseas.
Francis' simple coffin will be entombed in an alcove that had previously been used to store candlestick holders. Per his request, it will not be decorated and will be inscribed only with his papal name in Latin, Franciscus.
It is another departure from tradition for the liberal Pope, who held progressive views on the rights of immigrants and LGBT rights, as well as climate change and the ethics of modern technology such as social media and artificial intelligence.
The last pope who asked to be buried outside of the Vatican was Pope Leo XIII, who died in 1903.
And while today marks the first of nine days of mourning, speculation regarding the next pope is likely to begin shortly after the funeral.
Conclave, the secret meeting of cardinals to elect Francis's successor, is thought likely to begin on May 5.
One Vatican expert has said she thinks it is 'totally unpredictable' at this point as to who the next pope might be.
UK theologian Professor Anna Rowlands said: 'That's partly because the process is genuinely both secret, so it happens in private, but also because the make-up of this College of Cardinals is very different from anyone that's been here to elect a pope before.
'It's going to be, I think, a surprise conclave, that is totally unpredictable at this point, but I think will produce, potentially, a really interesting candidate who possibly none of us will know.'
Irish-born Cardinal Kevin Farrell - the camerlengo or senior Vatican official - has been responsible for carrying out the administrative and financial duties of the Holy See until a new pope takes over.
He had the role of announcing the Pope's death on Easter Monday, coordinating meetings with the cardinals ahead of conclave and ensuring the Sistine Chapel is ready to accommodate them when that process begins in the coming weeks.
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