Vice President Kamala Harris, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) attended a memorial service of thanksgiving for Queen Elizabeth II at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.
The political leaders were among hundreds of guests, and they were the most senior elected U.S. officials at the event. Invitations were sent to the living former presidents, but none showed. All members of Congress and the Supreme Court were also invited after only President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden secured an invitation to the queen’s funeral service in London on Monday due to limited seating.
KAMALA HARRIS TO ATTEND SERVICE HONORING QUEEN ELIZABETH II
In a joint operation by the cathedral and the British Embassy, guests were welcomed by Dean of the Cathedral Randy Hollerith and British Ambassador Karen Pierce.
“[The queen] well understood the affinity between the U.S. and the U.K., stressing not just our common heritage and kinship but our common values,” Pierce said. “We have been humbled and we have been honored by the immense number of tributes.”
The sermon, which was presented by the Most Rev. and Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, who leads the Episcopal Church in the United States, was centered on leading a life of devotion and being kind to neighbors.
“We have assembled in this sacred place to give God thanks for the life of her majesty Queen Elizabeth II, to give God thanks for a life that was given to service of others, to cause greater than self,” Curry said in his homily. “We give God thanks that one such as her did walk among us.”
The monarch in England is considered the head of the Church of England, and Christianity played an important part in Elizabeth’s life.
During her rule, Elizabeth visited the National Cathedral three times, according to Hollerith.
“We offer our heartfelt condolences and prayers,” Hollerith said. “Over the span of her remarkable life, her majesty visited this cathedral four times, once as princess and three times as monarch. We feel her continued presence here with us even today.”
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Elizabeth, who died Sept. 8 at the age of 96, became England’s monarch in 1952. The day she died, the cathedral tolled its bells 96 times to commemorate her legacy as Britain’s queen for 70 years. Charles, her eldest son, ascended to the throne as King Charles III.
