London -
British Prime Minister David Cameron will attend the memorial service for Nelson Mandela in South Africa next week and Prince Charles will attend the funeral several days later, officials said on Sunday.
As expected, Queen Elizabeth II will not make the journey, although she has expressed how “deeply saddened” she was by the former South African president's death on Thursday.
The monarch, 87, has begun cutting down her long-distance foreign trips, and asked her son and heir Charles to represent her at the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Sri Lanka last month.
“Her Majesty the Queen will be formally represented at the funeral of Nelson Mandela by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales on Sunday 15th December in Qunu, South Africa,” said a statement from Buckingham Palace.
On Tuesday, Cameron will join world leaders including US President Barack Obama and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for the memorial service in Johannesburg.
“I'll be at the memorial service in South Africa on Tuesday to commemorate the great man,” Cameron announced on Twitter. - Sapa-AFP