Seating plan details for Pope’s funeral revealed with Trump back in ‘third-tier’ row…but he & Zelensky will be far apart

PRESIDENT Donald Trump will not get a front-row seat and will be sat far away from Volodymyr Zelensky at Pope Francis' funeral, according to the Vatican protocol.

Top world leaders will set foot in Rome on Saturday to join tens of thousands of Catholic mourners at the Pontiff's carefully orchestrated funeral.

Italy is deploying a ring of steel around the Vatican City to help protect crowds of up to 200,000 and the almost 200 high-profile foreign visitors.

This includes President Trump and his wife, Melania and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who announced they would attend the Pope's funeral.

No10 said Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will also attend the funeral, along with French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

Prince William will also be in attendance at the Pope's funeral on behalf of the King, Kensington Palace announced.

King Charles and Queen Camilla have paid tribute to the Pope in a touching statement.

Long-standing Vatican protocols suggest that Trump may not make the second row of dignitaries seated opposite royals and church elders in pole position at St Peter's Basilica.

He would instead be sat in the third row along with his counterparts.

The funeral will also mark the first time Trump and Zelensky see each other after their historic - and ugly - Oval Office spat.

But both of them will be sat far away from each other.

This is because of the Vatican's protocol to arrange seats for foreign dignitaries in alphabetical order.

While the Vatican has not released any official details on the seating yet, previous papal funerals give us a glimpse of what the seating arrangement would look like.

Powerful archbishops, bishops and cardinals - known as the “princes” of the Catholic church - will be given the best seats at the spectacular event.

While the members of Catholic royalty will take the front seats.

Non-catholic royals - including the Prince of Wales, King and Queen of Sweden and Crown Prince - would come next, taking on the second row seats.

A huge number of mourners will be arriving along with foreign dignitaries, royals and some of the world's most influential figures.

This surge in famous visitors to the tiny 0.44sqkm country has prompted one of the most complex security operations ever to be launched.

A stealth military unit based out of Italy is leading the seismic task and is set to use anti-drone technology, sniper rifles, jets and even warships to protect the world's elite.

Specialist troops encircling St Peter’s Square today were seen toting space-age “drone bazookas” capable of disabling terrorist craft with a blast of radio waves.

The powerful guns send threatening drones haywire, forcing them to either land vertically or return to their controller.

Security chiefs believe drones pose the biggest threat to Saturday morning’s funeral pageant.

One of the drone specialists - called Giovanni - told The Sun yesterday: “My device can disable and bring down a zone once I have it in my sights.

“The technology is very effective and enables us to bring drones under control and reduce the threat. We realise we have an important job to do.”

Sharpshooters with high-powered rifles were also seen positioned on rooftops overlooking St Peter's Square.

Nato AWACS surveillance jets will also help secure the skies as well as sophisticated anti-drone jamming stations.

Rome's police chief, Marcello Fulvi, said around 8,000 security personnel will protect the funeral procession.

This will include 2,000 uniformed Vatican Gendarmerie patrolling around St. Peter’s Square and another 1,400 plainclothes officers stationed on the streets.

Elsewhere, the Swiss Guard will be on hand to help with the network of surveillance at the funeral.

They are known as one of the oldest military units on the planet as well as the smallest, and have protected the Pope since 1506.

Security has now started to ramp up in the country as thousands say their final goodbyes to the beloved Pope.

Officials released photos of Francis laid out in red robes while clutching a rosary inside a coffin in Saint Peter’s Basilica.

The Vatican announced that St Peter's Basilica will be kept open until midnight on Thursday to allow the faithful to mourn.

The 88-year-old Pope died on Easter Monday after suffering a stroke.

The funeral will be led by the dean of the College of Cardinals - Giovanni Battista Re - with the Pope's burial taking place in a simple underground tomb in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major.

A funeral mass will then be co-celebrated by cardinals and ceremonially dressed senior clerics and other members of the clergy.

Following the funeral, the Pope’s body will be moved to the burial site outside the Vatican.

A humble Francis decreed in his will that he would be interred in a simple underground tomb at Santa Maria Maggiore, unlike the previous Popes who had been buried in the crypts beneath St Peter's Basilica.

Francis will be the first Pope in more than a hundred years to be buried outside of the Vatican walls.

He also said he had arranged for an unnamed benefactor to cover the costs of the burial.

Even the age-old tradition of preparing three coffins of cypress, lead and oak has been ditched, as desired by Francis during the years before his death.

He will be buried in a simple underground tomb prepared “without particular ornamentation,” marked only as “Franciscus,” according to his wishes.