Queen Elizabeth II To Unveil Iraq Afghanistan Memorial In London Amid Row Over Upcoming Trump Meeting

Queen Elizabeth II will unveil a new Iraq Afghanistan Memorial in Victoria Embankment Gardens, London, while attending a Service of Dedication on Horse Guards Parade March 9, the Buckingham Palace announced Monday. The news comes amid an ongoing furore over U.S. President Donald Trump's plans to meet the world's longest-living monarch.

"The Iraq Afghanistan Memorial Memorial honours all UK Service personnel and civilians who took part in conflicts in the Gulf region, Iraq and Afghanistan between 1990 and 2015," the palace said, in the statement.

The Service of Dedication will be attended by the royal family, including Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. Other attendees will be the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, the Princess Royal and Adm. Sir Tim Laurence, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the Duke of Kent and Princess Alexandra.

Current Service personnel, veterans, representatives of departments and bodies including the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the National Health Service, and representatives of various charities and aid organisations will also attend the event, the palace said.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip will later travel to Victoria Embankment Gardens, where the 90-year-old will unveil the Iraq Afghanistan Memorial as part of an effort to honor individuals who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and their families.

Meanwhile, a former head of the Foreign Office said that the queen has been put in a "very difficult position" after Theresa May invited Trump to a state visit.

Lord Ricketts told the BBC that he was "surprised" as it was unprecedented for a U.S. president to be invited for a state visit in their first year in the White House.

Trump came under fire after he issued an executive order to impose an immigration ban. A U.K. petition to stop Trump’s visit to Britain has so far received over 1.6 million signatures.

The queen resumed her royal duties this month after weeks of suffering from a bad cold that gave rise to several concerns about her health. Some rumors about the monarch's death also made the rounds, triggering speculations over who would succeed her to the throne. In case Queen Elizabeth II dies or abdicates, her son Prince Charles will take the throne. The Prince of Wales is first in line to the British throne, followed by Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, who would be succeeded by his son Prince George.