What to know about Jimmy Carter’s funeral

There will be multiple days of ceremonies and services in Washington, DC to mourn the passing of US president Jimmy Carter, who died at age 100.

Former President Carter will be honoured at a state funeral on 9 January before he is buried in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, alongside his wife, Rosalynn, who died last year at 96.

Carter passed away on Sunday two years after entering into hospice care.

Here’s what to know about the upcoming service.

Carter – who served as president from 1977 to 1981 – will be commemorated at a state funeral in Washington, DC on 9 January.

The former president’s family accepted an invitation on Monday for Carter to lie in state at the US Capitol Rotunda, with a service to be held at Washington National Cathedral.

Carter’s remains will be at the Capitol beginning on the afternoon of 7 January, and they will be kept there until the morning of 9 January. The building will be open to the public during “designated times” for those who wish to pay their respects.

The US federal government will be closed on 9 January for a national day of mourning “as a mark of respect for James Earl Carter, Jr”, President Joe Biden said in an executive order.

The state funeral will not be the only service for the 39th president.

On 4 January, a motorcade will drive through Carter’s small hometown of Plains, Georgia, and stop by his childhood home before proceeding to Atlanta for a public service at the Carter Presidential Center.

Carter’s remains will be at the presidential library on 5 January and 6 January.

After both the Georgia and Washington, DC services, the former president will be laid to rest for a final time in Plains during a private ceremony.

Biden will be delivering the eulogy at Carter’s Washington, DC funeral, after the 39th president asked him to in March 2023, according to Biden.

Former presidents and first ladies typically attend funerals of former presidents, so First Lady Jill Biden and others like former Democratic President Barack Obama could be in attendance. Hillary and Bill Clinton are also expected to attend.

President-elect Donald Trump’s plans are unclear. He did not attend Rosalyn Carter’s funeral last year, but his wife Melania did – along with all the former first ladies.

He did, however, attend the Washington service for George HW Bush, the last former president to die, in 2018.