The British royal family is not known for leaving things to chance, nor for abhorring traditional ceremonies. And certainly not with such a drastic event as the death of the queen would be. Accordingly, there are obviously detailed and extensive plans as to what is to be done in this case: who is to be informed and in what order, who is allowed to speak and publicly express mourning, and which route the coffin is to take. The name of all these plans sounds as if Her Majesty’s Secret Service had come up with it: If Elizabeth II should die, “Operation London Bridge” will start.
The plans, the first version of which is said to date back to the 1960s, are not openly available, but journalists have repeatedly seen and published parts of them. In 2017, for example, he wrote Guardiansthat Elizabeth’s private secretary will be the first to notify the Prime Minister, which is Liz Truss as of this week. He would tell her the code word over a tap-proof line: “London Bridge is down.” In the past year revealed the portal political many details of the operation, the flow of information is also described as the same there, but there is no mention of a code word. Maybe both are true, the plans are apparently revised regularly.
After Truss, her cabinet is informed, the relevant messages are said to have already been formulated verbatim, as have the governments of the other Commonwealth states, whose head of state is Elizabeth II. And at some point, maybe hours later, the public. In the past, this would probably have happened via the BBC, but it has lost its monopoly as a fast medium. Presumably the palace will send out a message. One can safely assume that all broadcasters in the kingdom have prepared extensive obituaries and live broadcasts for this eventuality – as well as long lists of worn pieces of music just in case. “Mrs. Robinson” is said to have been used as an alias for Elizabeth II during rehearsals for this on the TV channels ITN and Sky.
Flags are to be flown at half-mast on all public buildings within minutes of the news of his death. Gun salutes will be fired in London and there will be an official minute’s silence. The Internet and social media pages of the royal family and the government are switched to black and largely muted – only very urgent things can now be announced. But the death of the monarch will also be announced on traditional paper: a servant will emerge from Buckingham Palace and pin a black-bordered obituary to the gate.
The 1936 minute’s silence after the death of King George V in Piccadilly Circus, London.
(Photo: Scherl/Süddeutsche Zeitung Photo)
Finally, the royal family will announce when the funeral will take place – probably ten days later. The prime minister will hold the first public address, her ministers must remain strictly silent until then. Truss then also meets the new king – believed to be Elizabeth’s son Charles – and he will eventually address the nation. It all happens on the day of death, loud political this is referred to as “D-Day” in the official plans.
The coffin containing the body of the Queen, who is currently at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, will be taken to London on the second day after her death. Either in the Royal Train, i.e. the royal train (according to political This trades as “Operation Unicorn”) or on the plane (“Operation Overstudy”). In either case, the coffin will be received by the Government and taken to Buckingham Palace. From there he is transferred three days later to the Palace of Westminster, where Elizabeth is laid out for the public for three days.
And in all this time, another operation has been running in parallel for a long time, it also begins on “D-Day”, it shows Elizabeth’s successor, her eldest son Prince Charles, 73, the way to the throne. It’s called Operation Springtide.