Some of us may have sung “London Bridge is falling down, my dear lady” when we were young. However, little did we know short of this, ‘London Bridge is down’ would be the codename for the plans to be put into effect immediately after Queen Elizabeth’s death. She finally breathed her last on Thursday, September 8, bringing an end to her 70-year reign. She was 96. Several international media outlets have over the years reported about the London Bridge, some even giving details of what her death would exactly look like, who would be with her and how the news would be broken. In a viral 2017 Guardian article by Sam Knight, headlined “'London Bridge is down': the secret plan for the days after the Queen’s death”, the author notes that the first plans for London Bridge date back to the 1960s, before being refined in detail at the turn of the century. Apparently, since then, there have been meetings two or three times a year involving various actors, who include the police, media, and government departments. The article also describes in detail that the Queen would die after a short illness, and that her family and doctors would be by her side. It adds that the Palace would be giving bulletins which are not many but enough. “The prime minister will be woken, if she is not already awake, and civil servants will say ‘London Bridge is down’ on secure lines,” the long read indicates. The people involved, including the media, have been regularly making dry-runs on how they would report, some even secured interviews from the Royal Family for years now. According to a piece published by Politico just last year from documents they obtained laying out Operation London Bridge, here are key points on how the next days will look like: The U.K. parliament and the devolved legislatures in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will adjourn. If parliament is not sitting, it will be recalled. The royal family will announce plans for the Queen’s funeral, which is expected to be held 10 days following her death. The proclamation will then be read at St. James’ Palace and the Royal Exchange in the City of London, confirming Charles as king a day after the Queen’s death. The Queen’s coffin will return to Buckingham Palace on the second day after her death. If the Queen dies at Balmoral in Scotland (where she died indeed), Operation ‘Unicorn’ will be activated, meaning her body will be carried down to London by royal train if possible. Had she died from somewhere far, Operation ‘Overstudy’ would have been triggered, meaning the coffin will be transferred by plane. The PM and ministers will attend a reception to welcome the coffin. The Queen will lie in state at the Palace of Westminster for three days, in an operation codenamed ‘Feather’. Her coffin will lie on a raised box known as a catafalque in the middle of Westminster Hall, which will be open to the public for 23 hours per day. Tickets will be issued for VIPs so they can have a time slot. The state funeral itself will be held at Westminster Abbey. Queen Elizabeth II plans to be buried at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle–reportedly her favourite of the royal residences–in the King George VI Memorial Chapel. This is where her late father, King George VI, the Queen Mother and her sister Princess Margaret were all laid to rest. The body of the Queen’s late husband Prince Philip, who died last year, will be moved to the same vault as his wife. There will be ritual proclamations, a four-nation tour by the new king, Charles III. After the funeral, an official coronation for King Charles will take place. New British currency will be printed with the King’s portrait. The same will happen for stamps, passports, police and military uniform. The national anthem will be changed to ‘God save the King’. Other details in the documents on how the royal family’s website would change to a black holding page with a short statement confirming the queen’s death, the U.K. government website – www.gov.uk - will display a black banner at the top have already been done. Also the traditional BBC red branding that is usually red, has turned black, as already expected. Operation London Bridge is only a replica of previous operations carried out for monarchs. Here is a Business Insider video explaining the whole operation and how the situation will be in the UK. What will happen to the monarchy when Queen Elizabeth II passes away? pic.twitter.com/k4hmCKUbbD — Business Insider (@BusinessInsider) April 26, 2020
