A painstakingly organised and coordinated process that the palace, the government, the news media, the local authorities, and the queen herself had long prepared goes into motion with the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.
Operation London Bridge, a national memorialization effort, takes place amid the general outpouring of grief. A lot has been meticulously planned, and certain details have already come together.
By the time the world knew about the queen’s death, her son Charles had already become king. Under British common law, the moment of the sovereign’s death marks the moment the heir becomes the monarch.
The national anthem will again shift to “God Save the King.”
Many of the granular details of the palace’s planning were laid out in a 2017 investigation by The Guardian, providing a blueprint for the hours and days ahead. The planning has been discussed in meetings between government and palace officials, the police, the army and broadcasters two to three times a year since the turn of the century, and occasionally reported on.
According to the blueprint, the queen’s death would be communicated with one coded phrase — “London Bridge is down.”
The plan made the queen’s private secretary responsible for delivering the message to the prime minister. Then the Foreign Office was responsible for relaying the message to Commonwealth leaders, a loose organization largely composed of former colonies of the British Empire, which includes 15 countries where the monarch is also the head of state. Charles, as the new king, automatically became the head of state for the realms once ruled by his mother.
Although the sovereign’s political power is largely symbolic in Britain, the monarchy plays a constitutional role, so there will be formalities conducted with the expected royal flair. According to the protocol, within 24 hours of the queen’s death, lawmakers in Parliament will take oaths of allegiance to the new king.
Charles, like his mother before him, will make four traditional public statements as he enters his new role — three of which are required by law.
At the first meeting of the Privy Council, he will give a personal and political inaugural declaration. In the past, this happened in a closed ceremony and the text was published after the fact in the London Gazette — the official government record. But the planning document suggests this could be televised.
Charles will make a statutory oath to uphold the Church of Scotland during the first Privy Council and confirm the timing of the queen’s funeral.
He will later make the accession declaration oath, a vow to maintain the established Protestant line of succession. And lastly, he will make the coronation oath, which includes a promise to uphold the rights and privileges of the Church of England.
Flags across the country will be lowered to half-staff until the morning after the queen’s funeral, with one exception. On the day Charles is publicly proclaimed king, flags will be raised until the following afternoon and then revert to half-staff.
London Bridge is Down, The Queen Has Died.