The UK government plan for what will happen when Queen Elizabeth II dies – codenamed “Operation London Bridge” – was revealed last year in great detail, after many years of being kept secret, with little information on its contents.
The “Operation London Bridge” involves the joint work of various areas of the State and includes actions such as a mega security operation to control the crowd of people who will come to London to say goodbye to the queen, scheduled official speeches, a tour of King Charles through Great Britain, the low all flags at half-staff in ten minutes and a social media blackout.
(Also read: Queen Elizabeth II: alert for the health of the monarch of the United Kingdom).
The schedule spans ten days, between Queen Elizabeth II’s death and her funeral. The day of death will be cataloged “D-Day”, and each subsequent day will be called “D+1”, “D+2”, etc.
Here are the full details of “Operation London Bridge” and “Operation Spring Tide,” which sets out how Prince Charles will succeed to the throne:
Day D
In the hours after the queen’s death, a series of calls will be made to inform the Prime Minister, the Cabinet Secretary and the most senior officials of what happened.
The statement to the ministers will be the same for all: “We have just been informed of the death of Her Majesty the Queen.” And they will be warned that “discretion is required”.
In addition, they will receive an email from the cabinet secretary, the draft of which reads: “Dear colleagues. With sadness, I write to inform you of the death of Her Majesty the Queen”.
Once the emails are sent, the flags will be lowered to half-staff in ten minutes.
The Royal House will issue an official notice to the public.
(You can read: This was the last public appearance of Queen Elizabeth II).
The UK parliament and the legislatures of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will be suspended.
The royal family’s website will go black and include a brief statement confirming the queen’s death.. The UK government website will also display a black banner, at the top.
All government departmental social media pages will display black stripes and will be prohibited from posting non-urgent content. Retweets will be prohibited, unless authorized by the head of Government Communications.
The prime minister will be the first member of the state to make a statement. All other officials will be instructed not to speak until after the prime minister has spoken.
After his conference, the prime minister will have an audience with prince Charles, and, at 6 pm, the new king will lead an official broadcast.
There will also be a memorial event at St. Paul’s Cathedral in the heart of London. The Prime Minister and a select number of senior officials will attend.
A minute of national silence will be announced.
(You may be interested: The new ‘Iron Lady’? Liz Truss takes over as British Prime Minister).
D+1 day
At 10 am the day after the queen’s death, the Accession Council meets at St. James’s Palace to proclaim King Charles as the new sovereign. It is a ceremonial body that includes important government figures and meets after the death of a monarch, to make a formal proclamation of the accession of his successor to the throne and to receive the religious oath of the new king.
Gentlemen present are expected to wear suits with black or dark ties.
The King Charles’s proclamation will be read at both St. James’s Palace and the Royal Exchange -old stock exchange of the city of London-.
Parliament will meet to agree on a message of condolences. All other legislative business will be suspended for ten days.
At 3:30 p.m., the prime minister and members of his cabinet will have an audience with the new king.
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D-day+2
The queen’s coffin will be taken to Buckingham Palace. If the queen dies at Sandringham, her residence in Norfolk, eastern England, her body will be transported by royal train to St. Pancras station in London, where her coffin will be received by the prime minister and cabinet ministers.
If he dies at Balmoral in Scotland, “Operation Unicorn” will be activated, which includes his body being taken to London on a royal train. or, otherwise, by plane -”Operation Overstudy”-.
D-Day+3
In the morning, King Charles will receive the motion of condolences at the seat of the British Parliament, the Palace of Westminster.
In the afternoon, he will embark on a tour of the UK, beginning with a visit to the Scottish Legislature and a service at St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh.
D-day+4
King Charles will arrive in Northern Ireland, where he will receive another motion of condolence at Hillsborough Castle and attend a service at St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast.
A rehearsal will be held for “Operation Lion”, which includes the coffin procession from Buckingham Palace to the Palace of Westminster.
D-Day+5
The procession will take place from Buckingham Palace to the Palace of Westminster, along a ceremonial route through London.
There will be a service in Westminster Hall after the arrival of the coffin.
D-day+5 to D-day+9
The The queen’s body will remain in the Palace of Westminster for three days, under “Operation Feather”. The headquarters of the Legislative Power will be open to the public 23 hours a day.
On D+6, a rehearsal for the state funeral procession will take place.
On D+7, King Charles will travel to Wales to receive another motion of condolences in the Welsh Parliament and attend a service at Liandaff Cathedral in Cardiff.
The government is concerned about the challenges of a successful funeral.
(Also read: Queen Elizabeth II: what is your level of education?).
The departments facing the greatest difficulties are the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of the Interior and the Department of Transport. The first has the task of organizing the arrivals of heads of state and personalities from abroad, as well as controlling the entry of a significant number of tourists to the country.
The Ministry of the Interior is responsible for security and, together with the Secretary of National Security and the intelligence services, will be on high alert for any possible terrorist threat.
The Department of Transport has expressed concern about problems with the transport network and overcrowding in the capital.
The The Prime Minister and the Queen agreed that the day of the state funeral will be considered a “Day of National Mourning”.. The day will effectively be a bank holiday, but if the funeral falls on a weekend or an existing bank holiday, no additional bank holiday will be granted. If the funeral falls on a weekday, the government also does not plan to order employers to give their employees the day off; the documents specify that it will be an internal matter of each employer.
D-Day + 10
The State funeral will be held at Westminster Abbey.
There will be two minutes of silence across the country at noon.
The processions will take place in London and Windsor, where the Royal House of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland operates.
There will be a service in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, and the queen will be buried there.
THE NATION (ARGENTINA) – GDA
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