The British government's plan following Queen Elizabeth's death
Queen Elizabeth II attending a recent event in Scotland. Picture date: Tuesday June 28, 2022.
The British government's planned response in the event of Queen Elizabeth II's death is extensive, including a social media strategy and a detailed outline of a "national day of mourning" on the day of the British monarch's funeral.
The death of Queen was announced by Buckingham Palace.
In a statement issued this evening they said: “The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow.”
The plan, labelled 'Operation London Bridge', includes a roadmap that will be put into action in the lead up to the Queen's funeral.
The British prime minister Liz Truss has been informed via a phone call from a civil servant telling her that "London Bridge is down," and the BBC led British media in breaking the news to the public.
The queen's doctors earlier today said that they were concerned for her health, and members of the royal family travelled to Balmoral today to be at her side.
The government's plans following the queen's death cover an extensive security operation, which will aim to manage crowds and travel chaos, as Politico revealed earlier this year that in the words of one official memo, authorities believe that London could become "full" for the first time.
There are also plans for a funeral to be held 10 days after the queen's death, which will be a "National Day of Mourning", as opposed to a bank holiday in Britain.
The social media strategy implemented by the British government may include a ban on retweets across Whitehall departments.
Internally, it has been reported, the event of the queen's death is being referred to as "D-Day".
An official notice has been issued delivering the news to the public. A script for departmental secretaries on how to break the news to various ministers, which was seen by news outlet Politico, instructed them to say “We have just been informed of the death of Her Majesty The Queen.” Ministers will be told that “discretion is required.”
There may now be immediate plans in relation to social media in the event of the queen’s death. The royal family’s website is to change to a black holding page with a short statement confirming the queen’s death.
The British government’s website will also display a black banner at the top, and it is planned for all government social media pages to display a black banner as well, while non-urgent content will not be published.
The British prime minister is to be the first member of the government to make a statement on the death of the queen, all other members of the government will be instructed not to speak publicly until this statement has been made.
The Ministry of Defence is to plan gun salutes to take place at all saluting stations, and a national minute of silence will be held.
It is expected that the new King, the current Prince Charles, will deliver a broadcast to the nation.
There are also plans for a remembrance service at St Paul's Cathedral in London, which senior government ministers and officials are expected to attend.
Operation London Bridge also contains extensively detailed plans for the days following the queen's death.
The Accession Council, which is made up of senior government figures, is set to meet at St James’ Palace to proclaim King Charles the new sovereign.
The proclamation will then be read at the place, confirming Charles as King.
Britain's parliament will meet to agree on a message of condolence, and following on from this all other parliamentary business will be suspended for 10 days, whilst MPs will give tributes to the queen in the House of Commons.
In the afternoon, the prime minister will meet with the new king.
The government’s plan includes a huge amount of preparation for the funeral. The foreign office will be in charge of arranging the arrival of other heads of state and VIPs who will be attending.
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