Queen Elizabeth II: A look back to the funeral

By Paige Sagris and Macy Sagris, News Reporter, The Pawprint

Within the first week of the queen’s death, an operation called “London bridge is falling down” will start.

Once the Queen has passed away, the first person who will be notified is the prime minister of London, delivered by the queen’s private secretary. Then all of the 14 states of the commonwealth will be notified.

Following that, all news reports will be notified and all streamed entertainment will be turned off. All news reporters will change into a black outfit, in respect to the queen, and will announce the queen’s passing. Moments later, an initial letter will be sent from the following next in line to the throne making an announcement. The church of England will ring its wells for the next 10 days.

The country goes into a 12-day official mourning period. The newest Monark will travel to all 4 states of the United Kingdom to pay a visit. The King will start his day in London by going to Westminster Hall in the Palace of Westminster, where Charles will deliver an address and both the House of Commons and the House of Lords will gather to offer their condolences. Then he will take a flight to Edinburgh that will follow the Queen’s coffin from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles’ Cathedral. The procession will be visible to the public as it travels down the Royal Mile. Before the Queen’s state funeral on Monday, September 19, her coffin arrived in Edinburgh. The Queen will lay in state for four days, and the public will have the opportunity to pay their respects and observe her casket first in Edinburgh’s St Giles’ Cathedral and at Westminster Hall. King Charles III will travel to each of the UK’s four member nations.

This London Bridge plan includes the announcement of the Queen’s death, the period of her mourning, and all the details of her state funeral. This plan was first created in the early 1960s and talked over many times in the years leading up to her death.

The actual phrase ‘London bridge is down’ would only be used for the death of the Queen to the prime minister of the United Kinding and her key personnel. Many departments that are involved with this plan are the Church of England, the Metropolitan Police Service, the British Armed Forces, the Greater London Authority, and Transport for London. Some of these adjustments were changed by the queen herself. There were several other plans that were also created to support the operation of the London bridge, such as operation unicorn, which is the plan if the queen would have died in Scotland.

If the Queen would have died in Scotland, the Queen’s body would need to be moved from Balmoral to Holyroodhouse, her residence in the Scottish capital of Edinburgh, to lie in rest for a short time. Then would be able to continue the operation of London Bridge.