Operation London Bridge

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Operation London Bridge is the code name of the plan that governs affairs after the death of Queen Elizabeth II . The plan was originally created in the 1960s and is revised several times a year. It includes activities by the government, the Metropolitan Police Service , the British Armed Forces , the Church of England and the Royal Parks in London . Some key decisions in the plan came from the Queen personally, others will be made by her successor. With the sentence London Bridge is down , the death of Elizabeth is announced to the Prime Minister .

The plan

Edward Young, the Queen's private secretary, will be the first official (not one of the Queen's relatives or a member of the medical team) to look into the case. His first act will be to contact the Prime Minister with the sentence "London Bridge is down". This is done via a secure telephone line. The State Department will then communicate the message to the 52 Commonwealth of Nations governments .

The media will then be informed through an announcement from the Press Association, the BBC through the Radio Alert Transmission System (RATS) and private radio stations through blue signal lights, which encourage staff to play soft music and draw attention to a message block. The Guardian reports that the Times has already prepared eleven pages and that ITN and Sky News are rehearsing instead of the Queen's name “Mrs. Robinson ”.

Each of the BBC channels (BBC 1, BBC 2 and BBC 4) will immediately suspend programs for a day and instead show BBC News.

A servant will post a black-framed obituary notice at Buckingham Palace , and the website will also be changed. The Parliament will meet. The day after death, the Accession Council will proclaim the heir to the throne. In the evening Parliament will meet to swear allegiance to the heir to the throne.

The state funeral will take place at Westminster Abbey nine days after the Queen's death . Her coffin is then buried in St. Georges Chapel at Windsor Castle .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Sam Knight: 'London Bridge is down': the secret plan for the days after the Queen's death (en) . In: The Guardian , March 17, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2017. 
  2. ^ Maya Oppenheim: Operation London Bridge: Secret Buckingham Palace plan for Queen's death revealed (en) . In: The Independent , March 16, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2017. 
  3. ↑ George Bowden: Operation London Bridge Reveals What Happens When The Queen Dies (en) . In: The Huffington Post , March 16, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2017. 
  4. ↑ Toby Meyjes: There's a secret code word for when the Queen dies (en) . In: Metro , March 16, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2017.