It is an event prepared and repeated for years: that of the day of the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
In the United Kingdom, several meetings are held each year on the subject.
Operation name?
“London Bridge is down” (“The London Bridge is down” in French).
A code created at a time when communications passed through switchboard operators, so that the latter would not be informed of the death in the first place.
From the announcement to the Prime Minister to that made to the population, from death to burial, everything is already planned.
A single objective: neither failure nor controversy.
When Queen Elizabeth II dies, the first to know must be Liz Truss, the British Prime Minister.
And if this death occurs during his sleep?
The head of government will be awakened immediately!
Even though the various time differences can complicate the task, the news then circulates to the other governments of the Commonwealth of which the Queen remains the monarch – there are notably Australia and Canada.
The governments of the Commonwealth warned, the turn of the population to learn the news… Previously, the BBC had the "scoop" of this news but this is no longer the case.
The announcement will be sent to all media and news agencies at the same time.
At the same time, a valet in mourning clothes will come out of Buckingham Palace and hang a black sign on the doors.
A dedicated playlist on the radios
According to The Guardian, "every station, down to hospital radio, has prepared playlists of 'Mood 2' (sad) or 'Mood 1' (even sadder) songs for sudden bereavement.
As for the carrying of the queen's coffin, several plans exist.
If the Queen dies at Balmoral Castle, where she is now, it will be in the "colours" of Scotland.
Flower throws on the wagon will be coordinated at each crossing.
If the Queen dies overseas - less likely - a BAe 146 jet known as the 'Royal Flight' will take off from Northolt, at the west end of London, with a so-called 'first call' coffin on board.
The definitive, weighing more than a ton, not traveling.
Final destination ?
Buckingham Palace Throne Room.
At the service of the monarch until then, the staff will also be after her death.
It is he who will have to ensure the establishment of the ceremony, without showing any of his emotion.
Across the country, flags will be flown at half-mast, including those on the beaches.
Matches will be called off or halted, golf banned in royal parks and the National Theater closed, if news breaks before 4 p.m.
Otherwise, the performance must take place.
Mayors will hide their decorations and a series of tributes will be paid to Parliament.
A succession quickly put in place
Impossible to show that the monarchy dies with the queen: his successor, Prince Charles, will speak the very evening of his mother's death.
In this well-oiled machine, the content of this statement is perhaps the only unknown.
The next day, the flags will be raised and, at 11 a.m., Charles will be proclaimed king during a council at the Palais Saint-James.
The official and sumptuous coronation will come later, several months later.
Prince Charles would take over from his mother as head of the Kingdom.
AFP/Paul Edwards AFP
The roof of the Palace will have previously been covered in red.
Then after Charles' proclamation, the trumpeters will sound three times.
Genealogist Thomas Woodcock will make the official announcement from the balcony of Saint-James.
It was he who for the first time – officially – pronounced the term “King Charles III”.
Heralds will shout the news in Trafalgar Square and other central London squares.
A procession and a day off for all
Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth II's coffin will be watched over in Buckingham by her children and grandchildren.
Four days after his death he will move to Westminster Hall (the palace, not yet the Abbey), where he will stay for four full days.
The procession from Buckingham Palace will be the first major military parade after the death of the sovereign, passing through the Mall, an emblematic London avenue.
Charles will also have returned from a tour across the United Kingdom, meeting the population.
The route is expected to hold around one million people with logistics based on that of the 2012 Olympics.
At dawn on the ninth day after death, the royal jewels will be removed from the coffin and cleaned.
It will be a day off for most Britons, with shops largely closed.
A symbol: the London Stock Exchange will not open.
At 9 a.m., the bells of Big Ben will ring, but in a sound deliberately muffled by leather cushions.
2,000 guests will be seated inside the abbey, and large screens installed everywhere.
When the coffin arrives at 11 a.m. from the nearby palace, all will observe silence.
After the ceremony, a procession will accompany the coffin one last time on the Mall, before it reaches Windsor Castle and the royal vault of its chapel for eternity.
The “London Bridge is down” operation will end there.
