'London Bride is down', the secret protocol after the Queen's death

This is quite a sensitive topic but an interesting one to say the least. Her Majesty, Elizabeth II is the oldest current serving state leader (91 years, 224 days). At 91 years old, she is already the longest reigning and longest living monarch in British history. Unless you believe she is immortal, her death is probably on the horizon. A certain level of preparation is quite obvious as her passing would be perhaps a very influential death of this century. It is believed that the Queen's death will be communicated internally with now a not so secret phrase "London Bridge is down".

LONGEST REIGNING BRITISH MONARCHS :

Elizabeth II : 1952 to present (65 years)

Victoria : 1837 - 1901 (63 years)

George III : 1760 - 1820 (59 years)

James VI/I : 1567 - 1625 (57 years)

Henry III : 1216 - 1272 (56 years)

THE PROTOCOL

Sir Christopher Geidt, Queen's
pvt secretary.
(GETTY)

The first official to deal with the news would be the Queen's private secretary. The news will then be passed on the the PM.The last time a British monarch died, 65 years ago, the demise of George VI was conveyed in a code word, “Hyde Park Corner”, to Buckingham Palace, to prevent switchboard operators from finding out. For Elizabeth II, the plan for what happens next is known as “London Bridge.” The prime minister will be woken, if she is not already awake, and civil servants will say “London Bridge is down” on secure lines.

 From the Foreign Office’s Global Response Centre, at an undisclosed location in the capital, the news will go out to the 15 governments outside the UK where the Queen is also the head of state, and the 36 other nations of the Commonwealth or ex-colonies.

Theresa May, British PM

For a time, she will be gone without our knowing it. The information will travel like the compressional wave ahead of an earthquake, detectable only by special equipment. Governors general, ambassadors and prime ministers will learn first. Cupboards will be opened in search of black armbands, three-and-a-quarter inches wide, to be worn on the left arm.







THE PRESS & MEDIA

All news organisations will scramble to get films on air and obituaries online. At the Guardian, the deputy editor has a list of prepared stories pinned to his wall. The Times is said to have 11 days of coverage ready to go. At Sky News and ITN, which for years rehearsed the death of the Queen substituting the name “Mrs Robinson”, calls will go out to royal experts who have already signed contracts to speak exclusively on those channels.

For people stuck in traffic, or with Heart FM on in the background, there will only be the subtlest of indications, at first, that something is going on. Britain’s commercial radio stations have a network of blue “obit lights”, which is tested once a week and supposed to light up in the event of a national catastrophe. When the news breaks, these lights will start flashing, to alert DJs to switch to the news in the next few minutes and to play inoffensive music in the meantime.
The newsreaders will wear black suits and black ties. Category one was made for her. Programmes will stop. Networks will merge. BBC 1, 2 and 4 will be interrupted and revert silently to their respective idents.

THE FUNERAL

The funeral procession of the late King George VI in 1952. Photograph : Popperfoto

Obsessed by death, Victoria planned her own funeral with some style. But it was her son, Edward VII, who is largely responsible for reviving royal display. One courtier praised his “curious power of visualising a pageant”. He turned the state opening of parliament and military drills, like the Trooping of the Colour, into full fancy-dress occasions, and at his own passing, resurrected the medieval ritual of lying in state.The Queen, by all accounts a practical and unsentimental person, understands the theatrical power of the crown. “I have to be seen to be believed,” is said to be one of her catchphrases. And there is no reason to doubt that her funeral rites will evoke a rush of collective feeling. “I think there will be a huge and very genuine outpouring of deep emotion,” said Andrew Roberts, the historian. It will be all about her, and it will really be about us. There will be an urge to stand in the street, to see it with your own eyes, to be part of a multitude.

In every scenario, the Queen’s body returns to the throne room in Buckingham Palace, which overlooks the north-west corner of the Quadrangle, its interior courtyard. There will be an altar, the pall, the royal standard, and four Grenadier Guards, their bearskin hats inclined, their rifles pointing to the floor, standing watch. In the corridors, staff employed by the Queen for more than 50 years will pass, following procedures they know by heart.

THE COST

Under British law, the funeral for a British monarch is paid for by the state. Princess Diana's funeral viewed by over 2.5 billion people across the globe had a direct cost of about $10 million, and thats just funeral expenses folks. The bank of England has over 3.6 billion individual bank notes in circulation each of which displays the image of the queen. Re-minting the currency stock would cost close to $200 million. But the UK isnt the only country which would require the reprinting, the estimated cost of reprinting in all the other counties is about $1 billion. Moreover, both the date of the funeral and the date of the coronation of the new monarch would be declared national holidays in the UK, which will have an economic impact of lost productivity of about $3 billion. The total cost of the Queen's death would therefore be around $8 billion dollars!

For the time being, the Queen is fine and in good shape (for a 91 year old). We only wish her well.