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The death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday kicked off 'Operation London Bridge,' a detailed plan that has been in the works for decades. Its goal is to make sure that King Charles III takes the throne smoothly and that her funeral goes off without a hitch.
The Times of London says that the first step will be to put Queen Elizabeth's flower-wreathed coffin in the ballroom of her Scottish castle, Balmoral, where she died, until Saturday. This will give her staff a chance to say goodbye.
As part of "Operation Unicorn," a part of the main plan that went into effect when Elizabeth died in Scotland, the queen's body will be brought to Edinburgh on Saturday so that her coffin can be placed in the throne room of her palace, Holyroodhouse.
On Sunday, the coffin will be carried up the Royal Mile to St. Giles's cathedral for a reception. Then, at Waverley station, it will be put on the Royal Train. Crowds of people will gather at stations along the east coast mainline and throw flowers at the train as it goes by. Thursday, it wasn't clear when the events would happen.
The King is expected to return to Scotland on Sunday. Before he joins the funeral procession, he will be given the key to Edinburgh.
Planned for sometime Tuesday, Queen Elizabeth's body will be brought to the throne room in Buckingham Palace. There will be an altar, the pall, the royal standard, and four Grenadier Guards standing watch.
Then, on Wednesday, a procession will take her coffin from Buckingham Palace to the Palace of Westminster. After it arrives, a service will be held at Westminster Hall.
The Queen's coffin will be on a raised box in the middle of Westminster Hall for three days. The hall will be open to the public for 23 hours a day, according to a plan that Politico got from a leaked memo.
Preparations for the Queen's funeral will be done by Friday, September 16. The next day, September 17, Westminster Abbey will be closed for the funeral, which is expected to take place on Monday, September 19.
The official service should start around 11 a.m. and go on until 12 p.m. It will be the first time since 1760 that a British monarch has been buried at Westminster.
On the same day, her body will be brought to Windsor Castle for a funeral service in St. George's Chapel. The Queen will be buried in the castle's King George VI Memorial Chapel.
As people mourn, most of the country will stop working. Both the London Stock Exchange and UK banks will stop doing business.
"Operation London Bridge" has been planned for about 60 years, so it should make sure the Queen's send-off goes smoothly.
It should be very different from the shocking death of Charles's then-estranged wife Princess Diana in a car crash in August 1997. Her death was such a shock that the royal family hadn't even thought about what they would do if she died.
That instead used "Operation Tay Bridge," the well-thought-out plans for sending off the Queen Mother, who would not die for another five years.
The last UK monarch to die was Elizabeth's father, King George VI, in 1952. To keep switchboard operators from finding out, the code words "Hyde Park Corner" were used.
In the same way, the death of the Queen's husband, Prince Philip, at age 99 in April 2021 was called "Operation Forth Bridge," and the death of the Queen Mother at age 101 in 2002 was called "Operation Tay Bridge."
The operation's name sounds like a nursery rhyme, but it was actually a secret code used to tell the most important people at Buckingham Palace and in the government about the sad news before the rest of the world found out.
"London Bridge is down" was to be told to the first people who heard the news so that it wouldn't get out.
But despite the plan for secrecy, the Queen's code word has been known for a long time, as have the detailed, well-rehearsed plans for the 10 days before her funeral, which the Guardian explained in great detail in 2017.
After getting high-level documents in 2021, Politico also revealed more details, such as how UK officials are planning for a possible crisis if London becomes "full" with the expected number of mourners.
The Guardian, however, said that the plans have been re-evaluated and updated many times over the years. This means that Operation London Bridge may have had changes made at the last minute.
The plan also has details for King Charles. Before the funeral, he will travel to Northern Ireland and Wales, and then back to Scotland, as he takes over all of the duties of the monarch.
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