For many of us, the only British Monarch we’ve known in our lifetime is Queen Elizabeth II.
When it was announced that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II passed away on September 8th, 2022, fans across the world were devastated.
Now, it begs the natural question — what will happen now that The Queen has died?
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As we know, Queen Elizabeth’s historical reign began to take shape in 1951.
As you may have seen in Netflix’s The Crown , the Queen was being primed to succeed her father quite a while before his death.
In fact, while she was on tour in Canada in 1951, her private secretary drafted an ascension declaration in case he died while she was abroad.
Her coronation was held a year after her father’s death.
Royal tradition dictates that things like coronations be held to allow a respectful amount of time to pass after the death of a monarch.
For Queen Elizabeth, this took around 14 months.
Her coronation was the first British coronation ever broadcasted.
The Queen’s reign has stretched through most of our lifetimes. As such, it’s kind of boggling to think that she was the one to usher in the era of televised royal ceremonies.
The code name for her death was named “Operation London Bridge.”
It’s a plan that was originally created in the 1960s, and has been updated frequently.
In fact, the Queen herself had a hand in creating it , and made several key decisions in it.
There was a procedure in place if Her Majesty had passed away while abroad.
If she had died anywhere other than Buckingham Palace, the queen’s body must have been brought back there immediately.
There is a special exception, though, if she passed away in Scotland at her summer home, which she did on September 8th, 2022.
Balmoral has its own rules.
Balmoral is the palace in Scotland where she spends her summer vacation.
According to Operation London Bridge, since she died in Scotland, a Scottish ritual will be performed at the royal residence in Edinburgh, and then she will be taken back to Buckingham Palace on the royal train.
The Prime Minister will find out via The Private Secretary to the Sovereign.
Civil servants will then use the phrase, “London bridge is down,” to inform every country and nation in the Commonwealth of her death.
In the U.K., government officials will wear black armbands that represent their mourning.
Sadly, news outlets probably already have their headlines ready.
In journalism, it’s pretty standard practice to have obituaries and “in memoriams” ready for certain high-profile people.
Since the Queen is one of the most high-profile people in the world, the news of her passing rolled out quickly across the globe.
Charles will be crowned 24 hours after her death.
Charles will officially be crowned King Charles III in the 24 hours after his mother’s death.
Then the Queen’s body will be taken to Westminster Hall in a military parade.
The mourning period will last 10 days.
Charles’ coronation will take a while.
His ascension to the throne will be the second British monarch’s ever broadcasted in royal history.
His own coronation, unlike his ascension, will likely take place a few months after the Queen’s death.
Charles will be significantly older than his mother at the time of his crowning.
Unlike Queen Elizabeth, who ascended at the age of 25, Charles will be 73.
His royal name may not be Charles.
Unlike Queen Elizabeth, it is possible he won’t use his own name.
The previous two men who bore the name “King Charles” don’t have a great track record: one was beheaded, and the other led a “promiscuous lifestyle.”
It has been reported that he may choose “George VII.”
Camilla will officially be named Queen Consort.
When Charles and Camilla married in 2005, the palace said that she would be referred to as the “Princess Consort” when Charles becomes King.
However, in recent news, it was annonced that Camilla would get the title of Queen Consort.
Her body will remain in Westminster for four days.
In order to accommodate what could be large international crowds of mourning, the Abbey will remain open 23 hours a day.
The public will be granted 4 days to pay their respects.
Her funeral will be a national event.
Most of Britain will likely close up shop for the day as the Queen’s funeral will be considered a national day of mourning.
This means everything from stores to the stock market will close.
Only a small amount of tickets will be printed for the various ceremonies.
Roughly 10,000 tickets will be available for her funeral or the proclamation of the King, but no more.
The government will be responsible for security, transportation, and coordinating police and armed forces.
The government will have its own procedures to go through.
Within hours of the Queen’s death, MPs will begin swearing oaths of allegiance to the new head of state.
Two thrones at the House of Lords will be replaced with a chair and a cushion designed with the outline of a crown.
King Charles will tour the country.
After being crowned, he will then embark on a national tour of Britain.
This will allow him to attend various services for his mother. It will also allow him to meet with members of both the government, as well as the public.
The funeral will take time to arrange.
In fact, her funeral won’t be held until nine days after her death.
A few traditions will be followed in that time, including bringing out the royal jewels for viewing by the public.
There’s more tradition that follows after the funeral.
The Queen’s body will be taken to Windsor Castle and placed in the royal vault.
Charles will ceremonially place red earth onto the coffin as it descends to its final resting place.
Big Ben even participates.
Out of respect, a special leather pad will be placed on the bell of Big Ben to quiet it.
After it strikes at 9 AM, the leather pad will muffle the ringing.
Her Majesty gave 70 years of her life to the public and has left an undeniable mark on millions of people’s hearts and minds.
She is a historical figure that will be remembered forever.
Rest in peace, Queen Elizabeth II.
