“Long Live the Queen” “God Save the Queen”
Everyone has heard these phrases in some context or the other, you must have too, the second
is even part of the national anthem of England.
And while we all hope for them to remain true, at some point in time, the current Queen of
England, Elizabeth II, will pass away.
Now while it may seem insensitive to you that this video discusses what will happen when
she dies, before this has even occurred in reality, with powerful figures like the Queen
there are always plans laid in place to prepare for the moment of their death.
This is because, when the Queen dies, there has to be a succession and transition of power
to the next monarch, and if this does not occur smoothly then it could lead to problems
for the United Kingdom.
The Queen’s advanced age of 96 and her recent health problems, make it all the more necessary
for these plans to be ready at this point.
But if the Queen were to die soon, what would happen?
How would the UK and the world deal with the loss of a monarch who has been in her seat
of power for such a long time?
Most living people today do not remember a time when another ruler was sitting on the
throne of Britain, as Elizabeth II was crowned in 1953, almost seventy years ago.
Well, when this unfortunate time comes to pass, these thirty things will happen once
the Queen passes away.
1.
The Code Words Will Be Spoken The first thing that will be done when the
Queen passes is to pass this information along to the Royal Family.
A few years ago, leaked information revealed to the public that the royals have a set of
code phrases for events of importance such as this that are used to pass the information
on discreetly so it cannot be leaked without their knowledge.
The phrase for the Queen’s passing, however, was leaked and is “London Bridge is down.”
2.
High-Level Officials Will Be Informed The next step once her family learns of what
has occurred is to inform the other important government officials of England.
The Queen’s secretary directly informs the Prime Minister and privy council of high-ranking
officials of the Queen’s death, so that the government can begin to make preparations
for dealing with the outburst of emotions once the information is made public.
At the same time, the Foreign Office will inform the nations of the Commonwealth which
were once British colonies to let them know of the sad news.
3.
The News Will Be Released to the Public and the Press
You must be wondering when the news will be released to the public.
After all, the Queen was not only important to royals and governments, she was a beloved
figure for many both in the UK as well as across the world.
Well, it is only after the royals and the government have been informed that the news
will then be released simultaneously to both the public and the press.
A similar course of action was taken with the death of Prince Phillip in 2021.
4.
The Royal Family’s Online Presence Will Change
With the popularity of the internet and social media, the royals will use both to put out
the information about the Queen’s passing, while also blacking out their website and
all social media platforms, except for this message.
There will be a period of respectful mourning where they will not post any new content unless
it is an emergency.
5.
The Press Will Have Their Plans Once the press is notified, they will have
their plans and stories that they will use to break the news and provide coverage for
what is without a doubt going to be one of the most historic deaths ever covered in the
news.
Most major news outlets usually keep stories ready when there are public figures who are
reaching the end of their lives in terms of age, and in the case of someone as prominent
as the Queen, there will be many of these.
6.
The Press Will Have to Follow Certain Mourning Protocols
Even though the press will be in charge of covering the mourning of the Queen, they will
also be expected to follow certain mourning protocols.
Presenters on television will be expected to wear black suits and ties like people who
are mourning, and it will be strictly forbidden for them or anyone to record any footage of
anyone in the royal family during this time.
7.
Media Programming Will Change If you’re in the UK, on the day of the Queen’s
death in the days following it, the media available on television will likely be very
different from how it normally is.
All comedy programs will be stopped out of respect, and likely all that will be available
to watch is complete coverage of the Queen’s life and legacy.
Around the rest of the world, there will probably be less of this, but there will still be plenty
of coverage of her death, life, and what they meant, regardless of where you are in the
world.
8.
There Will Be a Lot of Grief The Queen was a beloved figure to many both
inside the UK and outside it.
In addition to this due to her advanced age and a long spell of sitting on the throne,
she is the only ruler that most people in the world have seen sit upon the throne of
Britain.
The loss of such an iconic figure is sure to bring up emotions in people all over the
world and there will likely be a huge outpouring of grief, especially within the UK.
9.
London Could Be Extremely Crowded It is expected by the governing bodies, that
upon the Queen’s death, London is likely to get overwhelmed by the huge numbers of
people coming to mourn her and pay their respects.
The numbers are expected to go into the hundreds of thousands, and this many individuals, on
top of London’s already massive population, could overwhelm the city's services, such
as transport systems, hospitality, and so on.
There will also be a need for policing and crowd control, which may not be possible with
so many people.
10.
The Bells Will Toll In keeping with the traditions of the ancient
British monarchy, the bells in churches across the city of London will toll to inform the
people of the death of the monarch.
Westminster Abbey’s bell, which has been rung in the event of the deaths of many royals,
will ring once again.
11.
Flags Will Fly at Half Mast Another tradition that will be honored because
of the Queen’s passing, is that all national flags will be flown at half-mast on all government
and civic buildings in a sign of respect and mourning.
12.
There Will Be Gun Salutes and Cannon Firing In another tradition of the British monarchy,
within hours of the news of her death going public, there will be organized gun salutes
taking place in the garrison station in London, Belfast, and Edinburgh, along with other garrison
stations.
13.
There Will Be a Period of Mourning Before the Funeral
The funeral will not be immediate, there will be a period of approximately ten days from
when the news is broken, for everyone to mourn and for the preparations for the funeral to
fall into place.
There will also be details issued to the public of the timing for a National Minute’s Silence
when the entire country will stop and maintain silence for a minute out of respect for their
Queen.
14.
What Will Happen If the Queen Is Abroad (Outside the UK)
Now while these scenarios will all take place regardless of where the Queen dies, they are
also based on the assumption that she was residing in London at the time.
You must no doubt have questioned what would happen if she was outside the UK at the time
of her death, well if this were the case, The Royal Air Force of Britain would send
a coffin, with a team of royal undertakers to bring her back by air.
15.
What Will Happen If the Queen is Outside London Similarly, if she were to pass away within
the UK, but outside London where the royals reside for most of the year, then a royal
train would likely be used to transport her to London.
16.
If She is in Scotland The most complicated scenario would likely
be if she were to pass away when in her summer residence in Balmoral, Scotland.
Why, though?
Scotland is fairly close to London, so why should this situation be more complex than
any other place within the UK?
Well, if the Queen passes when in Scotland, then Scottish ceremonies would have to be
carried out on her after her death.
This would delay the time it took to get her body back to London, as well as alert the
public regarding her death before she could be transported back to London.
17.
The Body Will Be Guarded Until the Funeral You must also be asking yourself, where will
her body be stored for the mourning period of ten days between her death and the funeral?
Well, if she is outside Buckingham Palace at the time of her death, it will first be
transported there, but if she was already there when she passed, then she will remain
there, in a coffin in the throne room.
Her body will be guarded constantly by 4 grenadier guards, the famous guards with big black hats
and red coats that you must have seen in pictures or videos of the palace.
Now before we move on to the remaining things that will happen when the Queen eventually
passes away, we would just like to take a moment to ask if your experience with this
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Ok, now that that’s done, let’s keep going.
18.
Prince Charles Will Become King Yes, there will be a number of ceremonies
and official meetings before his actual coronation, but none of those are really necessary, the
succession is instant, and upon the Queen’s death the next in line, in this case, Prince
Charles, will immediately become the new king of England.
Interestingly, the code phrase for Charles’ accession to the throne is “Operation Spring
Tide” 19.
Members of Parliament Will Gather to Swear Allegiance to the New King
Once the flags have been lowered and the cannons have been fired to mark the death of the Queen,
the prime minister will hold his first audience with the new king.
After this to ensure a smooth transition of power, all the members of parliament will
gather at Buckingham Palace and they will swear allegiance to their new king.
This may seem to you to be especially harsh on Prince Charles himself, as hours after
his mother’s death he has to take part in this official business, but royals are trained
for this moment from the day they are born, and he will no doubt be ready for it.
20.
The New King Will Address the Nation On the very same evening of the Queen’s
death, the new king will address the entire United Kingdom from the balcony of Buckingham
Palace.
In a televised speech that will be shown around the world, and watched by millions, he will
both mourn the loss of the Queen, while ensuring the people that the royal line will now continue
with him.
21.
Charles Will Take the Throne The next day after this speech, Charles will
take the throne.
He will be proclaimed king by senior government figures who will gather that day and then
he will swear an oath called the accession declaration.
Then, the trumpets will sound, the flag will be raised and the cannons will be fired, and
he will take the throne as the new king of Britain.
22.
The Coronation Will Take Time Though the taking of the throne takes place
immediately after the passing of the Queen, the coronation takes much longer, usually
a couple of months.
Why?
Well, it is for two reasons, they wish to give the people and royals enough time to
mourn the passing of the Queen.
And two, the coronation is a grand ceremony and preparing it takes time, and celebrating
that so close to the death of the Queen is in bad taste.
23.
Charles Will Choose His Name Did you know that every ruler of Britain gets
to choose their name when taking the throne?
While the current queen Elizabeth II kept her name when taking the throne, her father
who was born Prince Albert, chose to be King George when he took the throne, in honor of
his father before him.
So Charles too will have the option to choose a new name or stick with his own when he takes
the throne.
24.
Charles Will Tour the Home Nations After a short period of mourning after taking
the throne, before the Queen’s funeral, Charles will have to tour the UK, visiting
Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, where he will meet leaders and attend services to
solidify attitudes around the country towards the new king.
25.
The Queen’s Coffin Will Be Made Open to the Public
A few days before the funeral, the Queen’s body will be moved from Buckingham Palace
to Westminster Hall where she will remain for a few days, to allow the people to come
and pay their respects to her.
It is expected that the procession from the palace to the hall and the following days
will draw in hundreds of thousands of people from all over the UK and the world who will
come to pay their respects to the fallen monarch. 26.
Queen Will Have a State Funeral On the tenth day after her death, the Queen’s
body will be brought into Westminster Abbey for the state funeral that will be held for
her.
This funeral will be a huge event and will likely be attended by political leaders from
around the world.
The day of the funeral will also be a day of mourning in Britain and is expected to
draw huge crowds onto the streets again.
27.
The Queen’s Body Will Be Put to Rest After all, this, when the funeral has ended,
the Queen’s body will be brought to Windsor Castle outside of London, where over the centuries
many of the royal family have been buried in St. George’s Chapel.
She will likely be buried with her husband Prince Phillip and alongside the rest of her
family in King George VI’s Memorial Chapel.
28.
The Line of Succession Will Change Now with the Queen laid to rest, you must
be wondering how the line of succession within the royal family will change.
Well, Charles, who will take the throne after the Queen, is already an old man in his seventies.
Most do not expect him to rule for very long, so it is to the younger royals that we must
turn our attention.
Once Charles becomes King, it will be William, one of Elizabeth II’s grandchildren who
will become the heir to the throne.
After him, it will be his children, George, Charlotte, and Louis, who will be second,
third, and fourth in line for the throne respectively.
Finally, will be Prince Harry, who famously married Meghan Markle a few years, who will
be fifth in line for the throne.
29.
The Royals Will Take on New Titles The change in the line of succession will
also lead to a change in the titles of many of the royals we know so well.
Prince Charles who was known as the Prince of Wales and his wife Camilla till now known
as the Duchess of Cornwall would become King Charles and the Queen Consort respectively.
It is expected that Camilla will take the title Queen Consort as this is something that
the current Queen requested.
William would take on the title of the Prince of Wales from Charles, and it is likely his
wife Kate would take on the title of the Duchess of Cornwall.
Both Camilla and Kate should be called the Princess of Cornwall, but both avoid the title
out of respect for Princess Diana, one of the most beloved royals who used the title
until she died in 1997.
30.
The Monarchy Will Remain but Commonwealth is Unclear
Once the Queen is dead it remains to be seen what will happen to the Commonwealth which
are the former colonies of the British together under one name.
While the monarchy and royals will remain as the heads of the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth
is under no compulsion to recognize the new King as the head of the Commonwealth.
Whether this happens, remains to be seen.
Phew, that was a long one, wasn’t it?
We hope that despite the time it took, you learned something about the many processes
that will be taking place when the Queen eventually passes away.
While it will undoubtedly be a sad day for many, didn’t you also find it fascinating
to see how well planned the succession to the throne is so that it takes place in as
smooth a manner as possible?
What do you think of everything we discussed in the video?
Do you think the process of succession is well thought out and planned or do you think
it could be better, to give the royals more time to grieve?
Let us know in the comments below and if you enjoyed the video consider sharing it with
someone else who might, and smash that like button!
See you next time and thank you for taking time out to watch our video!