Inside the day by day plan for the 10 days leading up to the Queen’s funeral
OPERATION London Bridge — the code name for the intricate plan of action following the Queen’s death — has been put in motion.
The day of Her Majesty’s passing would have been D-Day or D+0, but because the announcement came late yesterday, the schedule has been shifted, meaning D+0 is today.
It will be followed by ten days of mourning culminating in the Queen’s funeral.
The plan has been in place since the 1960s and updated every year, involving branches of government, police, the Church of England and even Transport for London.
Full plans are to be confirmed by Buckingham Palace, but this is what is expected next…
TODAY
THE King and Queen Consort stayed at Balmoral last night but will return to London today.
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Despite his grief, duty calls for new sovereign Charles and his first audience as monarch with Prime Minister Liz Truss is expected to happen as soon as practically possible.
The King will also make his first televised address to the nation.
And he will meet the Earl Marshal, the Duke of Norfolk, who is in charge of the accession and the Queen’s funeral, to approve the schedule for the coming days.
The King will decide on the length of court or royal mourning for members of the Royal Family and royal households. It is set to last a month.
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The Government will confirm the length of national mourning, likely to be around 12 to 13 days, from now up to the day after the Queen’s funeral.
It will also announce the funeral day will be a public holiday in the form of a Day of National Mourning.
The Prime Minister and senior ministers will attend a public service of remembrance at St Paul’s in central London. The Commons is expected to sit to hear tributes.
Union flags on royal buildings will fly at half-mast, while bells will toll at Westminster Abbey, St Paul’s Cathedral and Windsor Castle, and gun salutes — one round for every year of the Queen’s life — will be fired in Hyde Park and at other stations.
Floodlighting at royal residences will be turned off and the public will begin to leave flowers.
TOMORROW
THE Accession Council is likely to meet at St James’s Palace in London to formally proclaim Charles as the new sovereign.
First, the Privy Council gathers without the King to proclaim the new monarch and arrange business relating to the proclamation.
Then, Charles holds his first Privy Council, accompanied by new Queen Consort Camilla and William, who are also Privy Counsellors, and makes his personal declaration and oath.
The first public proclamation of the new sovereign will be read in the open air from the Friary Court balcony at St James’s Palace by the Garter King of Arms.
Union flags go back up to full-mast at 1pm and remain there for 24 hours to coincide with the proclamations before returning to half-mast.
Proclamations are made around the city and across the country.
Charles will also meet with the Prime Minister and the Cabinet.
SUN SEPT 11
THE Queen’s coffin is expected to be taken by road to the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.
Proclamations will be read in the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland devolved parliaments in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast.
MON SEPT 12
A PROCESSION along Edinburgh’s Royal Mile to St Giles’ Cathedral will be followed by a service and the Vigil of the Princes attended by members of the royal family.
The public may get the chance to file past the Queen’s coffin at a mini lying in state in St Giles’.
The House of Commons and the House of Lords are expected to come together in Westminster for a Motion of Condolence, which the King could attend.
After leaving England and visiting Scotland, Charles will travel to the other countries of the UK — Wales and Northern Ireland — known as Operation Spring Tide.
TUES SEPT 13
HER Majesty’s coffin will be flown to London. It will then be at rest at Buckingham Palace.
A rehearsal for the procession of the coffin from Buckingham Palace to the Palace of Westminster will be held.
WED SEPT 14
THE lying in state will begin in Westminster Hall after a procession and a service led by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The public will pay their respects for four days and senior royals may stand guard in the Vigil of the Princes.
THURS SEPT 15
HER Majesty’s coffin will continue to lie in state at Westminster Hall under Operation Marquee.
A rehearsal is likely to take place ahead of the poignant procession at her state funeral at Westminster Abbey.
FRI SEPT 16
LYING in state continues. Heads of state begin to arrive for the funeral.
The King has another audience with the Prime Minister. In the evening there is a reception for heads of state, governors-general, realm prime ministers and other visiting official guests.
MON SEPT 19
A TELEVISED state funeral is expected at Westminster Abbey.
The Queen’s coffin is set to be pulled by sailors on a gun carriage. Senior Royals will follow.
After the service, there will be a committal at Windsor Castle’s St George’s Chapel.
A national two-minute silence is planned.