‘London Bridge is down’
What will happen when the Queen dies
She’s the only Queen most New Zealanders have ever known. When Elizabeth II eventually passes away, very few Kiwis will remember the last time Britain – and New Zealand – lost a monarch. It has, after all, been 65 years and counting.
But secret plans are in the works across the world about what to do when that day comes, to ensure Her Majesty’s humble servants keep calm and carry on.
It sounds morbid, but for most of the Queen’s life, there’s been a plan for her death, with details recently revealed by The Guardian.
In New Zealand, too, preparations for what to do are under way, although unlike Britain’s arrangements – which were based on more than 100 years of precedent and rehearsed to avoid stuffups – ours have a considerably more ‘‘she’ll be right’’ feel. When the time comes, there’ll be a good deal of winging it.
Queen Elizabeth’s death will be the first of a British sovereign since her father, King George VI’s passing in 1952, but Britain has gone to pains to ensure its preparations for ‘‘10 days of sorrow’’ aren’t rusty.
When she passes, Buckingham Palace will immediately call the British Prime Minister with a coded message: ‘‘London Bridge is down’’ (her father was ‘‘Hyde Park Corner’’; her mother was ‘‘Tay Bridge’’).
Our prime minister, governor-general and ambassador in London will be among the first people in the world to learn the news, when the British Foreign Office’s Global Response Centre swings into action to notify the 15 countries where the Queen is head of state, and 36 other Commonwealth countries.
Although New Zealand has a broad plan for what to do when the sovereign dies, the Government and Government House won’t reveal the finer details.
In fact, Government House won’t say a single thing about what the governorgeneral will do when the Queen dies. Instead, it and the Government provided a joint statement via the Cabinet Office.
The man in charge of New Zealand’s transition from one monarch to the next is Michael Webster, the clerk of the Cabinet Office’s executive council, which is located inside Parliament.
Webster says New Zealand’s plans will swing into action once the news arrives via ‘‘established communication channels between the palace and New Zealand’’.
The head of the Ministry for Culture and Heritage will email officials in charge of government buildings and others, directing them to fly the New Zealand flag at half-mast. There’ll be 21-gun salutes ‘‘at appropriate times’’, but other specifics – such as memorial plans – won’t be bashed out until after the Queen dies.
‘‘An important part of New Zealand’s response to the death of the Queen will be creating opportunities for New Zealanders to pay their respects to Her Majesty, and participate in memorial events and other traditional mourning observances, if they wish,’’ Webster says.
There’ll be a state memorial service, although decisions about that and other events, as well as government protocol, will be made by the prime minister of the day. Condolence books will be opened for the public to share their thoughts and messages for the royal family.
The government is understood to have received advice on post-Queen protocol via the high commission in London late last year, amid fears for the Queen’s health as she battled a ‘‘heavy cold’’ through Christmas. However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade won’t divulge those details.
Prince Charles will automatically become King of New Zealand; there’ll be no confirmation process, and no laws will need to change.
What might happen inside Parliament isn’t 100 per cent clear.
Normally, when a notable person dies, the prime minister makes a statement or moves a government motion in the House, and MPs have the opportunity to offer tributes in response. But it was a different process in 1952 when King George VI died – with his death announced in Parliament nearly five months later, long after Elizabeth had become queen.
But nothing’s set in stone, and Parliament’s Speaker and MPs will decide how to recognise the Queen’s death, the Office of the Clerk’s house manager James Picker says.
Breaking the news
Unlike Britain’s media, whose ‘‘rituals’’ for covering royals’ deaths date back to the 1930s (including hauling staff in on weekends for mock ‘‘royal death’’ news and special flashing lights to signal someone important has died), New Zealand’s media hasn’t gone to such great planning lengths.
However, the ever-ready state broadcaster, Radio New Zealand, does have written guidelines and instructions for the death of the monarch or prime minister, spokesman John Barr says.
It includes a ban on playing songs by Queen, or any punk music (Sex Pistols’ God Save the Queen is definitely offlimits), in favour of ‘‘instrumental background music’’.
The broadcaster will break into programming – including live interviews – to announce the Queen’s death across its stations. It also has an obituary on hand, ready to run when the news comes through.
Rolling coverage will begin when ready, but scheduled programming could resume in the meantime after being ‘‘carefully checked for its suitability for the occasion’’.
‘‘If there is any doubt about its suitability, alternative music should be played until instructed otherwise,’’ Barr says, adding that there is a compilation album – ‘‘acoustic guitar with keyboard backing, really slow, really quiet’’ – ready for the occasion.
TVNZ, on the other hand, is ‘‘not prepared to go into details’’ about its plans.
‘‘We have given this some thought. 1 News has plans in place to ensure New Zealanders would receive this news in a timely and appropriate manner,’’ spokeswoman Georgie Hills says.
The succession plan
The day after his mother’s death will be King Charles’ Proclamation Day, marked in New Zealand with a ceremony. Flags will be flown at full-mast for the day, before being lowered again until after the Queen’s funeral.
The Reserve Bank will have to deal with the $20 question: what to do about the banknote and coins bearing the Queen’s visage?
Spokeswoman Naomi Mitchell says the central bank has no plans to update the money, and it is unlikely to ‘‘fasttrack’’ the withdrawal of cash featuring the Queen.
‘‘Any change to the portrait of the reigning monarch, and all new currency issues featuring their portrait, are and will continue to be approved by Buckingham Palace,’’ she says.
Swapping out the Queen for King Charles will likely cost tens of millions of dollars (last year, the Reserve Bank estimated its new $20, $50 and $100 banknotes would cost $40 million over five years).
But the final cost and timeframe will depend on the capacity at the three companies that produce New Zealand’s currency (the Canadian Bank Note Company prints banknotes; Royal Canadian Mint produces 10c, 20c and 50c coins, and Britain’s Royal Mint creates $1 and $2 coins).
Charles will likely sooner feature on stamps: NZ Post confirms it will likely issue stamps ‘‘to celebrate New Zealand’s new sovereign’’, but it will have to take advice from the New Zealand and British governments around protocols, plans and timings.
How we’ll mourn
Churches, city and town councils, charities and community groups will undoubtedly hold their own memorials.
While the Church of England will mourn its Supreme Governor intensely, commemorations in New Zealand will likely be more subdued.
There would ‘‘certainly be services and prayers’’, but New Zealand’s Anglican Church is autonomous, and isn’t bound by the same protocols as the Church of England, spokesman Jayson Rhodes says.
Monarchy NZ – a group that tasks itself with ‘‘celebrating the monarchy’’ – will be one of the groups most moved by her death, but even it won’t be going overboard with mourning.
‘‘People say ‘what will you be doing for the death?’ Well, we’re not holding a wake or something. We’ll probably be doing a lot of media,’’ Monarchy NZ chairman Dr Sean Palmer says.
Palmer, who did his PhD on the importance of the monarchy in New Zealand, anticipates an outpouring of public emotion, similar to that which followed the death of Princess Diana.
He anticipates most Kiwis will share ‘‘a lot of appreciation’’ after Queen Elizabeth’s death, ‘‘for an individual who never sought this job’’.
‘‘This job was just dropped on her, and of course, she received this job on the day her father died. They tend to go together, that sort of thing, and so from that point, a young person in her mid-20s has done the job spectacularly well for what I imagine will be at least 70 years, by the time we get to that point.’’
‘‘An important part of New Zealand’s response to the death of the Queen will be creating opportunities for New Zealanders to pay their respects to Her Majesty, and participate in memorial events and other traditional mourning observances, if they wish.’’ Michael Webster, the clerk of the Cabinet Office’s executive council