‘London Bridge is down’: Code that will reveal Queen’s death

IT may seem a little morbid – but it is understandable there is a plan in place for such a momentous occasion.

Incredible details of the protocol that will be followed when the Queen dies have emerged.

The code words ‘ London Bridge is down’ will be used and will trigger a chain of events by which the public is told, as set out in the very detailed plans.

In her last hours, the plans reportedly state, gastroenterologist Professor Huw Thomas will be in charge and control access to her room.

The first official to deal with the news of the 90-year- old monarch’s death, which most expect will happen after a short illness, will be Sir Christopher Geidt, the Queen’s private secretary.

He will contact the Prime Minister to say ‘ London Bridge is down’. The Foreign Office will then contact the 15 other governments for whom she is head of state and the 36 Commonwealth nations where she is a symbolic figurehead.

Then, instead of the BBC being alerted, as with the death of the Queen’s father George VI, a message will go to the national news agency, the Press Association, and the world’s media.

At the same moment, a footman in mourning clothes will emerge from a door at Buckingham Palace and pin a black- edged notice to the gates. The palace’s website will put up a note on a black screen confirming the news and flags will be at half mast.

Prince Charles, 68, who will have to sign off the final plans, will make his first address as head of state that evening. The day after, the flags will go back up and at 11am Charles will be proclaimed king. In the nine days of mourning that follow the Queen’s death, also known as D-Day, there will be ritual proclamations and Charles will tour the four nations attending remembrance services.

Four days after her death, her coffin will be moved to Westminster Hall in a great procession to lie in state for four days. On the ninth day, the funeral will take place at Westminster Abbey in front of 2,000 guests.

The plans show an incredible attention to detail as everything must be perfect. Officials have already worked out it takes 28 minutes at a slow march from the doors of St James’s to the entrance of Westminster Hall.

Meanwhile her coffin must have a false lid to hold the crown jewels, with a rim at least three inches high. Should she die abroad, an RAF jet will be dispatched from Northolt to bring back her coffin.

If she dies in Sandringham, her body will be brought to London after a day or two.

If she dies in Balmoral, where she spends three months a year, her body will lie in rest at Holyroodhouse, in Edinburgh, where she will be guarded by the Royal Company of Archers.

Then her coffin will be carried up the Royal Mile to St Giles’ Cathedral before making its way down to London on the Royal Train.

The first plans for London Bridge date back to the 1960s and there are meetings two or three times a year.

Around a dozen government departments are involved, as well as the police, army, broadcasters and the Royal Parks. When the Queen’s father George VI died in 1952, officials code- named the event Hyde Park Corner.

Nine days of mourning