Ministers’ plan for death of the Queen
Ten days of mourning discussed in secret talks
‘London Bridge is down’
MINIsTERs held a secret Whitehall exercise last week to prepare for the Queen’s death, it has emerged.
Plans for ten days of national mourning were discussed by Cabinet ministers at a meeting chaired by david lidington, Theresa May’s deputy.
The exercise, called ‘Castle dove’, focused on what would happen on the day after the Queen’s death, or ‘d+1’ including discussions on when the Prime Minister would make a public statement.
Officials said the meeting was ‘routine planning’ and had not been prompted by specific concerns about her Majesty’s health.
however, it came in a week when the 92-year-old missed a service at st Paul’s Cathedral as she was unwell. That followed appearances on nine days out of the previous ten. Civil servants constantly update a plan known as ‘london Bridge’. The exercise took place in the Cabinet Office room where the emergency committee ‘Cobra’ meets.
It examined plans for 600 members of the Privy Council to assemble at Buckingham Palace to rubber-stamp the accession of the new king.
The code words ‘london Bridge is down’ will trigger a chain of events involving how the public is told.
The Queen’s body would lie in state for four days in Westminster hall, with a funeral at Westminster Abbey. last year it was revealed how the first official to deal with the news of the death will be Christopher Geidt, the Queen’s private secretary. he will contact Theresa May to say ‘london Bridge is down’. The Foreign Office will then contact the 15 other governments for whom the Queen is head of state and the 36 Commonwealth nations where she is a 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 the national news agency the Press Association. At the same point, a footman in mourning garb will emerge from Buckingham Palace and pin a notice to the gates.
The palace’s website will also put up a note on a black screen confirming the news and flags will be at half mast.
Prince Charles would 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.
shortly afterwards, he will embark on a tour of the North of England, Wales and scotland. 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 died in 1952, officials codenamed the event hyde Park Corner.
The Queen is refusing to have knee surgery as she does not want to miss engagements, a source told The sun. her Majesty is said to be experiencing worsening pain but was ‘reluctant to have an operation due to time it would take to recover’.