Everyone will remember September 8, 2022. Just as other dates are memorialized, England will never forget the day that their longest-reigning monarch died.
After seventy years and two hundred and fourteen days of a single monarch’s rule, it’s going to require an adjustment for England in the coming years. So, what happens now? What happened when the Queen died?
There were several detailed plans for the aftermath of the queen’s death, depending on where she died. If she had been in London at the time of her death “Operation London Bridge” would have taken place. Instead, “Operation Unicorn” was enacted as she died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland.
As soon as the Queen was pronounced dead, her son Charles was declared the King of England. British historian Andrew Roberts said “The line, ‘The queen is dead. Long live the king’ is the way to look at this. There’s not a second in history where there isn’t a monarch.”
The news of her death traveled from her private secretary, Edward Young, to Prime Minister Liz Truss. After the Prime Minister, the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, the Monarch’s advisors, were informed followed by official notices to civil services. As soon as the Privy Council was informed, the flags of all official buildings were lowered to half-mast within ten minutes. The governments of the fifteen other countries of which Queen Elizabeth was the head were also notified.
During her seventy-year reign, she became the symbolic figurehead of thirty-six other nations. Those governments were notified as well.
Though Charles was the King starting when his mother died, he was officially proclaimed the king of England a day later when the Privy Council met with the Accession Council, a ceremonial body that assembles upon the death of a monarch. Charles will not be coronated for several months as coronations, especially English ones, take a long time to enact.
National media outlets were given the news after confirmation was sent to the British Press Association. At the same time, a footman dressed in mourning clothes pinned a black-edged death announcement to the gates of Buckingham Palace.
Since the queen didn’t die at Buckingham Palace, her body was brought there as soon as possible after her death. The coffin was placed in the throne room to lie in state and allow citizens to pay their respects.
After Charles’ first address as head of state, trumpets sounded and a forty-one gun salute was fired off in Hyde Park.
During the queen’s time in Buckingham Palace, Charles went on a four-day tour of the country to meet his subjects as protocol demanded. After four days, the queen’s body was moved to Westminster Hall to lie in state for another four days. The move involved a military parade. During those four days, mourners were allowed to pay their respects for twenty-three hours a day.
Queen Elizabeth’s funeral has not taken place as of the writing of the article. It will take place on September 18th and will be attended by the royal family, heads of state, and around two hundred ordinary people. Those two hundred people, originally to be invited to the queen’s birthday party, are being honored for various forms of public service.
This is the first time in any current TPSers lifetime that an English monarch has died. Most people don’t remember a time before Queen Elizabeth and it won’t be just the United Kingdom that has to adjust. For many people, Queen Elizabeth represented stability. She was a figure that survived World War 2, the Cold War, the War on Terror, and COVID-19. Now that she’s gone, it almost seems as if the world is slightly shaky.
These next few months will be difficult for England. They will have to adjust to the new monarch and new protocols that come into play with the death of the queen. Pray for them. Everything happens for a purpose. Pray that as everyone remembers September 8th, God would draw them close.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/18/world/europe/queen-funeral-public-service-guests.html