DISCLAIMER: All my posts regarding royals and anything to do with royalty IS and will always be one-sided, they are my personal opinion and are not to be considered fully-documented history. I think people by now know I love them so please don't expect any negativity regarding royals from me and please avoid stating negative "facts" about them in the comments. There's a reason I omit negative information, so there's no need for you to mention it. If you're looking for fully-documented history, well, you are on the internet, which provides plenty of unbiased history for you to read! Thank you.

 

What happens after the Queen dies? 

Have you ever wondered what will happen when Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom passes away? I certainly have, so I went searching for answers. 

As a royalty admirer, I have loved, admired, and valued Queen Elizabeth II for over a decade of my life. Like me, many people were born when she was already queen, and it's simply impossible to imagine a world without the lady who has been reigning since her father's death in 1952. She's been the royal figurehead of the UK all our lives. 

But death is a certainty for all of us, including royals. I have been emotionally preparing for the day she leaves this world. It's not going to be easy and I try to avoid thinking about it and cherish and value her good deeds and wonderful personality while she's still here. I have promised myself I'd watch every documentary I could find about her, read as much about her and her work, and dig into as many photos of her as possible. 

Currently 94 years old, the Queen has been alive for almost a century and has had many ups and downs in her life. On the unfortunate day she passes away, we can be sure she has lived it to the fullest. She has seen so many countries, so many people from various walks of life, she has seen love, sadness, anger, and disappointment. 

So, the question remains, what will exactly happen?

The Queen's passing has been discussed since the '60s in a (not-so-secret-anymore) Operation called Operation London Bridge. 

The moment the Queen passes away, Charles will immediately be king. By British law there's always a monarch, that's why the UK flag doesn't go half mast at the death of the previous monarch.

Edward Young, the Queen's Private secretary will be the first to get the sad news (obviously after the immediate family is in possession of the news) and will use a secure phone line to communicate the news of the passing to the Prime Minister who's in power at the time with the code phrase "London Bridge is down." 

The Prime Minister will then share the news with the foreign office, who in turn will inform the 15 nations the Queen still reigns over and the other 36 nations who are part of the Commonwealth and have her as a symbolic leader. 

Ministers, generals, and politicians from all over the world will then be informed, which could take hours, and finally, the media will be informed, who will then spread the news all over the world for us to see. 

- The Palace website (Royal.uk) will be decorated in black with a single page communicating the Queen's death.

- BBC reporters will then prepare to air the formal and official information of the Queen's passing. They will be dressed in black and will communicate said news in a somber tone.

- All programs at the time of the TV channels' official announcement will be paused to share the unfortunate news and until the D day (the funeral), comedy shows will be canceled, radio platforms will play sad and/or inoffensive music and commedians will be asked to slow down as well. 

- It is expected that many stores will close and the economy will most likely drop, because the Queen will lie-in-state at the Palace of Westminster and people will be able to go and visit her coffin for 23 hours a day, with the guard changing every hour. 

- Royal biographers and experts have alrady signed contracts with TV stations to be invited to comment about the current situation on live television. 

- The Bell at St Paul's Cathedral is also expected to ring every minute for several hours on the same day, and other minor churches and cathedrals will ring the same number of times as the Queen's age at the moment of passing. 

- Both houses of Parliament will be summoned hours after the Queen's death for an urgent meeting.

- TV reporters have a pre-designated area at the front of Buckingham Palace to do live coverage all day long and large TV screens will be placed all around British towns so people on the streets can follow the news being reported from London.

- Sports covered on TV will be canceled, apart from football.

- World leaders and Heads of State will send condolence messages to the Royal family, particularly the new King, Charles. I strongly believe he will not name himself Charles the III, the name has way too much negative conotation. What name he will pick is still a mystery, but people have been expeculating it will be George VII. 

- Royal Dignitaries from foreign Royal families who will witness the new king's proclamation will be at Buckingham Palace and the rest will stay at the Claridge's Hotel.

- On the next day after the Queen's death announcement, new coins with the new monarch's face will be produced.

- Both Houses of Parliament will swear alliagience to the new king, the two thrones will be replaced by a single one and in the evening, Charles will address his ministers and politicians in a proclamation ceremony that will be televised live. 

- if the Queen dies abroad or other parts of the nation, difference procedures will take place:

● If she passes away overseas, a Royal Air Force plane called the Royal Flight will bring her back to London, in an already-existing emergency coffin.

● If she passes away during Vacation at Sandringham House (around Christmastime) or at Windsor Castle (on weekends), the coffin with the Queen's body will travel by car to London.

● If she passes away in Balmoral Castle in Scotland (during Summer vacation), the Queen will receive some Scottish religious rituals and then taken to London by train. 

In any case, the Queen will return to London and will her coffin will be placed on the Throne room at Buckingham Palace.

- A 41 gun salute will be fired from Hyde Park.

- Charles will then begin a National Royal Tour of the 4 nations that are part of the UK: England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, with his wife Camilla, who has stated in the past that she will NOT be crowned queen. Instead, it is expected that she will be referenced as Princess Consort. 

- The Funeral Procession will be a huge event gathering millions of people on the streets of London all the way to Westminster Abbey, whre the funeral will take place. 

- Big Ben will chime during the procession with a leather cover to ring in muffled tones.

- On the dawn of the funeral day, the Crown Jewels will be taken off of the Tower of London and cleaned to be placed on the top of the Queen's coffin. 

- The Funeral day will count as a bank holiday, and a lot of shops, banks, and service stores will be closed.

-  At 11 o'clock, the coffin will arrive at the Abbey.

- The faces of royals won't be shown. 

- After the Funeral, the coffin will then be taken on a green gun carrier by horse accompanied by 138 junior sailors of the Royal Navy to Windsor Castle, the Queen's final resting place. 

- The Coffin will enter through St George Chapel and then pass through the cloisters and will be finally placed on her designated tomb next to her parents, the former King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. 

Queen Elizabeth II's passing will be the close of a great era. A second Elizabethan Age that has seen wars, terrorist attacks, ministers and presidents go in and out of power worldwide, the evolution of technology and science, the rights for LGBT people, countless protests and more recently, a pandemic. 

Let's cherish this wonderful lady while she is still among us. Let's value and respect her for the amazing work she has done for, currently, 68 years. 

She's currently the monarch with the longest reign in the world and human history, and royalty and the world will not be the same without her, at least for those of us who love her.

Let's cherish this wonderful lady while she is still among us. Let's value and respect her for the amazing work she has done for, currently, 68 years. 

She's currently the monarch with the longest reign in the world and human history, and royalty and the world will not be the same without her, at least for those of us who love her.

Here are some movies, series, and documentaries about Queen Elizabeth II that you can watch:

● Movie: The Queen (2006)

● Movie: A Royal Night Out (2015)

● Movie: The King's Speech (2010)

● Netflix series: The Crown (2016 - present, with an upcoming 4th season on the 15th of November -- YAS!)

● Documentary: The Royal Family (1969)

● Documentary: H. M. The Queen: A Remarkable Life (2002)

● Documentary: The Queen at 90 (2016)

● Documentary: Queen Elizabeth & Princess Margaret: A Tale of Two Sisters (2018)

● Documentary: The Coronation (2018) -- I highly recomend this one if you want deep insight to the details of the coronation, incluiding on the Crown Jewels and the Queen's own opinion about her big day.

● Documentary: The Queen, Duty Before Family (2020)

 

Deaths and funerals are never a joyful occasion, but I hope you enjoyed reading this post and gained a little more insight on what will happen in an uncertain future. 

Was this a risky post to write? Perphaps.  But sadly death is part of every live being in the world, and even though it weights on my heart to even mention her possible death, it is a certainty. One that we have to accept, even though I'm sure it will cost very much to many of us, including myself.