The Queen is dead, long live the King
A plan of what would happen when Queen Elizabeth II died has been in place for years and now, as the world mourns her passing, it is being implemented as a precise roll out of events.
The death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday at Balmoral Castle, her estate in the Scottish Highlands, has set in motion a chain of events steeped in history and tradition.
Within minutes of being declared dead at the age of 96, a senior member of the royal household uttered the words ‘the Queen is dead, long live the King!’, making Prince Charles of Wales, Queen Elizabeth’s eldest son, King Charles III. His wife, Camilla Parker-Bowles, will be Queen Consort.
There are, however, a great number of steps before the 73-year-old’s coronation can take place and he can be crowned king with the same Imperial State Crown that was placed on his mother’s head in 1953. This will most likely only happen next year. Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation took place more than a year after she ascended to the throne, following the death of her father, George VI, in 1952.
This is the expected sequence of events and the protocol for handling the Queen’s death, named ‘Operation London Bridge’:
Friday, September 9: This was the start of a period of royal morning, which will last until seven days after the Queen’s funeral on September 19. Two rounds of a 96-gun salute were fired, one round for each year of her life.
Gun salutes have taken place in all four nations of the United Kingdom and on board Royal Navy ships at sea, to pay respects to The Queen after 70 years of service to the country. pic.twitter.com/Ddm5Oo96E5
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) September 9, 2022
Saturday, September 10: The official proclamation of Charles as king takes place at St James’ Palace. King Charles III will make an oath to preserve the Church of Scotland, a tradition dating back to the 18th century. And then, for the first time since 1952, God save the King will be played as Britain’s national anthem.
Monday, September 19: Queen Elizabeth’s state funeral will take place at Westminster Abbey. The last time a British monarch’s funeral was held in the iconic royal church was in 1760. She will be buried at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, alongside her father, her mother and the ashes of her sister Princess Margaret.
In the United Kingdom, Queen Elizabeth’s official title was ‘Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith’.
King Charles III now takes on all the responsibilities that come with being the British monarch. The question is, who will take over from him?
Here is the new line of succession:
Prince William (40)
Prince George (9)
Princess Charlotte (7)
Prince Louis (4)
Prince Harry (37)
Archie Mountbatten-Windsor (3)
Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor (15 months)
Prince Andrew (62)
“Queen Elizabeth was a life well lived; a promise with destiny kept and she is mourned most deeply in her passing. That promise of lifelong service I renew to you all today.”
His Majesty The King addresses the Nation and the Commonwealth. pic.twitter.com/xQXVW5PPQ2
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) September 9, 2022
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