If there is an awareness that the Queen’s passing is imminent (in other words, if she is sick), The Guardian reports that her senior doctor “will be in charge” and will control both access to her room and what information is made public. These plans would typically be a strictly guarded secret, but between The Guardian’s Sam Knight doing a huge amount of original reporting on the matter and Politico obtaining official documents drawn up by the cabinet office in 2021, we have a pretty good idea of what to expect in the 10 days between Queen Elizabeth II’s death and her funeral. On top of extremely detailed funeral plans, there is a system in place for exactly what will happen during the nine days after Queen Elizabeth dies-from who finds out first to how the country will go into mourning to what is expected of Prince King Charles-all of which is referred to as Operation London Bridge. It’s awkward to talk about someone’s death when they’re still very much alive and well, but when it comes to Queen Elizabeth II, plans have been in place for her eventual passing for years.
