Operation London Bridge

Operation London Bridge was the funeral plan for Queen Elizabeth II. The plan included the announcement of her death, the period of official mourning, and the details of her state funeral. The plan was created as early as the 1960s and revised many times in the years before her death in September 2022.

The phrase "London Bridge is down" was to be used to communicate the death of the Queen to the prime minister of the United Kingdom and key personnel, setting the plan into motion. Bodies involved in preparing the plan included various government departments, the Church of England, Metropolitan Police Service, the British Armed Forces, the media, the Royal Parks, London boroughs, the Greater London Authority and Transport for London. Some critical decisions relating to the plan were made by the Queen herself, while some were left to be determined by her successor. Reporting on the preparations, The Guardian described them as "planned to the minute" with "arcane and highly specific" details.

Several other plans were also created to support the implementation of Operation London Bridge, such as Operation Unicorn (the plan that detailed what was to happen if Elizabeth were to die in Scotland, which she did). Running concurrently with Operation London Bridge were operations concerning King Charles III's accession to the throne and coronation. Several Commonwealth realms developed their own plans for how to react to the death of the Queen.

History

Funerals and coronations of members of the British royal family are typically organised by the Earl Marshal and the officers in the College of Arms. Preparations for Elizabeth II's death and funeral had also been made by the Cabinet Office.