What Happens Now The Queen Has Passed Away?

The death of the Queen in Scotland has now triggered contingency plans known as Operation Unicorn.

As part of the long-held so-called London Bridge arrangements for the aftermath of Elizabeth’s death, Unicorns puts in motion additional ceremonial events in Edinburgh ahead of the logistics of moving the Queen’s coffin back to London.

The Earl Marshal who’s in control of the plans will, along with royal aides and the Government, be rapidly altering the overarching timetable to include the Scottish element, as the military, clergy and the police turn their attention to the immense practicalities.

The Royal Family had already made the urgent dash to Balmoral, with Charles, the new king, and the Queen’s other children, with Princess Royal, the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex at the monarch’s bedside.

As preparations get underway for the funeral, the accession procedure for a new head of state starts instantly.

Prince Charles, 73, is now effectively king even though protocol dictates that he is proclaimed as the new ruler the day after the Queen’s death.

This will take place at a gathering of the Accession Council, which usually assembles at St James’s Palace in London. The codename for King Charles’s accession to the throne is Operation Spring Tide.

Members of the Royal Family will be expected in the forthcoming days to hold a poignant vigil around the Queen’s coffin in St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh.

Also at Balmoral are the Duke of Cambridge, now the successor to the throne, and Camilla, the new Queen, and the Countess of Wessex. Initially, the Queen’s coffin is expected to be at rest in the Ballroom at Balmoral.

The Scottish Parliament will be suspended, with Her Majesty’s body expected to first be taken to Edinburgh on the Royal Train in a voyage lasting more than five hours to lie at rest overnight in the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

The next day her coffin will be brought up the Royal Mile to St Giles’s Cathedral for a service of reception.

The Queen’s children are expected to stage a vigil around the Queen’s coffin, known as the Vigil of the Princes, while it lies in the cathedral. Members of the public are expected to be allowed in to file past the Queen’s coffin to pay their respects.

The Queen’s coffin will then be put on the Royal Train once again and be taken back to Buckingham Palace in London.

Of course, the Queen was extremely old, but it’s still a shock that she’s died, and another significant thing that’s happened in a brief space of time, but we also shouldn’t forget that Queen Elizabeth was a woman of elegance, refinement and subtle strength, who managed to be a mother, lady and a ruler, and she was one of a kind, and the last of her kind, and our nation will never be the same again because she gave us her life as sworn.

She was a true British Queen who will be remembered throughout world history, and she was the foundation of the United Kingdom and her legacy will go on.

She was dedicated to her duty and reigned till her final days, and it may be a long time before we see anybody like her again, but now it’s time to let the Queen rest in peace because she served her nation with integrity and elegance.

Good luck to King Charles III because the Queen will be an extremely hard act to follow because her Majesty fought the fight, finished the race, and kept the faith.