Elizabeth II has been Queen of the United Kingdom since 1952. She is the longest-reigning British monarch. Even if the Windsor family is well known for its longevity (the Queen Mother died at 101), the whole United Kingdom is now starting to think what could happen in case of a “royal death.”
The stock markets and banks would close for an indefinite period. Both the funeral and the subsequent coronation of her heir would become formal national holidays, each with an estimated GPD loss of 3 billion. BBC would cancel all comedies and surely it has already prepared documentaries about the Queen’s life. Furthermore, the British national anthem would change. The chorus “God save King” would substitute “God save the Queen”; stamps and coins would be totally drawn with the profile of the new monarch.
Buckingham Palace has earlier organised a hypothetical plan for the Queen’s funeral. This plan, known as “The Bridge”, has previously been experienced with the funeral of Princess Diana. After the public announcement, the body of Elizabeth II would lie in state, for at least 12 days, at Westminster. The Hall would open all but a single hour day for the entire duration. Then, Queen Elizabeth would be buried at Saint George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, next to the grave of her father, King George VI (the main character of the movie the “King’s Speech”).
And Next? According to the Act of Succession, the heir apparent is Charles, the Prince of Wales. In theory he could also renounce to the throne in favour of his son William, the Duke of Cambridge By the way, the Queen has no right to indicate her heir. Only the Parliament could change the succession, and this is quite implausible. One year after the death of Queen Elizabeth, there will be the ceremony of coronation of her successor. The actual crown, kept in the Tower of London, will be modified, as happened for all the past coronations. The traditional coronation ceremony might appear medieval, a relic from the past, but in Britain rituals are fundamental: it is not even imaginable to modify it, transforming it in a simple oath (as it actually is in all the other European monarchies).
The death of Diana, Princess of Wales, has led to a general state of hysteria throughout the United Kingdom. Nobody knows what could happen with the death of Elizabeth II, considering that the majority of British people have simply never known life without the Queen. It would be probably one of the most disruptive event ever happened in Britain. “Long live the Queen!”
