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The day that the Queen dies will see a nation in mourning. But the plan for what will happen afterwards has already been meticulously laid out.

In fact, there is a code word that will be used to deliver the sad and tragic news to the upper echelons of the Government that will signify her passing and the starting of what happens next – 'London Bridge is down.'

According to the Guardian the Prime Minister of the time will be woken if they are asleep, and will be told by civil servants: "London Bridge is down."

This message will signify to the PM that Queen Elizabeth II has passed away, kicking off a highly-organised series of events that will eventually lead up to the monarch's funeral.

Once the Prime Minister has been told, the Foreign Office, from an undisclosed location in London, will inform 15 governments outside of the UK where the Queen is also the head of state.

The Global Response Centre will also pass on the news to the 36 other nations of the Commonwealth for whom the Queen has served as a symbolic figurehead.

As for the general public, the media has already planned the details in how to break the news and start a period of mourning.
Where previously the BBC was the first to reveal the death of a monarch, modern technology and social media has effectively destroyed that monopoly.

Instead, a newsflash will be sent to the Press Association, as well as the rest of the world's media at exactly the same time.

A footman in mourning clothes will be sent out of a door at Buckingham Palace at the same time to pin a notice of the tragic news to the gates, while the official palace website will feature just one page, displaying the news on a dark background.

Newspapers and their respective websites will already have several stories ready to run, written in advance so that they can go up as soon as the news breaks.

Television news, including Sky and ITN, have already signed up various royalty experts to chat to them exclusively, while rehearsals on delivering the news that have taken place for years will finally be put into action.

Unsurprisingly, newsreaders will be wearing black suits and outfits, while regular television coverage will be cancelled to switch to the news that will dominate channels for weeks, if not months.

A former BBC head of news told the Guardian that the organisation and planned mourning period will be needed so people can grieve for "the only monarch that most of us have ever known".

女王駕崩之日，英國必將舉國哀悼。而有關隨後的程序的計劃，早已進行過了精心的安排。

實際上，政府高層屆時會聽到一句內容為“倫敦橋已倒”的暗語，這句暗語表明女王駕崩，後續程序將正式啟動。

據《衛報》報導，屆時公務員會喚醒可能仍處於睡夢之中的首相，並將暗語的內容告知後者。

聽到這條消息，首相會意識到伊麗莎白二世已然駕崩，並立刻啟動一系列儀式，舉辦女王的葬禮。

一旦首相得知消息，英國外交部將在倫敦一處不對外公開的地點通知其他奉女王為國家元首的15個國家的政府。

英國全球響應中心也將通知英聯邦其餘的36個國家，上述國家奉女王為名義上的元首。為英國女王駕崩做準備 王室設定'倫敦橋已倒'暗號

至於公眾方面，各大媒體就如何宣布消息並開啟哀悼期的細節早已進行了一番籌劃。

往常首家曝出君王去世消息的都是英國廣播公司（BBC），現代技術和社交媒體的發展則有效地打破了這種壟斷。

英國國家通訊社和世界其他媒體反而會同時接收到一則則簡明新聞。

一位身著喪服的男僕將離開白金漢宮，在大門上張貼訃告，王宮的官方網站會在一個以黑色為背景的界面上宣布消息。

各大報刊及其相應網站早已備好相關報導，並將文章內容提前寫好，消息宣布的瞬間便可見諸報端和網站。

天空電視台和獨立電視新聞公司等電視新聞媒體則早已與英國皇室方面的專家簽約，以展開獨家對話，為發布此條新聞的演練也會正式排上用場。

屆時新聞廣播員將身著黑衣，常規的電視報導也將為女王去世的新聞讓路，後者佔據電視屏幕的時間即便沒有數月也會有幾週之久。

一位英國廣播公司新聞部門的前負責人告訴《衛報》，組織工作和哀悼期籌劃十分必要，如此人們才能緬懷“一位幾乎人盡皆知的君王”。

(來源：可可英語)