Operation “Mena Bridge”. What protocol is planned for the death of Charles III?

No one has forgotten the “London Bridge” operation, which planned the arrangements to be made in the event of the death of Elizabeth II. Since the monarch’s death on September 8, 2022, British officials have been studying the details of another project, Operation Mena Bridge. The plan, which has been “years” in the making, anticipates instructions to be taken after the death of her son, Charles III. A device whose name was not chosen at random. It marks the world’s first iron suspension bridge in Anglesey, Wales, a nation dear to the sovereign’s heart.

Agreed The Independent Operation Menai Bridge, involving the police, members of the British government, the army, intelligence services and private organisations, is said to have much in common with London Bridge. The project, about which little is known at the moment, anticipates decisions to be made on the announcement of Charles III’s death, the days of mourning that will follow his death, and the course of the funeral service. the sovereign. Measures, the purpose of which is to ensure the smoothest possible transfer of power after the disappearance of the monarch, observing the established protocol.

Flags on the hemisphere

“Charles III himself said it in his first King’s Speech; he will take on that role as long as life allows him,” former Royal bodyguard Simon Morgan told the Today channel. But it should be noted that he is 73 years old. With the help of the police, we have to start thinking about the future again.” As soon as Operation Menai Bridge began, Charles III’s private secretary would inform the British Prime Minister and the monarch’s privy council of his death. Ministerial secretaries will receive a royal order to inform government ministers of the sovereign’s death, and the cabinet secretary will notify senior officials by email. On receipt of this message the flags of Whitehall, the artery which connects the south of Trafalgar Square with Parliament Square, and which is lined with many ministries, will be lowered to half-mast.

“Difficult Queen”

Once Charles III’s death is announced, Prince William will become king and Kate Middleton will become queen, or simply queen, if the monarch decides to simplify the formalities. The new sovereign will then address the nation, as Charles III did on September 9, 2022, following the death of Elizabeth II. Then a nationwide period of mourning will begin. In turn, Camilla will inherit the title “Dead Queen”, given to the widow of a monarch who can no longer be “Queen Consort”. This Queen’s title, known as a “courtesy,” is, moreover, by no means official. Therefore, Camilla would have no constitutional power or duty.

If the British have recently been worried about the state of health of their sovereign, who was diagnosed with “a type of cancer”, as Buckingham Palace announced on Monday, February 5, doctors would appear in their section “very, very optimistically”. About the result of the treatment followed by the monarch. Meanwhile, Prince William has already taken over for his father, at least in terms of his official duties.