Operation Menai Bridge is the code name for plans related to the death of King Charles III. The name refers to a suspension bridge in Wales. The plan includes the announcement of his death, the period of official mourning, and the details of his state funeral. Planning for the King's funeral began almost immediately after Charles's accession to the throne upon the death of his mother and predecessor, Queen Elizabeth II. [1] [2]
The death of King George VI was communicated by using the phrase "Hyde Park Corner", to avoid Buckingham Palace switchboard operators learning the news too soon. For Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, Operation Tay Bridge was put into motion upon her death. Other code names used were Operation Forth Bridge for Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and Operation London Bridge for Queen Elizabeth II. Since the latter died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, Operation Unicorn was also put into effect upon her death. [3] [4]
Following the accession of Charles III, planning for his funeral began "in earnest" on 20 September 2022, the day following the Queen's state funeral. [2] [5] As of 2024, details for Operation Menai Bridge continued to be regularly updated and reviewed, in light of Charles's diagnosis with cancer that year. [5]
A 2024 biography of Charles III by Robert Hardman claimed the King's funeral arrangements have "been upgraded” to Operation London Bridge, mirroring those of his mother’s. Planning for Charles III's funeral arrangement began shortly after his coronation held in 2023. The biography also claims that the codename Operation Menai Bridge is now being used for William, Prince of Wales, replacing the codename previously used, Operation Clare Bridge. [6]
Elizabeth Woodville, later known as Dame Elizabeth Grey, was Queen of England from 1 May 1464 until 3 October 1470 and from 11 April 1471 until 9 April 1483 as the wife of King Edward IV. She was a key figure in the Wars of the Roses, a dynastic civil war between the Lancastrian and the Yorkist factions between 1455 and 1487.
Elizabeth of York was Queen of England from her marriage to King Henry VII on 18 January 1486 until her death in 1503. She was the daughter of King Edward IV and his wife, Elizabeth Woodville, and her marriage to Henry VII followed his victory at the Battle of Bosworth Field, which marked the end of the civil war known as the Wars of the Roses.
Charles III is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, reigning since 8 September 2022.
Edward William Fitzalan-Howard, 18th Duke of Norfolk,, styled Earl of Arundel between 1975 and 2002. He is a British peer who holds the hereditary office of Earl Marshal. As Duke of Norfolk, he is the most senior peer in the peerage of England. He is also the titular head of the House of Howard.
The Head of the Commonwealth is the ceremonial leader who symbolises "the free association of independent member nations" of the Commonwealth of Nations, an intergovernmental organisation that currently comprises 56 sovereign states. There is no set term of office or term limit and the role itself has no constitutional relevance to any of the member states within the Commonwealth. The position is currently held by King Charles III. Head of the Commonwealth is also a title of the monarch of each of the Commonwealth realms according to the Royal Style and Titles Act.
Succession to the British throne is determined by descent, sex, legitimacy, and religion. Under common law, the Crown is inherited by a sovereign's children or by a childless sovereign's nearest collateral line. The Bill of Rights 1689 and the Act of Settlement 1701 restrict succession to the throne to the legitimate Protestant descendants of Sophia of Hanover who are in "communion with the Church of England". Spouses of Catholics were disqualified from 1689 until the law was amended in 2015. Protestant descendants of those excluded for being Roman Catholics are eligible.
David George Coke Patrick Ogilvy, 13th Earl of Airlie, was a Scottish landowner, soldier, banker and peer.
An equerry is an officer of honour. Historically, it was a senior attendant with responsibilities for the horses of a person of rank. In contemporary use, it is a personal attendant, usually upon a sovereign, a member of a royal family, or a national representative. The role is equivalent to an aide-de-camp, but the term is now prevalent only among some members of the Commonwealth of Nations.
The Vigil of the Princes refers to occasions when members of the British royal family have "stood guard" during the lying in state of one of their relatives during or as part of a British state or ceremonial funeral. This occurred for King George V in 1936, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in 2002, and for Queen Elizabeth II in 2022. Prior to 2022, only male members of the British royal family joined the vigil. In 2022 however, female members of the royal family took part in the vigil. Anne, Princess Royal, took part alongside her three brothers in both vigils for their mother, Queen Elizabeth II while all four of the Queen's granddaughters took part in a separate grandchildren's vigil.
Birkhall is a 210 km2 estate on Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, owned by King Charles III. It is located alongside the River Muick to the south-west of Ballater.
Flags at Buckingham Palace vary according to the movements of court and tradition. The King's Flag Sergeant is responsible for all flags flown from the palace.
Elizabeth II was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She had been queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during her lifetime and was the monarch of 15 realms at her death. Her reign of 70 years and 214 days is the longest of any British monarch, the second-longest of any sovereign state, and the longest of any queen regnant in history.
James Alexander Philip Theo Mountbatten-Windsor, Earl of Wessex, styled Viscount Severn from 2007 until 2023, is the younger child and son of Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh. He is the youngest nephew of King Charles III. He was born during the reign of his paternal grandmother Elizabeth II, at which time he was 8th in line to the British throne. He is currently 15th.
Royal warrants of appointment have been issued since the 15th century to those who supply goods or services to a royal court or certain royal personages. The warrant enables the supplier to advertise the fact that they supply to the royal family, thereby lending prestige to the brand or supplier. In the United Kingdom, grants are usually made by the monarch, spouse, and heir apparent to companies or tradespeople who supply goods and services to individuals in the family.
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 following lists events in the year 2022 in Belize.
Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, died on 8 September 2022 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, at the age of 96. Elizabeth's reign of 70 years and 214 days was the longest of any British monarch. She was immediately succeeded by her eldest son, Charles III.
Charles III became King of the United Kingdom and of 14 other Commonwealth realms upon the death of his mother, Elizabeth II, on 8 September 2022. Royal succession in the realms occurs immediately upon the death of the reigning monarch. The formal proclamation in Britain occurred on 10 September 2022, at 10:00 BST, the same day on which the Accession Council gathered at St James's Palace in London. The other realms, including most Canadian provinces and all Australian states, issued their own proclamations at times relative to their time zones, following meetings of the relevant privy or executive councils. While the line of succession is identical in all the Commonwealth realms, the royal title as proclaimed is not the same in all of them.