A period of royal mourning will be observed from now until seven days after the Queen's funeral, Buckingham Palace has said.
The date of Elizabeth II's funeral will be confirmed in due course, but it is expected to be 10 days after her passing. It means, with the extra seven days, King Charles has declared a total of seventeen days of mourning following the death of his mother.
As reported by the Mirror, the Royal Mourning will be observed by members of the royal family, Royal Household staff and Representatives of the Royal Household on official duties, together with troops committed to Ceremonial Duties.
Flags at all royal residences were lowered to half mast yesterday following the news and they are going to remain there until 8am on final day of mourning. As Her Majesty was placed under medical supervision on Thursday afternoon, members of the Royal Family rushed to Balmoral Castle in Scotland to be by her side in her final moments.
With the national importance of this event, a finely detailed plan for what follows after the Queen's death is already in place and has been for some time. Friday, September 9, will mark 'D-Day' as defined within the schedule, with the coming days to be referred to as D-Day plus the number of days that have passed since her death.
Because she died in Scotland, Operation Unicorn has been enacted, which entails the entire plan of preparations for Her Majesty's state funeral. A UK wide plan known as Operation London Bridge has also been rolled out.
The seismic cultural and historical impact of the Queen's death also means that some other areas of life, such as sporting events and entertainment, will also be altered over the days of official mourning.
