“It’s not every day a serving British monarch dies. There has to be a plan. And so, with the death of Queen Elizabeth II at the age of 96 on Thursday, the long-awaited “Operation London Bridge” swung into action.

“Named after a former London landmark that was forever “falling down,” Operation London Bridge was the code word attributed to a formally choreographed sequence of events that would occur after the death of the British monarch.

“The not-so-secret plan has never officially been released, though versions of it have been leaked several times over the years. It is designed to ensure not only that the news of the queen’s death was broken in a dignified manner and her memory commemorated, but also to ensure the continuation of the royal throne as Britain’s head of state.”

Read more at The Washington Post