On Thursday, September 8, Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral, and the Prince of Wales is now King Charles III.
In a statement on Thursday, Buckingham Palace said: "The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon."
The Queen was the oldest and longest-serving British monarch in history, having held the position for more than 70 years.
READ MORE — Guidance offered if schools will close following death of Queen Elizabeth II
The next ten days will mark the implementation of a number of arrangements, which have long been planned by The Royal Family and the UK Government, as reported by WalesOnline.
Here is a timeline of the key events that will likely take place in the coming days.
D+0 – Friday September 9
The King and Queen journey to London
- Charles and Camilla will have resided at Balmoral on Thursday night, but will journey to London on Friday.
Audience with the PM
- Charles' first audience as monarch with the Prime Minister is expected to be held as soon as possible.
Confirming funeral plans
- Charles will have a meeting with the Duke of Norfolk, who is responsible for the accession and the Queen's funeral arrangements, to review the intricately planned schedule for the coming days.
- These arrangements, which have the codename London Bridge, have long been planned alongside the UK Government.
- The plans will include Operation Unicorn — the codename for the arrangements if the Queen were to die in Scotland.
Court mourning
- Charles will dictate how long royal mourning will last for members of The Royal Family and royal households, though it is expected to last one month.
National mourning
- The Government will confirm the length of national mourning, which is likely to be around 12 to 13 days, from now up to the day after the Queen’s funeral.
- They will also announce that the funeral day will be a public holiday in the form of a Day of National Mourning.
Flags
- Union flags on royal buildings will be flown at half-mast.
- However, the Royal Standard will not fly at half-mast as it is representative of the Sovereign and the United Kingdom, and is symbolic of the continuation of the monarchy.
- If Charles resides at a royal palace or a castle, the Royal Standard will be flown at full mast, but the Union flag will not fly there at the same time.
- The Union flag will also be flown at half-mast over the Houses of Parliament, with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport being responsible for lowering flags on government buildings.
Bells and gun salutes
- Bells will toll at Westminster Abbey, St Paul’s Cathedral and Windsor Castle.
- There will also be gun salutes held in Hyde Park and at other stations, with one round being fired for each year of the Queen's life.
- Floodlighting at royal residences will be shut off, the public will start leaving flowers, and tributes from across the globe will come in.
Sign up to Glasgow Live newsletters for more headlines straight to your inbox
D+1 – Saturday September 10
At 10am on Saturday, the Accession Council will likely convene at St James’s Palace in London to officially proclaim Charles as the new sovereign.
Firstly, the Privy Council will meet without Charles present to proclaim the new sovereign and organise business related to the proclamation.
After this, the King will hold his first Privy Council alongside Queen Consort Camilla and William. Here, he will make his personal declaration and oath.
The first public proclamation of the King will be read atop the Friary Court balcony at St James’s Palace by the Garter King of Arms. Proclamations will be made across the UK.
Union flags will return to full-mast at 1pm and will remain so for 24 hours, coinciding with the proclamations, before going back to half-mast.
At this point, the King will also meet with the Prime Minister and the Cabinet.
D+2 – Sunday September 11
On Sunday, the Queen's coffin will be taken by road to the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. Proclamations will be read in the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland parliaments.
D+3 – Monday September 12
A procession is expected to take place along the Royal Mile to St Giles’ Cathedral. Here, a service will be held, as well as the Vigil of the Princes.
The public may be given the opportunity to file past the Queen's coffin at a mini lying in state in St Giles’.
On Monday, the House of Commons and the House of Lords are also expected to meet in Westminster for a Motion of Condolence. The King may attend this.
After journeying to Scotland, Charles will at some point travel to Wales and Northern Ireland. This is referred to as Operation Spring Tide.
D+4 – Tuesday September 13
On Tuesday, the coffin will likely be flown to London, where it will rest at Buckingham Palace. A rehearsal for the procession of the coffin from Buckingham Palace to the Palace of Westminster will be held.
D+5 – Wednesday September 14
The Queen’s lying in state will likely begin in Westminster Hall after a ceremonial procession in London, and will last four days. After the coffin's arrival, the Archbishop of Canterbury will hold a short service.
It is expected that hundreds of thousands of people will file past the Queen's coffin and pay their respects. The same occurred for the Queen's Mother in 2002.
High-level royals will also likely pay their own moving tribute and stand guard around the coffin — this is the Vigil of the Princes.
D+6 – Thursday September 15
The Queen’s lying in state will continue and and a rehearsal for the state funeral procession may be held.
D+7 – Friday September 16 – Sunday September 18
The Queen’s lying in state will continue for the next three days. Heads of state will start arriving for the funeral.
D+10 – Monday September 19
The Queen's funeral will likely take place at Westminster Abbey on September 19.
It is expected that the Queen's coffin will move on a a gun carriage to the abbey, pulled by naval ratings using ropes as opposed to horses.
High-level members of The Royal Family will likely follow, just as they did for the funerals of Diana, Princess of Wales and the Duke of Edinburgh. The military will also join the procession.
There will likely be heads of state, prime ministers, presidents, and European royals, as well as key public figures in attendance.
The funeral will be broadcast on television, and a national two minutes of silence will likely be held.
On the same day as the funeral service, the coffin will be transferred to St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle for a televised committal service.
Later on in the day, there will likely be a private interment service held, which senior members of The Royal Family will attend.
The Queen's final resting place will be the King George VI memorial chapel at Windsor Castle, alongside her mother, father, and sister.
The Duke of Edinburgh's coffin will be moved from the Royal Vault to the chapel to join the Queen's.
You can follow our rolling news blog on all the latest updates from the Queen's passing here.
