On Thursday, September 8, 2022 the British clock came to a standstill setting off a sequence of events across the kingdom, the Commonwealth and the world. The Sovereign of the United Kingdom was pronounced dead at her Balmoral estate in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

The royal family had been summoned to make immediate journey to the Balmoral castle in Aberdeenshire moments before she gave up the ghost. Her royal Majesty, the Queen, had taken her last breath and bid her family and friends farewell.

But the death of the Queen would be just the beginning of what was to come. The private secretary of the Sovereign, Sir Edward Young, called the Prime Minister of the UK – Liz Truss and in line with protocol, divulged to the honorable minister that “London Bridge is down”. This was a coded message to report about the Queen’s demise.

In line with protocol, all leaders of the 15 countries of the Commonwealth who still hail the Queen as their Head of State were informed of the fallen Bridge.

Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu  who have the Queen as their head of State were all informed about the fallen London Bridge.

Colors in the British Broadcasting Corporation morphed into deep black. Men in Black suit quietly headed to the palace gates of the Buckingham palace to hang a placard reading the sad news of the Queen’s departure. All these protocols were portions of the greater elaborate plan codenamed London Bridge.

But the death of the Queen outside England would add another layer of protocol – the Operation Unicorn.

Operation Unicorn activated

In a heartbeat, Operation Unicorn was activated. This entailed the formalities performed in Scotland before the Queen would be sent to London to be interred.

The unicorn is an important animal to the Scottish people. It’s so sacrosanct that it embodies the Scottish flag alongside the three lions of England.

The Queen’s body is expected to be in Scotland for roughly 4 days before transported to the seat of power in England.

• Parliamentary activities will cease and all politicians will prepare messages of condolences and make preparations for her state burial 
• The Queen’s body will be moved to Holyroodhouse, her palace in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh 
• Parliament houses in the UK will prepare a message of condolence within 72 hours of convening 
• Condolence book will be opened to the public in Scotland with gatherings expected at Holyroodhouse palace, St. Giles Cathedral, and the Scottish parliament.

Operation Unicorn will come to an end immediately the Queen’s body is taken out of Scotland to England. This will embolden the Operation London Bridge which had set off automatically at the announcement of her death.

Operation London Bridge

Operation London Bridge kickstarted the very moment the London Bridge came down tumbling. The announcement of the Queen’s death is even an aspect of the Bridge.

It spans the formal announcement of her death, the 10 day official mourning period, and details of her state burial.

A year earlier, the Queen’s consort, Prince Philip – the Duke of Edinburgh – died and was buried under a ritual codenamed Forth Bridge which was heavily pruned due to covid 19 restrictions.

Forth is the name of a bridge in Edinburgh, capital city of Scotland where the deceased prince served as Duke. 

One notable aspect of the bridge that swung into full gear was the BBC’s abrupt pause of normal production to announce the Queen’s death. The banners and colors of the BBC were switched from the characteristic bright red to deep black.

The British Broadcasting station put all other productions on hold and ran consistent documentary and news about the Queen. This was interspersed with an occasional pause to reiterate the announcement of her death. 

The reason for a codename for the Queen’s death as characteristic of a military activity is because the UK military is heavily involved in the state burial of Her Royal Majesty.

The British military plays a substantial work in organizing and carrying out the processions and ceremonies.

Operation Spring Tides

Immediately, the London Bridge fell on the Thursday, Operation Spring Tides was set on wheels few hours after London Bridge had taken off.

With the seat of power vacant, a new Sovereign had to be installed and this would be the heir apparent – Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales.

The announcement of the death of a British Monarch comes with the almost simultaneous birth of a new Sovereign.

As a group of people prepared for the state burial of the Queen, another group readied the formal procession for the installment of a new Monarch – King Charles III, eldest son of the departed King. This is codenamed ‘Operation Spring Tides‘.