How BBC prepared for reporting Queen Elizabeth II's death for decades

As soon as the statement from Buckingham Palace was released on September 8 that Queen Elizabeth II was under medical supervision, television presenters at the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) were seen in black clothing.

BBC is the United Kingdom's public service broadcaster. Reportedly, the broadcaster has been preparing for the news coverage of the Queen's death for decades now.

Reportedly, BBC has listed four royals—the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles, and Prince William—as 'Category 1', which gives more importance to the coverage of their death. Royals like Prince Harry are listed in 'Other Notables', under which they get the same importance as public figures like President Obama.

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As Queen was in 'Category 1', her death was a huge event for BBC's reporting. Normal broadcasting and reporting were interrupted awaiting an official announcement from Buckingham Palace. At 12:30 pm (London Time) the BBC's main channel stopped its regular show to deliver the Buckingham Palace announcement.

Reporters and anchors of the BBC appeared on screen in black clothing. This was just the first step in the long list of protocols organisations in the UK were following.

All the regular shows at BBC were suspended, making way for the news show dedicated to the Queen. As soon as the news was out that the Queen was unwell, the public broadcaster showed live coverage of the developments.

After the announcement of the monarch's death, the British national anthem was played on BBC, along with other television channels in the UK, displaying the photo of the Queen. Later, the BBC fired up its radio alert transmission system, which is called Rats: a Cold War-era alarm. While many of the organisation's staff were aware of it, they had never seen it in action.

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Programmes on channels BBC 1, 2 and 4 were interrupted, along with the radio, to announce the news. Meanwhile, the radio station stopped playing regular songs and switched to sombre ones.

Reportedly, leaked documents on 'Operation London Bridge' showed that all radio stations, including hospital channels, had playlists prepared with 'Mood 2' and 'Mood 1' songs that represented 'sad' and 'saddest' songs, respectively.

'Operation London Bridge' was a plan that specified in precise detail how Her Majesty's death would be communicated to government officials, the media and the public. According to the leaked documents, as The Guardian reported five years ago, the news would go out to the media at the precise moment a footman in mourning clothes crossed the grounds of Buckingham Palace to pin a black-edged notice to the gates—as is the protocol.

Meanwhile, the BBC would continue to carry out obituaries about the Queen, and news about the royal family, throughout the day.

'Operation London Bridge' came into effect around 6:30 pm London Time, when the Queen's death was announced by veteran presenter Huw Edwards on BBC One—breaking into programming on the BBC's other channels.

Even though the BBC had been practising the most rigid coverage of the Queen's death for decades now, it still managed to gather criticism from people over 'shaky camera' doing on-ground coverage and a presenter incorrectly announcing the Queen's death.

After news about the Queen's deteriorating health was made public, "some journalists jumped the gun on Thursday", The Guardian reported. "Yalda Hakim, the host of the international news programme Impact on BBC World News, tweeted an apology after originally posting that an announcement had been made that the Queen had died," the UK publication wrote.

Earlier in 2015 also, The Guardian reported that even though the news division of BBC One had been "holding regular rehearsals on how to cover this moment", a BBC journalist, mistaking a drill for the real event, announced Her Majesty's death on Twitter.

The BBC's meticulous planning over reportage on the UK's longest reigning monarch came after the public broadcaster faced criticism over the announcement of the death of Queen Mother in 2002. Newsreader Peter Sissons "was castigated for wearing a burgundy tie during the broadcast, which certain newspapers decided was not suitably respectful to the royal," as reported by The Guardian.