When Queen Elizabeth II passed away yesterday, October 8th 2022, the steps for succession and for government and media response were already designed and designated. Set to follow from a coded message "London Bridge is down" radio and tv broadcasts would know to pause... Fascinating 2017 article in The Gaurdian details it all (with a wrinkle yesterday as The Queen was at Balmoral).
In 2002, when the Queen Mother died, the obit lights didn’t come on because someone failed to push the button down properly. On the BBC, Peter Sissons, the veteran anchor, was criticised for wearing a maroon tie. Sissons was the victim of a BBC policy change, issued after the September 11 attacks, to moderate its coverage and reduce the number of “category one” royals eligible for the full obituary procedure...
But there will be no extemporising with the Queen. The newsreaders will wear black suits and black ties. Category one was made for her. Programmes will stop. Networks will merge. BBC 1, 2 and 4 will be interrupted ... before coming together for the news. Listeners to Radio 4 and Radio 5 live will hear a specific formulation of words, “This is the BBC from London,”
Short and instructive article on PutThisOn about how to dress for a funeral or remembrance service which comes down to this;
Your goal in dressing for a funeral should be to reflect the significance and gravity of the occasion. Traditionally, this means dark suit, dark tie, white shirt, black shoes.
People don’t generally die on our schedule. For this reason, it’s important to have something on hand appropriate to wear on short notice.
On that final note... do you have a black tie? If you have read this far then probably time...
