Coverage of Royal Funeral, transfer of power and Coronation

[Mikey Radio]

Since there are a few on here from the UK and others who seem to have knowledge of the operation of the BBC, I was curious if anyone knows if they get certain information and are "clued in" to upcoming events- information and forewarnings, that other news services in Britain may not be privvy to?

For instance, earlier today, hours before the Queen's death was officially announced, one BBC commentator sparked rumor about how grave the Queen's situation must be when he showed up on the air wearing a black suit and black tie, which is evidently standard attire for folks at that network to don when reporting on deaths like those of the Queen, Prince Phillip, etc. I've also read articles where there were a few very well-rehearsed scenarios that would go into action immediately upon the Queen's passing, with various code names depending on where she was at her time of passing - One code name if she was in London, another if she was at Balmoral as was the case today, etc. It also mentioned that everyone at the BBC would follow a very well rehearsed and planned script and coverage plan, which they have gone over many times in the past, to prepare for just such a day.

All this in mind, once the "official" announcement was made about the Queen's medical state and the fact that she would remain under medical supervision, would the BBC have been kept updated on the latest, and might they have known the truth about her passing, maybe an hour or more before the official announcement to allow them to prepare?

 

[gr8oldies]

Even stateside, when the initial reports about the queen being "under medical supervision", I think we knew the end was coming. It was all but confirmed when reports of the family gathering. One tidbit I picked up from the coverage from either the BBC or LBC, was that normally announcements like this would come in the morning, but in the digital age, it would have been impossible to stop from leaking.
Broadcast networks and newspapers of all sorts have pre-prepared and pre-recorded obits and background info for everyone who is anyone. I've heard a network get burned a time or two "calling it early".
Currently from what I've been able to pick up online, Gold is doing very mellow oldies (some not ordinarily heard), Absolute Radio and some of their other brands are mellower than usual with news updates. As of this writing, (10:36p EDT/3:35am in London) they are in their overnight shift.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

Huw Edwards, the BBC news presenter who appeared with a black suit and black tie, started his shift just before 2pm, London time. This was a few hours after the palace had announced the Queen was in ill health, after the prime minister had made a statement at No. 10, after the Speaker had made a statement from the dais in the House of Commons, and after the leaders of the opposition, Scotland and Wales had each wished the Queen well in public statements. If he did know at that time, he was informed more than two hours before Liz Truss, the new prime minister, and some five hours before the announcement was made. Seems unlikely they wpuld have had that much notice.

As far as future events, such as a funeral procession, the Beeb has probably been involved in planning for years.

A formal coronation for King Charles will probably not be held until Spring or Summer 2023.

 

[Mikey Radio]

Broadcast networks and newspapers of all sorts have pre-prepared and pre-recorded obits and background info for everyone who is anyone. I've heard a network get burned a time or two "calling it early".

Yeah, there have been a few examples over the past several years of news sources, even the Associated Press, accidentally publishing and then retracting an obit story, as they have several written and ready for quick publishing. There were reports of a few people today posting and then later deleting false reports of the Queen's death a few hours before any 'official' announcements were made, including BBC correspondent Yalda Hakim who reported her death on Twitter, then deleted the tweet and posted a retraction tweet and apology.

Everyone wants to be the fastest to deliver big news stories, and the first to get the "scoop", it seems. At times that causes them to publish things prematurely, at other times without properly fact checking and vetting first, as they're sometimes in a hurry to publish a headline, and then fill in the blanks later.

 

[KeithE4]

A formal coronation for King Charles will probably not be held until Spring or Summer 2023.

Queen Elizabeth ascended to the throne on 02/06/1952 upon the death of her father, George VI. Her formal coronation ceremony was on 6/2/1953. So, yes, it could take a year or more for the coronation ceremony to take place. Regardless, the former Prince Charles became Charles III upon his mother's death this morning.

 

[TheBigA]

A formal coronation for King Charles will probably not be held until Spring or Summer 2023.

My first thought when I read that was: Really? That long? But I guess that's not far off:

Charles III could have to wait months to be crowned King as Queen dies at 96

Prince Charles immediately ascended the throne after Queen Elizabeth II's death but he could have to wait months before being crowned as King.

www.hitc.com

Not the same thing as a royal funeral. More like a royal wedding. So there's a lot of planning.

I'm sure the TV companies hope it'll be spring. Whenever it happens, it will get huge ratings.

 

[gr8oldies]

Yeah, there have been a few examples over the past several years of news sources, even the Associated Press, accidentally publishing and then retracting an obit story, as they have several written and ready for quick publishing. There were reports of a few people today posting and then later deleting false reports of the Queen's death a few hours before any 'official' announcements were made, including BBC correspondent Yalda Hakim who reported her death on Twitter, then deleted the tweet and posted a retraction tweet and apology.

Everyone wants to be the fastest to deliver big news stories, and the first to get the "scoop", it seems. At times that causes them to publish things prematurely, at other times without properly fact checking and vetting first, as they're sometimes in a hurry to publish a headline, and then fill in the blanks later.

My favorite was a report of Bob Hope's death that at the time was not true and it was from ABC radio in a special report. (urgent sounder). Bob Hope has passed away at the age of _______." (hits pre-recorded obituary "Bob Hope got his start in vaudeville in the 1920s, etc". After the recording, newscaster says " now late word from his publicist that Bob Hope has not died. I'm ____________, ABC News. (Hope did die in 2003).

 

[KeithE4]

My favorite was a report of Bob Hope's death that at the time was not true and it was from ABC radio in a special report. (urgent sounder). Bob Hope has passed away at the age of _______." (hits pre-recorded obituary "Bob Hope got his start in vaudeville in the 1920s, etc". After the recording, newscaster says " now late word from his publicist that Bob Hope has not died. I'm ____________, ABC News. (Hope did die in 2003).

Two words: Abe Vigoda.

 

[anotherguyTN]

There are clickbait channels on You Tube that falsely claim different famous people have died or are about to a long time before it actually happens or it hasn't happened yet. I'm surprised some of them didn't do that with Queen Elizabeth before now, or perhaps I was just lucky that I haven't run into them.

 

[TheBigA]

King Charles will deliver his first TV address as monarch Friday night:

King Charles III to give televised address tomorrow

King Charles III will deliver a televised address on Friday following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. The series of official protocols and rituals following the death of a monarch, known ...

sports.yahoo.com

 

[Mikey Radio]

King Charles will deliver his first TV address as monarch Friday night:

King Charles III to give televised address tomorrow

King Charles III will deliver a televised address on Friday following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. The series of official protocols and rituals following the death of a monarch, known ...

sports.yahoo.com

Interesting that you spotted that on Yahoo Sports of all places; I guess they've expanded the subject matter they'll cover? Lol

 

[Miss Tuned]

Huw Edwards, the BBC news presenter who appeared with a black suit and black tie, started his shift just before 2pm, London time. This was a few hours after the palace had announced the Queen was in ill health, after the prime minister had made a statement at No. 10, after the Speaker had made a statement from the dais in the House of Commons, and after the leaders of the opposition, Scotland and Wales had each wished the Queen well in public statements. If he did know at that time, he was informed more than two hours before Liz Truss, the new prime minister, and some five hours before the announcement was made. Seems unlikely they wpuld have had that much notice.

As far as future events, such as a funeral procession, the Beeb has probably been involved in planning for years.

A formal coronation for King Charles will probably not be held until Spring or Summer 2023.

I was listening to BBC Radio 2 around the same time, mid-afternoon. The playlist had already been taken downbeat and scheduled features and interviews had been replaced with well-wishes for the Queen.

The clue was "medical supervision" and the fact that she wasn't taken to hospital and was kept at Balmoral. The Queen, due to her age, has been in and out of hospital multiple times in recent years but the Palace have always remained tight-lipped about her condition, and she has always come out of hospital and returned to duties. The fact that they issued a statement and reported that the family were traveling to Scotland to be with her at the bedside made it very clear. They are very good at controlling the message, they only say what they want to say, and this time the message they wanted to put out was that the end was nearing and the situation was serious.

Nobody would have been told "the Queen is dead" until the Prime Minister was informed at 4:30pm, that is a matter of protocol, but backchannels between the Palace, senior politicians and senior BBC (and other serious news organizations, like the Press Association and London Times) staff would have made it clear that this was the situation from early afternoon, hence the black tie on television and mood playlists on BBC radio.

 

[Mikey Radio]

I was listening to BBC Radio 2 around the same time, mid-afternoon. The playlist had already been taken downbeat and scheduled features and interviews had been replaced with well-wishes for the Queen.

The clue was "medical supervision" and the fact that she wasn't taken to hospital and was kept at Balmoral. The Queen, due to her age, has been in and out of hospital multiple times in recent years but the Palace have always remained tight-lipped about her condition, and she has always come out of hospital and returned to duties. The fact that they issued a statement and reported that the family were traveling to Scotland to be with her at the bedside made it very clear. They are very good at controlling the message, they only say what they want to say, and this time the message they wanted to put out was that the end was nearing and the situation was serious.

Nobody would have been told "the Queen is dead" until the Prime Minister was informed at 4:30pm, that is a matter of protocol, but backchannels between the Palace, senior politicians and senior BBC (and other serious news organizations, like the Press Association and London Times) staff would have made it clear that this was the situation from early afternoon, hence the black tie on television and mood playlists on BBC radio.

Appreciate the insight from you, a "local" over there @Miss Tuned
Curious, have they confirmed if all members of the family made it to her side "in time"? News reports I've seen here made it clear that Harry was later than the others and got there too late, but other sources say that Charles was definitely with her, while others have said that all her children were present and yet others posted that she passed as her children rushed to be with her, but don't make it clear if they actually got there in time.

 

[TheBigA]

Charles was definitely with her, while others have said that all her children were present and yet others posted that she passed as her children rushed to be with her, but don't make it clear if they actually got there in time.

At one point, they showed a car driven by William and they said his uncles were passengers in the car. That would be Andrew and Edward. I haven't seen any mention of Princess Anne.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Even stateside, when the initial reports about the queen being "under medical supervision", I think we knew the end was coming.

The radio station I like to listen to in the car was getting a lot of interference so I was afraid it had already happened, and then I realized maybe it was something about the Queen meeting with Truss.

A few minutes later as I looked at newspaper web sites for local news, everyone was saying things weren't looking good.

I wasn't able to reply on the actual thread where I saw the post, but a few months ago on a local station I saw a movie about the time teenage Elizabeth and her sister sneaked out to enjoy themselves. The event really happened although the movie fictionalized it somewhat. That would be a good programming choice.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Appreciate the insight from you, a "local" over there @Miss Tuned
Curious, have they confirmed if all members of the family made it to her side "in time"? News reports I've seen here made it clear that Harry was later than the others and got there too late, but other sources say that Charles was definitely with her, while others have said that all her children were present and yet others posted that she passed as her children rushed to be with her, but don't make it clear if they actually got there in time.

This probably doesn't mean much, but I was just reading one of the advice columnists whose name begins with A and there are all these links to interesting news which may or may not be true and one of those claims Meghan didn't make it on time.

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

https://deadline.com/2022/09/days-of-our-lives-king-charles-nbc-peacock-1235113000/

Not shocking to hear Days of Our Lives was Pre-empted in this case but understandable.

 

[Miss Tuned]

Appreciate the insight from you, a "local" over there @Miss Tuned
Curious, have they confirmed if all members of the family made it to her side "in time"? News reports I've seen here made it clear that Harry was later than the others and got there too late, but other sources say that Charles was definitely with her, while others have said that all her children were present and yet others posted that she passed as her children rushed to be with her, but don't make it clear if they actually got there in time.

To tell you the truth, I haven't been following it in such minute detail - yesterday I was at work as normal and Royal tittle-tattle has never been a subject of great interest.

I'm not sure why the other thread was closed, but as things stand with UK radio broadcasters, they have generally left the news simulcasts and gone back to their own programming. The BBC music stations are running with downbeat playlists and presenters discussing the Queen and (especially on younger-targeted Radio 1) the subjects of loss and grief more generally, and the commercial stations are doing very similar, playing maudlin tracks that fit their formats. A small number of stations have returned to their normal programming - there's a local Dance station which has gone back to its usual format after a few hours of soft pop and which is holding its annual music festival/concert today as scheduled.

I'm not sure the appetite for a long period of mourning music from radio is there in the country. I went to get my hair done yesterday lunchtime and the talk in the salon was of the "miserable music" on the radio, which was tuned to Global Radio's Heart network and was playing a selection of dreary love songs. It is a difficult balancing act for broadcasters - flip back to the usual format too quickly and they risk the outrage of the conservative press for being "disrespectful". Take too long to flip back, and they lose audience to Spotify and other music streamers, or to competitor stations which flip sooner. We have come out of a lengthy period of Covid-19 disruption and there simply isn't the mass appetite for yet more closures and cancelations of events.

I don't really watch live TV, but BBC1 TV this weekend is wall-to-wall royal tributes, with regular programming available on BBC2. Many people will simply have switched to an on-demand streamer like Netflix or Amazon to watch non-royal programming as normal. Many people have legitimate criticisms of the Queen and Royal Family and their role in an oppressive empire and colonialism, and these concerns are not addressed in the endless wall-to-wall tribute programming made available by the BBC.

There is a very good article here on the TV situation:

Death of Elizabeth II leaves BBC with tricky balancing act

Viewers can easily switch to streaming or social media if they tire of rolling updates and downbeat music

www.theguardian.com

 

[vchimpanzee]

One of the Charlotte TV stations interviewed people at Big Ben's in the Elizabeth neighborhood. I looked it up and there was an Elizabeth College there long before the Queen was born.

 

[frankberry]

One of the Charlotte TV stations interviewed people at Big Ben's in the Elizabeth neighborhood. I looked it up and there was an Elizabeth College there long before the Queen was born.

This was Queen Elizabeth II.
Elizabeth I was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603.