I thought it might be useful to have a thread here regarding the present situation concerning Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. While I'm sure we all hope he makes a speedy recovery, without wishing to sound morbid let's not forget that he is a very elderly man who, in the middle of a pandemic is presently seriously ill in a London hospital.
If the worst, heaven forbid does happen, presumably British television networks including all of the major PSBs will overhaul their schedules to concentrate on this major event. Operation Forth Bridge will no doubt also be activated.
It will certainly be interesting to witness how the death of a major royal is handled in this digital age, considering the last time there was one was in 2002, following the death of the Queen Mother.
Last edited by Thaedur on 20 February 2021 10:09pm
"It might be useful to have thread" - you mean just in case, i'm not sure that's very appropriate
Regarding guessing what might happen, do a forum search, this point has been discussed very frequently over the years
Presumably Prince Charles would not be visiting him if the situation did not call for it? Also, perhaps you could be so kind as to post some of this information here, if you think it's suitable?
I thought it might be useful to have a thread here regarding the present situation concerning Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. While I'm sure we all hope he makes a speedy recovery, without wishing to sound morbid let's not forget that he is a very elderly man who, in the middle of a pandemic is presently seriously ill in a London hospital.
If the worst, heaven forbid does happen, presumably British television networks including all of the major PSBs will overhaul their schedules to concentrate on this major event. Operation Forth Bridge will no doubt also be activated.
It will certainly be interesting to witness how the death of a major royal is handled in this digital age, considering the last time there was one was in 2002, following the death of the Queen Mother.
I am hoping for the best with regards to Philip's health but (to I imagine the minor relief of the PSBs) he has already said that he doesn't want a full ceremonial funeral like Diana or The Queen Mother which will mean a lot less schedule changing if god forbid the worst does happen.
Sadly BBC One's presentation package isn't that much better than in Easter 2002 I hope they have a suitable ident - preferably the silent forest one on standby. But given the time this evening, if anything major does change now with regards to his health, It won't be announced until the morning....even though they did say that about Nelson Mandela
There’s a Metro article here from 2017 (so things may have changed slightly since) which generally says they would embargo the news until 8am should he pass overnight. As the husband of the current reigning monarch I believe he is still classed as a category 1 royal and so programmes will be interrupted and there will be a mourning period. https://metro.co.uk/2017/08/02/heres-what-will-happen-when-prince-philip-dies-6823754/
Like you say, I don’t wish to sound morbid, but I expect radio stations have their OBIT playlists on standby and news channels may be thinking about rehearsals at the moment in order to be prepared should the worst happen.
It's quite interesting that the story was covered very differently on both the BBC and ITV tonight.
BBC had it as a third or fourth story with a reporter outside the hospital not really concerned about the events. ITV have it as their top story, with Chris Ship reporting outside the hospital keen to make note that Buckingham Palace have not updated on the Duke's condition since Friday and raising eyebrows on Prince Charles' visit from Gloucestershire there and back today.
Either way, a dedicated thread isn't probably ideal until when and if the Duke's condition deteriorates. There's no suggestion of that at the moment, despite how carried away Twitter seems to be getting with it.
"It might be useful to have thread" - you mean just in case, i'm not sure that's very appropriate
Regarding guessing what might happen, do a forum search, this point has been discussed very frequently over the years
Presumably Prince Charles would not be visiting him if the situation did not call for it? Also, perhaps you could be so kind as to post some of this information here, if you think it's suitable?
If the worst, heaven forbid does happen, presumably British television networks including all of the major PSBs will overhaul their schedules to concentrate on this major event. Operation Forth Bridge will no doubt also be activated.
It will certainly be interesting to witness how the death of a major royal is handled in this digital age, considering the last time there was one was in 2002, following the death of the Queen Mother.
It's been announced previously that the Duke's admission is not Covid related. He's been in hospital before for "not feeling very well", it sort of goes with the territory of being not far off 100 years old.
Anyway why are you saying "if the worst should happen"? He's not immortal, he will die one day. For all the advances in medical science nobody's figured out how to live forever.
Presumably Prince Charles would not be visiting him if the situation did not call for it?
That doesn't mean anything on its own, in NHS hospitals you can visit providing you do all the precautions and don't just spontaneously turn up (it is a "reasonable excuse" to leave home). The Duke is in the King Edward VII Hospital which is an independent/private so they probably have more flexibility.
If the worst, heaven forbid does happen, presumably British television networks including all of the major PSBs will overhaul their schedules to concentrate on this major event. Operation Forth Bridge will no doubt also be activated.
It will certainly be interesting to witness how the death of a major royal is handled in this digital age, considering the last time there was one was in 2002, following the death of the Queen Mother.
It's been announced previously that the Duke's admission is not Covid related. He's been in hospital before for "not feeling very well", it sort of goes with the territory of being not far off 100 years old.
Anyway why are you saying "if the worst should happen"? He's not immortal, he will die one day. For all the advances in medical science nobody's figured out how to live forever.
Presumably Prince Charles would not be visiting him if the situation did not call for it?
That doesn't mean anything on its own, in NHS hospitals you can visit providing you do all the precautions and don't just spontaneously turn up (it is a "reasonable excuse" to leave home). The Duke is in the King Edward VII Hospital which is an independent/private so they probably have more flexibility.
The King Edward VII's hospital website says visitors "will only be considered in exceptional circumstances" during the pandemic. Furthermore, Piers Morgan has posted this evening that the Duke is 'seriously ill' in hospital, so presumably he must have sources that have told him this.
It's been announced previously that the Duke's admission is not Covid related. He's been in hospital before for "not feeling very well", it sort of goes with the territory of being not far off 100 years old.
Anyway why are you saying "if the worst should happen"? He's not immortal, he will die one day. For all the advances in medical science nobody's figured out how to live forever.
It's the same for anyone who reaches 90+, it'll be sad when he does eventually pass away but he's 18 years above the average UK life expectancy, that's pretty good going.
Furthermore, Piers Morgan has posted this evening that the Duke is 'seriously ill' in hospital, so presumably he must have sources that have told him this.
Piers Morgan says a lot of things, wouldn't say he's authority on anything myself. In the case you refer to he's just retweeted the picture of a puffy eyed Prince Charles and stuck "seriously ill father" on it. The picture itself doesn't imply anything, may have been crying, may have been rubbing his eyes, may had had a touch of hay fever, may even just be an effect of the glass on the car. You can't deduce anything from that picture.