What happens when....

There are procedures in place, but they aren't always adhered to to the letter. I seem to remember that when the Queen Mum died, the procedure on paper was that GNS (the BBC's national radio news service) should make the announcement. However, the flash came through that stations could announce it themselves, and opt to GNS at the top of the hour.

Incidentally, I believe Radio nan Gaidheal's plan is to make a short announcement in Gaelic, then opt to Radio Scotland. And I'm told that Sky News's obit plan on the event of a senior royal death contains the line, in bold, capitals, and underlined: "Do not use the Sky News swoosh"

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Other interesting things to look at:
http://open.bbc.co.uk/catalogue/infax/on_this_day/1997/08/31
http://open.bbc.co.uk/catalogue/infax/on_this_day/2002/03/30 (see the notes on Dazzling Bloomers and Steptoe and Son)

That's always puzzled me... how can "Her Majesty" be a higher ranked name than "Her Royal Highness "?

That strikes me as highly unlikely: it would cause massive disruption and, as as been stated above, the country won't just stop because one old lady dies. Especially if she carks it during GCSE week. A day off for the funeral seems likely - but surely not for a whole week.

Also bear in mind that the Coronation would not take place until a good long time after the death of the Queen. Over a year elapsed between the death of George VI and the coronation of Elizabeth II.

Well this is from the notes of Dazzling Bloomers - but luckily i think the programme was interupted before this clip....
SURPRISES (24.48in/dur3m08s):Peter COE reports on Queen Mother while vt of cows is seen (News 24)(9s);

Now, THAT bit IS correct.

No, the broadcasters can't be prepared for every eventuality. Important people never die in the manner dictated to by broadcasters rehearsals - every event is diffrent.

Just look at Diana, there was no way that the circumstances under which her death was annouced could be predicted. The Queen Mum was fairly textbook, but came at a bad time for the media (Easter Saturday)

I dont think there is anything stoping a radio station breaking the news of a royal death. But IRN have the resources to cover it better and a they send out a nice book detaling what procedures to take in the event of a royal or senior political death etc...

"Majesty" is higher than simply HRH. The specific definition of "majesty" is:
The greatness and dignity of a sovereign.
The sovereignty and power of God.
Supreme authority or power.

However, English Kings were always just referred to as "His/Her Grace ...." until the time of Henry VIII, who changed it to "His/Her Majesty.......".

"His/Her Grace....." is now applicable to Dukes & Royal Dukes (the next in order of nobility after the sovereign - then Marquis, Earl. Viscount and Baron). Obviously Prince Edward slipped up by being the youngest son - Andy is a Royal Duke, Eddie is only an Earl at present, although he will become Duke of Edinburgh on the death of Philip).

Some heads of minor European sovereign states (such as the Prince X of Monaco) use the title "His/Her Serene Highness" as an alternative to "Royal Highness", although this is their main title and reflects their lower status amongst the other crowned heads of Europe.

All that was already in my head - I must get out more

IRN have an 'obit' (short for 'obituary') procedure for a number of the 'top' royals. It was slimmed down in the 90s to weed out some of the 'lesser' members. Sounds a harsh way of putting it, but it was thought that at some point in the future such 'obits' could occur on a fairly regular basis.

As far as radio is concerned, there used to be an 'obit alarm' which would fire when someone died, however it was prone to be faulty and would go off on a regular basis (at least it did at Beacon in Wolverhampton!!). The idea is that you'd acnowledge the alarm by switching it off and then alert the rest of the station what was going to happen and then follow the set rules from IRN. Most stations used to have an Obit programme (1 hour of classical music) ready to roll in the studio at all times, but this was eventually dropped when ideas were revised.

Of course sometimes you can see it coming, as with the Queen Mother, although ironically (as mentioned above) when it happened it was at one of the worst times for broadcasters. A number of stations were automated (including the now-demised Student Broadcast Network which came out of the 6pm IRN news with some hard rock!) and this is still an unresolved issue in many stations.

The bottom line is that "the moment has been prepared for" ... as much as it ever could be. Documentaries are ready to roll, news items are fully prepared, initial procedure is laid down (subject to last minute changes reflecting the nature of the situation)... but it will always be very much on-the-hoof, which is really how it should be...

Going on their performance when the Queen Mother died, I'd say my cat might handle coverage of a Royal death with more competence.

When the Queen Mother died, did N24 announce the news straight away or did they wait to join BBC1 and BBC2 for Peter Sissons to announce it?

My point is if someone really significant died, would it now be Huw who would announce it on the Beeb, or would it be whoever is available?

Well I know BBC Two cut to a caption for about 5 minutes and then joined Sissons. I'm sure News 24 would have waited as well.