If the Queen died

I'm not sure if this is in the right place for this or whether it's best suited for the Lounge so apologies in advance if it's in the wrong place.

Try this for a hypothetical question, imagine this... BBC One annouce the Queen has just died so as a mark of respect , they play the God Save the Queen.

Question is, wouldn't that be a contradiction?!?

Answers on the back of a stuck down envelope please!

No, the theme is the National Anthem, so it's called "God save the Queen" or "God save the King" depending on the gender of the monarch.

So the moment the queen dies, her eldest son would be the succesor, so the National Anthem would be played as "God Save the King". Surely.

Seen as the national anthem on the BBC is played without words, I don't think the problem will arise.

In fact, when Charles I (I think -- James's son) was executed, they held up his severed head to the crowd and said "The king is dead! Long live the king!"

Certainly the monarchy is no stranger to contradiction.

http://homepage.mac.com/robertpalmer/tvforum/sig.gif

I think when the Queen finally passes away, the main TV stations will probably just
display the Royal Standard flying at half mast for several hours, with solemn music.

nah... Peter Sissons' burgandy tie!

I thought it was only when the Queen died that the BBC News Presenter would have to wear a black tie, if any other member of the royal family passed away then it would be up to the individual to decide.

Anyway I think the BBC would similcast and all other channels would run newscasts and possibly on Channel 4/Five documentaries about the queen, thats a day to avoid watching the TV then.

Yes, as I'm sure the passing away of the Queen will be - it will be a very interesting day (possibly few days!!) in terms of TV and radio.

Also...going slightly off topic - with the impending war with Iraq do you think we could we see a return of extended news bulletins and ITN's on the hour reports ala the Gulf War in 1990.

Weird isn't it - often when there is a 'disaster' or crisis is the time that interests us most. Weird, aren't we?

When Princess Margaret died BBC News 24 had a sombre black ident, and all of the presenters (including Weather) changed to dark mournful clothes. I dont see why newscaster could just change his tie really I dont.

Of course, when the Queen dies, it'll be something of much greater importance than previous royal deaths, so the coverage will be like we haven't seen before.

As for the Gulf War, remember the Channel 4 Midnight News? And didn't BBC 1 have an 8 o'clock bulletin?

Not quite. When Charles I was executed it marked the temporary end of the monarcy and the start of the new Comonwealth. There was no new king

The statement The King is dead, long live the king, is usually proclamed on the death of each soverign from the balcony at St James Palace. One exception was the death of Charles I

Exactly - and I don't see it as a contradiction, only an underlining of the fact that the monarch can never die. Immediately the current monarch dies, they are no longer monarch - someone else is, and they are alive!

Hence the reason that the Royal Standard is never flown at half mast (contrary to what DJGM said above) as the monarch can't die.

Technically though, it takes a meeting of the Privy Council to decide who's going to be the next monarch (it's not always been as clear cut as it is now!) so we don't have a monarch for a couple of hours. When George VI died, the Privy Council could not sit until Princess Elizabeth returned from Africa, and this was several days later, so we didn't have a Queen until then.