New details revealed in Operation London Bridge
New details have emerged about Operation London Bridge, the codename for the plans for when Queen Elizabeth dies.
The Royal Household has made a request to the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers to sound bells in religious buildings using muffles - a pad of material attached to the ball of the bell clapper - to create a more solemn sound.
“We have spent a lot of time talking to the Royal Household and Lambeth Palace about the day the monarch passes, which we hope will not be any time soon,” Vicki Chapman, the spokeswoman for the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers, told the Daily Mail.
“Adding muffles makes bells sound mournful, more like a hum - so they will sound like thud, thud, thud rather than dong, dong, dong.
“It is about paying due reverence to the service of the monarch and commemorating her life.”
Church bells are sometimes rung half-muffled for Remembrance Day and funerals, but the full muffle is reserved for the monarch’s death.
As a result, many churches have realised their supply of muffles has rotted over the years, having been left unused since the death of the Queen’s father, King George VI, 70 years ago.
This has prompted a surge in demand for leather workers to make more muffles, which Philip Pratt of Big Wilf’s Bell Muffles near Bristol knows all about.
“Muffles are a specialist product and only a very few leather manufacturers in the UK make them,” he said.
Mr Pratt added that the company has received “a lot of enquiries” and has been “taking on more and more orders”.
The details come as the Queen is expected to celebrate her 96th birthday on April 21.
The monarch, who has suffered mobility issues of late and has had to withdraw from several in-person events, has recently revealed how catching COVID-19 left her “very tired and exhausted” after testing positive for the virus in February.
Image: Getty Images