Operation Forth Bridge

LONDON, Friday: There are five or six individuals – including The Queen, Prince Charles, and British PM of the day – for whose deaths the broadcaster and government has detailed protocols.

In Prince Philip’s case, it was known as Operation Forth Bridge. “It’s a dangerous moment to be on air,” writes Mumbrella Australia ed Tim Burrowes.

“I watched the coverage unfold on the BBC World News channel. The broadcaster interrupted its normal lunchtime programming in the UK, with all its main channels simulcasting the announcement. 

“Duty newsreader Martine Croxall who had been presenting on the BBC’s news channel at the time, had to make the announcement, after rapidly donning a black jacket and removing a necklace she was wearing earlier in her shift.

“I thought it was terror rather than sadness. It was probably the largest TV audience of her life.”

“It’s been reported that she was close to tears during the early moments of the broadcast. She was clearly struggling, but as I watched it, I thought it was terror rather than sadness. It was probably the largest TV audience of her life.

“A single slip up on her part would have been career damaging, with the British tabloid press ready to pounce on it.

“When the Queen Mother died in 2002, BBC newsreader Peter Sissons endured weeks of criticism over the fact that he wore a burgundy, rather than black, tie.

“When Sissons died in 2019, it was the first line of many of his obituaries. That’s how bizarrely critical the wider press is of how the BBC handles royal deaths.”

• mumbrella.com.au