The funeral for Queen Elizabeth II is one of the most intense and complicated logistical challenges anyone has ever faced. London is expecting millions of people to take to the streets. On top of that, over 100 foreign dignitaries and leaders, along with their staff and personal security are expected to show up.
It will be a logistical challenge for the ages, managing and coordinating traffic jams, closed roads, and a security presence that they say is the biggest since World War 2.
Scotland Yard is what we would call the LAPD, or NYPD here in America, and the most significant responsibility falls on them. Here’s a quote from former police Chief Mark Sandhu in the LA Times.
“It’s probably the largest public-order type or ceremonial event the U.K. has ever held. Even when the Queen Mother died or [Princess] Diana, it wasn’t as large as this.”
The subways are going to be pushed to the limits, and have been the past few days with hundreds of people traveling into London for the public viewing and the funeral. At some points, while Queen Elizabeth lay in state, there was a wait of 24 hours for people to pay their respects, and the line stretched five miles.
Joe Biden is attending the funeral, which means the Secret Service will have its own list of demands. The London police have brought in 10,000 officers from across the UK to help. 1,500 soldiers from the military have been deployed for the funeral. Surveillance cameras are being added, and three military helicopters will scour the skies.
Snipers will be positioned on rooftops. Bomb-sniffing dogs will be out in force.
The funeral for the queen even has an official title: Operation London Bridge. The good news about the game plan needed for this event is that it wasn’t figured out over the past week or ten days since she died. Planning had been going on for 20 years when the queen was already in her late 70s.
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