Office Of His Excellency The Governor-General and Staff Procedures to Follow at The Demise of The Sovereign

The following is Jamaica’s plans for observance after the Sovereign’s Demise. They are based on outlined recommendations from Buckingham Palace.
Announcement

• The announcement of demise will be made from Royal Communications, Buckingham Palace, through the Press Association and on the Royal Family website www.royal.uk. If The Queen dies during the night, the announcement will not be made until 8 a.m. on the BBC. An announcement will be sent to The Governor-General by way of a Message to all Governors-General, Governors and Lieutenants Governors. The Message will state the time and place of demise, and the arrangements for mourning.

• The Governor-General will advise the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition of The Sovereign’s demise.

• The Governor-General’s Secretary will request the Press Secretary to dispatch a News Release announcing The Sovereign’s demise. The News Release will be posted simultaneously on the King’s House website and sent to the Jamaica Information Service (JIS) for dissemination to the media. The Release will also be sent to the Communication Unit at the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) for onward transmission to Members of the Cabinet, Government Ministries, Agencies and Departments, and posting on the OPM website.

The date and time will be given in local time and London time.

Letters of Condolence

• The Governor General will send a personal letter of condolence to Buckingham Palace on behalf of the People of Jamaica.

• The Prime Minister will send a letter of condolence to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on behalf of the Government and People of Jamaica.
Mourning

• A period of National Mourning and a Day of National Mourning will be declared by the Government. The period of National Mourning will be from the day of The Sovereign’s demise to the day of the funeral, inclusive. The Day of National Mourning will be the day of the funeral.

• At dusk on the day of demise, the flood lights at King’s House will be extinguished. They will remain unlit until sunset on the day of the funeral.

Flags

• The Jamaican Flag, The Governor-General’s Distinguishing Flag and Flags of uniformed groups will be flown at half-mast from the day of death until sunset on the day after the funeral, but will fly at full mast from the time of the Proclamation of His Majesty The King until 1:00pm the day following the Proclamation.

• The flag of a foreign nation must never be flown at half-mast on Jamaican soil unless that country has declared mourning. Foreign countries that wish to fly their flags at half-mast will indicate this to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade (MFAFT).

Bells

• On the day of demise, the bells of parish churches will toll for one hour, or depending on the time of death, on the day of demise at 6:00 p.m. (Local time). At other churches, bells may toll at the same times at local discretion.

Gun Salutes

• A gun salute – one round for each year of The Queen’s life, at 10-second intervals will be at Up Park Camp on the day of the funeral.

State Funeral/Memorial Service

It is expected that the Governor-General and the Prime Minister will be present at the State Funeral at Westminster Abbey. The funeral service will take place on Monday 19th September 2022. When the Governor-General returns to the island, memorial services will be held in all parish capitals. The official service will be held at the St. Andrew Parish Church and will be headed by the Governor-General, and the Prime Minister. The services in the parishes will be headed by the Custodes and Mayors.

Condolence Books

• Condolence Books will be opened at King’s House and all parish capitals.

• The procedure for signing the Condolence Books at King’s House is as follows:

 Day 1 (Saturday, 10 September, 2022): The Governor-General signs the book at 10:00am local time.

 Day 2-3 (Sunday, 11 September – Monday, 12 September, 2022): The Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, members of the Cabinet, President of the Senate, Speaker of the House, former Governors-General, former Prime Ministers, members of the Senate, Members of the Houses of Parliament, the Judiciary: The Chief Justice, members of the Supreme Court, Parish Judges, Director of Public Prosecution, Public Defender and Ombudsman.

 Day 4-5 (Tuesday, 13 September – Wednesday, 14 September, 2022): The Dean and members of the Diplomatic Corps, Members of the Royal Victorian Order, Jamaicans who have received British Honours and Awards, Heads of International Organizations (MFAFT is to advise the various missions and organizations).

 Day 6-7 (Thursday, 15 September – Friday, 16 September, 2022): The Clergy, Heads of religious denominations, other officials of Government, including heads of statutory bodies, former Government officials, heads of political parties, heads of civil society organizations.

 Days 8-11 (Saturday, 17 September – Tuesday, 20 September, 2022): Other persons as listed on the Table of Precedence and State Officials.

• After the funeral, The Governor-General will arrange for transmission of the Condolence Book at King’s House to Buckingham Palace along with commemorative publications. The Condolence Books from the parishes will be stored at King’s House. The Custodes are to submit these books to King’s House after the signing is complete.

Proclamation of Accession

• The Proclamation of the new Sovereign will be made on the first day (Saturday 10th September 2022 at 10:00am UK Time) after the demise of the Queen.

• The Accession Council will be attended by the Privy Councillors, Lords, the Lord Mayor of the City of London and High Commissioners of certain Commonwealth countries, and other invited dignitaries.

• Jamaica’s High Commissioner will attend the meeting of the Council on this occasion for the reading of the Proclamation and the 21-gun salute announcing the Proclamation.

• Prince Charles will become the Sovereign from the moment of The Queen’s demise. At the Council, the new Sovereign will swear loyalty to Parliament and to the Church of England.

• The Governor-General will send a letter of congratulation to the new Sovereign.

Media & Communication

• King’s House will send dispatches to the JIS, who will in turn relay to the media regarding various arrangements for the period of mourning and the funeral.

• Radio and television broadcast programming will be made by JIS in consultation with the Broadcasting Commission and heads of media houses regarding appropriate adjustment in programming after the announcement of the demise, during the period of mourning, and the day of the funeral, which will be the day of National Mourning.

• Places of Amusements may elect to scale down activities during the period of mourning, and may even wish to curtail activity on the day of National Mourning.

• The Office of the Director of State Protocol, OPM will arrange for copies of this document to be circulated to relevant persons at the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), and other uniformed groups and organizations.

Holiday

• The Government will make a decision on whether the day of the funeral will be a national holiday.

Dress

• Uniform personnel will wear black arm bands during the period of National Mourning.

• Staff at King’s House will be expected to wear clothing of neutral, sober colours such as black, white, purple, grey and navy.