I happen to know that the funeral has been in the planning for at least the last three years, with service sheets almost ready to be printed for the last two years or so. Last I heard, the music staff of St Paul's were debating whether to include the whole of Elgar's Cello Concerto before the service, or just part of it - they were down to that level of planning. So, there should be nothing stopping the funeral taking place as soon as is desired by the family/state/etc...
I happen to know that the funeral has been in the planning for at least the last three years, with service sheets almost ready to be printed for the last two years or so. Last I heard, the music staff of St Paul's were debating whether to include the whole of Elgar's Cello Concerto before the service, or just part of it - they were down to that level of planning. So, there should be nothing stopping the funeral taking place as soon as is desired by the family/state/etc...
Yes - there has been quite a few things about it in the press over the last few years...
Oh and as for Robinson's obit - Thatcher would have had obits ready for broadcast for the past thirty years. As has most public figures.
Do the BBC have obits ready for current politicians one wouldn't expect to die any time soon? For example, you wouldn't expect David Cameron or Ed Miliband to pass on, where as someone like Margaret Thatcher has been suffering from health problems for a long time and was clearly getting older. I'd imagine it's far harder to put together a decent obit and provide breaking news coverage for someone like Cameron, especially given the knock-on ramifications of such a death. Would they/ did they have an obit ready for Thatcher before the Brighton bombing, for example?
Oh and as for Robinson's obit - Thatcher would have had obits ready for broadcast for the past thirty years. As has most public figures.
Do the BBC have obits ready for current politicians one wouldn't expect to die any time soon? For example, you wouldn't expect David Cameron or Ed Miliband to pass on, where as someone like Margaret Thatcher has been suffering from health problems for a long time and was clearly getting older. I'd imagine it's far harder to put together a decent obit and provide breaking news coverage for someone like Cameron, especially given the knock-on ramifications of such a death. Would they/ did they have an obit ready for Thatcher before the Brighton bombing, for example?
You've answered your own question - while you wouldn't expect Cameron or Milliband to die suddenly of natural causes people in those kinds of position are potential terrorist targets and thus it's very likely that obits have been prepared.
GM
nodnirG kraM
There'll generally be at least an offline edit or an EDL ready for a piece to be shoved together for most high-level figures. But the works of say Blair or Cameron are recent enough for us not to need a full-scale obituary within minutes.
But there's never a shortage of stock footage such as the loops we're currently seeing of Thatcher waving, Thatcher walking, Thatcher sitting, Thatcher speaking that can keep going for hours and hours in lieu of a proper obit.
