Queen Elizabeth II Operation Bridges

Following the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, a massive security operation kicked into placed, code names Operation Bridges. This operation encompassed teams from across the country, and Wise Security Services received the call to assist with “Operation Feather”.

Operation Feather was the process for managing the Queen’s Lying in State, this involved “The Queue” ending at Westminster Palace where the Queen’s laid in her coffin, and starting around 7 miles away in Southwark Park.

Wise Security Services managed The Queue in Victoria Tower Gardens, just to the south of Westminster Palace, and the last section of the queue. Wise Security were also responsible for the security of the park.

Wise Security Operations Manager, Daniel Frost, was personally on site through the 5 days of entry to the Palace and had this to say, “Managing the queue, in the view of Westminster Palace, was something I will never forget. Five long days with unique challenges, but one constant, incredible people who waited and endured to pay their last respects to Queen Elizabeth II. Escorting the first few people in the queue to the Palace was an emotional moment. Our team performed throughout the duration of our stay in Victoria Tower Gardens, and were all so pleased to have served and worked on such a historic event.”

Wise Security Services also received fantastic feedback from clients and public with regards to helping and assisting those who needed it on the last few hours of their historic journey in The Queue. One of those who queued left us some fantastic feedback:

“I would like to say thank you to the amazing team you supplied to assist with the queue to visit Her late Majesty’s coffin at Westminster Palace last week. I had been queuing for 10.5 hours on Friday when I received a message from my blind friend (who had been in the accessible queue) that he would like to visit the HM. At 3.30 pm I asked Joshua in the grounds of Westminster gardens if I could be united with my blind friend to enter the Hall together. Joshua spent the next 30 minutes communicating with his boss and walking with me until I located my blind friend and his dog.” 

After over a quarter for a million people had passed our gates, we move on with a new head of state, King Charles III.