What happens now that the Queen has died

With the death of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, every detail of the next fortnight has been planned and rehearsed to the finest detail – and was even signed off by the monarch herself.

There have been regular meetings for decades between the many agencies involved, from central and local government departments to military and religious authorities and representatives of the other 14 countries where she was also head of state.

The Union Flag will be lowered on public buildings across the United Kingdom. The Royal Standard, which is the monarch’s personal flag, is never lowered because the monarch never dies.

While many of the specifics are yet to be released, here’s what we know right now.

King Charles III

Prince Charles automatically became King upon the death of his mother. He will be known as King Charles III.

He is now head of state not just in the UK but in 14 other Commonwealth realms including Australia and Canada. He will also become head of the 56-member Commonwealth, although that is not a hereditary position, after his succession to the role was agreed by Commonwealth leaders at a meeting in London in 2018.

He has become head of the British Armed Forces, the judiciary and the civil service, and he is the Supreme Governor of the Church of England. He is the Fount of Honour, which means all honors, such as knighthoods, will now be given in his name.

Charles, the Prince of Wales, poses for an official portrait in November 2008. He became King after the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.

Charles was born at Buckingham Palace in London on November 14, 1948. His mother was Princess Elizabeth at the time.

Princess Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Philip, sit on a lawn with their children Prince Charles and Princess Anne in August 1951.

Charles attends his mother's coronation in 1953 with his grandmother, left, and his aunt Margaret.

Charles, right, shakes hands with Sir Gerald Creasy, the governor of Malta, as he and the rest of the royal family visit Malta in May 1954.

Charles rides with his mother and grandmother as they travel to Westminster Abbey for the wedding of Princess Margaret in May 1960.

Charles prepares for takeoff during a flying lesson in 1968. In 1971, he earned his wings as a jet pilot and joined the Royal Navy.

Queen Elizabeth II presents Charles to the people of Wales after his investiture as the Prince of Wales in July 1969.

Charles walks at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1970. He was the first royal heir to earn a university degree.

Charles, left, rides go-carts with his brother Prince Edward and his sister, Princess Anne, circa 1969.

Charles meets US President Richard Nixon during a private visit to Washington in July 1970.

Charles attends a conference with his father in November 1970.

Charles goes on a safari in Kenya in February 1971.

Charles prepares to fire a bazooka while visiting military barracks in West Berlin in October 1972.

Charles fishes with a wooden spear circa 1975.

Charles poses for sculptor David McFall in December 1975.

Charles smokes a peace pipe during a visit to Canada in July 1977.

Charles rides a horse during an equestrian event in Cirencester, England, in April 1978.

Charles, as colonel-in-chief, visits the Cheshire Regiment in Canterbury, England, in November 1978. He served in the Royal Navy from 1971 to 1976, and in 2012 his mother appointed him honorary five-star ranks in the navy, army and air force.

Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles are seen together circa 1979. They dated in the 70s and would eventually marry in 2005. It was the second marriage for both. Their first marriages ended in divorce.

Charles poses outside the Taj Mahal in India in 1980.

Charles kisses his first wife, Lady Diana Spencer, on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in July 1981. Their wedding ceremony was televised.

Charles and Princess Diana leave a London hospital with their first child, William, in July 1982.

Charles and Diana dance together at a formal event.

Charles shares a playful pie in the face while visiting a community center in Manchester, England, in December 1983.

Charles walks with natives on a visit to Papua New Guinea in 1984.

Charles and Diana sit together in Toronto during a royal tour in October 1991. A year later, they were separated. Charles' affair with Camilla Parker-Bowles became public in 1993.

Charles, Diana and their two sons, William and Harry, gather for V-J Day commemorations in London in August 1995. The couple divorced one year later.

Charles visits a mosque in London in March 1996.

South African President Nelson Mandela talks with Prince Charles in London in July 1996.

Charles poses with the Spice Girls in 1997.

Charles and his sons spend time together at the Balmoral Castle estate in Balmoral, Scotland, in August 1997.

Charles, second from right, and Princess Diana's two sisters meet in Paris after Diana was killed in a car crash there in August 1997. She was 36 years old.

Charles and his sons follow Diana's hearse in London in September 1997.

Charles stands beside his grandmother's coffin while it lies in state at Westminster Hall in London in April 2002.

Charles carries a specially painted football through the streets of Ashbourne, England, in March 2003.

Charles watches a parachute regiment during a D-Day re-enactment in Ranville, France, in June 2004.

Charles married Camilla Parker-Bowles in April 2005.

Queen Elizabeth II presents Charles with the Royal Horticultural Society's Victoria Medal of Honor during a visit to the Chelsea Flower Show in London in May 2009.

Charles and Camilla were on their way to a performance at the London Palladium when their car was attacked by angry student protesters in December 2010. The students were protesting a hike in tuition fees.

Charles and Queen Elizabeth II were among those on the Buckingham Palace balcony after Prince William wed Kate Middleton in April 2011.

Charles reads the weather while touring BBC Scotland's headquarters in May 2012.

Charles meets with US President Barack Obama in the White House Oval Office in March 2015.

Charles and Camilla react as Zephyr, the bald-eagle mascot of the Army Air Corps, flaps his wings at the Sandringham Flower Show in July 2015.

Members of the royal family pose for a photo at Buckingham Palace in December 2016. From left are Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall; Prince Charles; Queen Elizabeth II; Prince Philip; Prince William; and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge.

Charles visits the Italian town of Amatrice in April 2017, after an earthquake had hit.

Charles and Camilla ride on a raft while visiting the island of Borneo in November 2017.

Charles leads three cheers for his mother as the Queen celebrated her 92nd birthday at a London concert in April 2018.

From left, Prince Charles, Prince Andrew, Duchess Camilla and Queen Elizabeth II watch a Royal Air Force flyover in July 2018.

Charles accompanies his future daughter-in-law, Meghan Markle, as she is married to Prince Harry in May 2018.

Charles lays a wreath at the Cenotaph in London to commemorate Remembrance Day in November 2018. It was also the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.

Charles poses with family members for an official portrait to mark his 70th birthday. He's holding his grandson Prince George as Camilla sits next to his granddaughter, Princess Charlotte. In the back row, from left, are his grandson Prince Louis; his daughter-in-law Catherine; his son Prince William; his son Prince Harry; and his daughter-in-law Meghan.

Charles speaks at an event in London in March 2020. Later that month, it was announced that he had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

In pictures: Britain's King Charles III

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Gun salutes and title changes

One of the first formalities to take place will be a meeting of the Accession Council in an ancient ceremony at the 500-year-old St James’s Palace in London. It comes in two parts. In the first part, the sovereign’s death is formally announced, and the new sovereign is proclaimed. This is a closed meeting but attended by hundreds of dignitaries and members of the Privy Council, which is a panel of royal advisors.

The Garter King of Arms will read the Proclamation from the palace balcony and gun salutes will echo across the capital. There will be follow-up proclamations at the Royal Exchange in the financial district and in the capitals of the nations – Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast. Flags will return to full staff whilst the proclamations are made.

The second part of the Accession Council is attended by the King and other senior royals. For the first time in history, we will get to see this centuries-old ritual because it will be broadcast live.

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Prince William is now first in line to the throne and has inherited the title of Duke of Cornwall from his father and the income that comes from it. He’s now independently wealthy and his wife, Kate, has taken the title of Duchess of Cornwall, replacing Camilla who technically becomes Queen. The world will then watch as King Charles III takes a series of oaths and swears allegiance to the Church of Scotland.

Books of condolence will then open at St James’s Palace and at other venues. Following the Accession Council, he will return to Buckingham Palace for meetings with senior politicians and church leaders before retiring.

In the 24 hours after the Queen’s death is announced, there will be gun salutes across London – one round for every year of Elizabeth’s life – and a broadcast by the new King will be played out. A service will be held at St Paul’s Cathedral in the coming days, which won’t be attended by the royal family. It’s a moment for the public to remember their Queen. Expect local services to pop up across the country. The Queen was Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

Over the coming days, the bells of Westminster Abbey, St Pauls and Windsor Castle will toll.

Funeral arrangements

As monarch, Queen Elizabeth is automatically granted a publicly funded state funeral, and details will be released in the coming days. The Queen died at Balmoral Castle, her residence in Scotland, so over the coming days arrangements will be made for her to be transported back to England.

Elizabeth may have approved her own funeral plans, but they can only be signed off by the sitting monarch. King Charles III will perform that duty in a meeting with the Earl Marshal who overseas ceremonial events. We can assume he will give his go-ahead as he has already seen the plans and may have made adjustments as part of the planning process.

The last order of business on the day of death was expected to be a meeting of the Lord Chamberlain’s Committee, which is responsible for the running of the Royal Household, to make sure everything is in place for the next two weeks, including the state funeral in Westminster and interment in Windsor.

BERLIN, GERMANY - JUNE 24: Queen Elizabeth II arrives for the state banquet in her honour at Schloss Bellevue palace on the second of the royal couple's four-day visit to Germany on June 24, 2015 in Berlin, Germany. The Queen and Prince Philip are scheduled to visit Berlin, Frankfurt and the concentration camp memorial at Bergen-Belsen during their trip, which is their first to Germany since 2004. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

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Past monarchs have lain in state in Westminster Hall, the oldest part of the Palace of Westminster, which houses the UK parliament. Their coffin resting on a raised platform in the middle of the hall and guarded around the clock by units from the Sovereign’s Bodyguard, Foot Guards or the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment.

British royal family members who hold high military rank, the consort of the sovereign, and the heir to the throne are normally granted ceremonial royal funerals instead.

Prince Philip, the Queen’s husband of more than 70 years and the longest-serving British consort in history, was given a royal ceremonial funeral at St George’s Chapel in Windsor, west of London, in April 2021. Coronavirus pandemic restrictions meant the congregation was limited to 30 close family members and friends.

Philip was also intimately involved in planning his own funeral service, making sure the ceremony reflected his military affiliations and personal interests. Millions of people watched the televised funeral procession and service from home but crowds were discouraged from gathering at Windsor or other royal residences.

All other members of the royal family, their children and their spouses are usually granted a private royal ceremony.

CNN’s David Wilkinson, Susannah Cullinane, Peter Wilkinson and Laura Smith-Spark contributed to this story.