Royal Websites Were Ready For Queen Elizabeth’s Death

The royal family hasn’t exactly been on the cutting edge on the latest developments in tech, at least on their public facing side. Instead of coming in her own carriage to celebrate her full 70 years of rule in June, Elizabeth instead stuck a video clip of a 1953 movie in her place. Prince Charles talked up the need for more clean-running cars and ethically-sourced fuel by promoting his Aston Martin that runs on surplus wine and whey from cheese.

So this sense of trying to combine the stiff-upper-lipped staidness of British aristocracy with modern technology often feels anachronistic at the best of times. The tweets haven’t taken long to drop out as well. Charles, whose head has not even been given the chance the stretch the royal crowns rim, put out a statement via the royal family Twitter.

But even still, the news of the queens’ demise travelled incredibly fast. The Wikipedia pages for both the passed queen and new king were updated within the hour of the monarchy’s official notice. The baristas behind the bar of a Starbucks off the side of the highway in the middle of Long Island rattled off about the news even as this article was being typed.

But with all of this planned well in advance, and with days of mourning and funerals already incoming, we can expect this “London Bridge” internet graveyard to be around for many days to come.