Summary

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (RBWM) commissioned Blue Lozenge to provide emergency communications capacity for the funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022, the largest ceremonial event in over 70 years. Blue Lozenge rapidly deployed senior communications specialists and tactical experts to provide gold and silver command cover, 24/7 support, media management, and crisis communications planning. The team integrated with central government, the Royal Household, emergency services, and health partners. The support enabled effective public safety messaging for over 100,000 visitors, prevented road gridlock, and allowed the permanent RBWM team to manage sustainable workloads throughout the event.

Supporting the communication effort for the Queen’s funeral

The funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022 represented the largest ceremonial event in over 70 years. The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (RBWM) faced an unprecedented communications challenge that far exceeded their normal capacity. They needed immediate, high-calibre communications expertise to augment their team during this period of exceptional demand, ensuring public safety and preventing overcrowding as over 100,000 visitors converged on Windsor. 

Approach

Blue Lozenge rapidly deployed experienced communications professionals to integrate with and support the RBWM team: 

• Provided senior communications specialists to offer gold and silver command cover 

• Embedded tactical communications experts to handle operational delivery 

• Established 24/7 professional support to maintain continuous communications 

• Supplemented the existing team’s capacity for media management, social media, and public engagement 

• Contributed specialist crisis communications expertise for contingency planning 

Our team seamlessly integrated with multiple partner agencies, including central government, the Royal Household, emergency services and health partners, ensuring coordinated communications across all stakeholders. 

Impact

Our resourcing solution delivered exceptional results: 

• Maintained continuous communications coverage throughout this historic event 

• Prevented system overwhelm despite the extraordinary demands 

• Enabled effective public transport messaging that prevented road gridlock 

• Supported real-time issue management with no significant incidents 

• Allowed the permanent RBWM team to manage sustainable workloads during an intense period 

The flexible resourcing model we provided meant RBWM could rapidly scale their communications capacity to meet this once-in-a-lifetime event, then return to normal operations afterward without the long-term costs of permanent recruitment.