Luthori

[Ligbruderkrieg]

4 years ago; Empress Katherine died at 94 years old and Richard became Emperor.

March 5631

Fort William, Luthori - The death and ascension of a monarch isn't something that is widely seen in Luthori, indeed as the nation's last succession was 39 years ago, with Katherine ascending the Throne after her mother, Empress Audrey abdicated the Throne in her favour. Yet, this piece is meant to remember the memory of one of Luthori's most beloved sovereigns and to commemorate the ascension of Emperor Richard II to the Luthorian and Mordusian thrones, so an detailed account of these days that changed Luthori's royal history will be established here.

On October 23rd, 5627, the Palace notified that the Empress was in "constant medical supervision" after having fell from the stairs on the 20th, nailing the elderly monarch to her chambers within the Orange Palace and requiring the Sovereign to be placed under constant medical supervision to oversee her recovery. Of course, this fall was already known of the public, so the announcement haven't sent shockwaves through medias like it did on the 20th. Although, already then, the Luthorian Prime Minister, Matilda Brakenbrooke and the Prince of Orange, Richard, had both been warned that the monarch's health condition was "quickly deteriorating" and that "Operation Silent Rooster should be placed in high alert level". Operation Silent Rooster is the codename for the operation which tackled the monarch's funeral ceremony and succession proceedings.

At 3.29 PM, Parliament was adjourned in an impromptu manner by the Speaker of the Chamber of Representatives, Betty Graham and at 5.32 PM by the Speaker of the Senate, Lord Abraham. The Palace released a statement confirming fears of many in the Luthorian public, the Empress' health was slowly but surely failing her, yet the tone was optimistic about the chances of the 94-year-old monarch to be able to overcome her fall and be able to resume her duties as monarch in the next few days. The media such as the Luthorian Broadcasting Corporation, Channel 7 and other televised news outlets were given instructions to continue broadcasting their programs as usual, with LBC 3 broadcasting a comedy event hosted by Bryan Cramburn, Channel 7 continuing their broadcast of the Athleticism World Championships and so on.

At 4 o'clock, as the Elswith Tower struck the fourth hour of the afternoon, the LBC Radio broadcast of Thomas Phelby, a criminologist inquiring about a grim and fatal rendezvous of a prostitute with her lover, culminating in both lovebirds' murder was suddenly interrupted by a radio broadcast from the news anchor, Tom Burn (who would later appear on all of LBC's broadcasting channels) to state that Her Majesty's health condition had deteriorated and that the Palace stated that the monarch would "temporarily invest the powers of the monarch upon her grandson", with a Regency Proclamation and a Regency Act, if this situation become permanent (as a long-term regency needs to be approved of by Parliament with the passage of a Regency Bill which is introduced by the Prime Minister).

At 4.12 pm, the Prime Minister was informed in complete secrecy that the monarch had died, according to special archives relating to the Empress' death. Her daughter, Princess and Grand Duchess Victoria, mother of Prince Richard, signed the death certificate stating that her mother's death was caused by a "cardio-vascular accident". Prime Minister Brakenbrooke then informed the entire Cabinet of this development through a secret and unplanned cabinet video meeting. At 4.39 PM, the International Press Corps released a dispatch for all world's newspaper to use.

Fort William (IPC) | 26/10/5627 - 16:39:21 (UTC-8) | Empress Katherine has died at 94 years of age, Orange Palace says.

Immediately after this statement, the LBC, as the state-owned television and radio broadcasting organisation was given the go-ahead by the Imperial Government to announce the demise of the Crown on live television, as per with the provisions of Operation Silent Rooster, all programs broadcasted at any LBC broadcasting networks were instantly interrupted with a live address from Fort William announcing that Her Majesty, the Empress had died peacefully after a 36 year-long reign over her realms of Luthori and Mordusia. Prime Minister Brakenbrooke addressed the nation from 10 Crown Street announcing a state of national mourning in Luthori for the next 2 weeks (until 9/11/5627), during which, for the first few days, all non-essential activities would be suspended. The Bank of Luthori, the Fort William Stock Exchange and financial institutions were closed for the remainder of the day and for the following day.

Prince Richard was, as per with the Succession to the Throne (Amendment) Act, 5625, which included his recognition as the heir to the Luthorian throne and his ascension as Prince of Orange, succeeded his grandmother as Emperor. The Emperor's reigning name choice was communicated at 5:04 pm, as it'll be known that the Emperor chose to continue carrying his birth name, Richard as Sovereign, becoming Emperor Richard II.

While respecting imperial traditions about the monarch's name, Prince Richard also broke with a taboo existing within the Luthorian monarchy ever since the death of Richard I, the legendary Emperor who disappeared while reigning, early modern sources state that the Emperor went upon a "noble crusade", although modern historians tend to debate this point of view, pointing out that crusades were not the norm during the 22nd century.

After the proclamation of the mourning period, the late monarch's coffin was laid-in-state at the Orange Palace, remaining there for the next five days before being transferred to Darlington Hall, where a public lying-in-state ceremony would be held for the following 8 days after the monarch's demise. The Emperor, who was remaining in his residence of Hebergton Palace went immediately to the Orange Palace to mourn the death of his grandmother. He met the Prime Minister, Matilda Brakenbrooke, at 6:24 pm and for a 30-minute long audience before she left at 7 pm.

Emperor Richard addressed the nation at 8 pm, where he expressed his "sorrow" and "sadness" at his grandmother's passing, praising her "diligent" service towards the Realm and vowed that his life, as was his grandmother's and great-grandmother's lives will be dedicated at the "service of the Empire and of its many peoples", the monarch's address to the nation was overall well received by the public, with polls stating that Emperor Richard was, at that time, sitting at an 89 % popularity rate. The Emperor, immediately after his speech, attended a church service at the St-Richard Cathedral, alongside members of the Imperial Family.

A few days after the death of Empress Katherine, her coffin was laid-in-state at Darlington Palace's Darlington Hall, where for the next 5 days, the coffin would be available for mourners to mourn the deceased monarch. According to the Fort William Police Department and the Government, over 180.000 people paid their respects to the Empress at Darlington Hall with the waiting line being filled by people during the five days of the event. Foreign representatives and stars were also perceived paying their respects, alongside parliamentary members or Cabinet ministers. The Orange Palace sent out invitations to every state with whom Luthori conducts diplomatic relations to send a representatives to Katherine's funeral, with the notable exception of Legionary Kundrati and Rutania, with whom Luthori broke diplomatic relations ever since their embracement of fascist ideology.

Notable foreign representatives that were present at the Empress' funeral were mostly royal figures, such as the King of Egelion, the King and Kaiser of Dorvik, the Hutorian Prince of Adelia, reprsenting his father and finally, Istalian Crown Prince, representing the Emperor. Alongside these, the Davostager President, Kundrati President, Xsampan Premier and Beluzian President were also present, alongside an envoy of the Emperor of Kalistan. The Mordusian Prime Minister and Governor-General were also present as well.