Covering The Death Of The Queen's Been All-Consuming

Just over a week ago (though if that feels like another era, it was) a colleague held a leaving do at the Yorkshire Grey pub in Farringdon.

- Cathy Newman

I was about to leave when I was shown a text that sent me into a panic. It suggested the Queen was close to the end of her life, and we'd better get ready for one of the biggest news stories in living memory.

My first thought was whether I could lay my hands on the laminated crib sheets that were set aside for this eventuality. Having established their whereabouts, I went home, safe in the knowledge that most previous tip-offs about Operation London Bridge had proved premature.

The next morning, Thursday, as we all got our heads around the new prime minister’s energy policy, it very soon became apparent that one of the biggest economic interventions in peacetime Britain would only form part of our news bulletin that night. The ominous statement from Buckingham Palace that the Queen was under “medical supervision” prompted an immediate change to the Channel 4 News running order and wardrobe change too, from bright fuchsia to a sober navy.