11/11: the British version of 9/11.

Something i asked on my forum (but did not get any responds so far) is as followed:

On November 11th, 2000 during the Festival of Remembrance in the Royal Albert Hall a KLM passenger plane hijacked by al-Qaeda terrorists flies into the Royal Albert Hall killing Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles, Prime Minister Tony Blair, hundreds of people in the Royal Albert Hall and also 88 crew and passengers on board the KLM flight.

On November 17th, the 18-year old Prince William is crowned a few days later as King William V.

On November 20th, in the wake of the November 11th attacks, Prime Minster Gordon Brown deliveres an ultimatum to the Taliban government of Afghanistan, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, to turn over Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda leaders operating in the country or face attack. The Taliban demanded evidence of bin Laden's link to the November 11th attacks attacks and, if such evidence warranted a trial, they offered to handle such a trial in an Islamic Court.The United Kingdom refused to provide any evidence.

On December 7th 2000, British and with support from the United States begin conducting airstrike against enemy targets in Afghanistan.

What would happen next.
 
Interesting scenario-here's what I see happening:

I imagine the airstrikes will be over pretty quickly, with Brown gaining much support amongst the public for his decisiveness (remember in 2007 Brown was perceived as a breath of fresh air and good crisis manager-a post attack scenario, in addition to the Foot and Mouth crisis, will play to those strengths). As a result, I see Labour hanging onto more of the 1997 gains than they did OTL-and being slightly more reforming during the 01/05 parliament, though not by much. I do think this will lead to an earlier 'grudging reconciliation' between New Labour and Red Ken-the Mayer will also win plaudits for his response to the attacks and it may be in Brown's interest to patch things up as soon as possible.

I'm not sure what this does to the 2001 Tory Leadership election-the obvious affect would be to strengthen Portillo's hand (since he's a former defence secretary), though would it lead to him making the final 2?

I imagine for the first couple of years at least, Prince Andrew acts as semi-regent to Will.

I do wonder how the attack will affect things on the other side of the pond-with 9/11 presumably butterflied, Bush's time in office is going to be radically different from OTL. This assumes the election aftermath goes exactly the same as OTL however-with the US's closest Ally having been attacked in this way, it's easy to see that the election ramifications going on indefinitely may be viewed as an unnecessary distraction by many. Also, I imagine this could have an effect on Clinton's legacy somewhat, since he'll still be in office at the time.
 
Interesting scenario-here's what I see happening:

I imagine the airstrikes will be over pretty quickly, with Brown gaining much support amongst the public for his decisiveness (remember in 2007 Brown was perceived as a breath of fresh air and good crisis manager-a post attack scenario, in addition to the Foot and Mouth crisis, will play to those strengths). As a result, I see Labour hanging onto more of the 1997 gains than they did OTL-and being slightly more reforming during the 01/05 parliament, though not by much. I do think this will lead to an earlier 'grudging reconciliation' between New Labour and Red Ken-the Mayer will also win plaudits for his response to the attacks and it may be in Brown's interest to patch things up as soon as possible.

I'm not sure what this does to the 2001 Tory Leadership election-the obvious affect would be to strengthen Portillo's hand (since he's a former defence secretary), though would it lead to him making the final 2?

I imagine for the first couple of years at least, Prince Andrew acts as semi-regent to Will.

I do wonder how the attack will affect things on the other side of the pond-with 9/11 presumably butterflied, Bush's time in office is going to be radically different from OTL. This assumes the election aftermath goes exactly the same as OTL however-with the US's closest Ally having been attacked in this way, it's easy to see that the election ramifications going on indefinitely may be viewed as an unnecessary distraction by many. Also, I imagine this could have an effect on Clinton's legacy somewhat, since he'll still be in office at the time.
It is worth noting that the Tories made a net gain of 1 seat in the 2001 General Election. Labour lost only five, and that was mainly accounted for by the Lib Dems. What you would more likely be looking at is Labour winning an even greater majority than in 1997, as Brown would be massively popular at this point, even more so than Blair. The Lib Dem vote would likely drop, as they would have been perceived too be soft when it comes to foreign policy, even if they responded by backing all of the resulting measures from the government.
As for the Tories, I wonder if Hague would not be killed too, given that this seems like the kind of state function the leader of the opposition generally attends. Portillo is probably the most likely successor, it shouldnt be too difficult to get him into the final round against Clarke, after all, he was only a single vote off in OTL.
 
How does Holland respond? After all, it was one of their planes that was used in the attack, and a lot of Dutch citizens would obviously be among the casualties.
 
How does Holland respond? After all, it was one of their planes that was used in the attack, and a lot of Dutch citizens would obviously be among the casualties.

They would join the British lead collation most likely, this is the worst terrorist attacked ever for the Netherlands.
 
One quick note - you aren't going to have a rapid coronation, these things take time to set up and the British would want to get it right. Elizabeth II was crowned 16 months after ascending to the throne, George VI 5 months, Edward VIII was King for almost a year without being crowned, and George V was crowned 13 months after ascending to the throne. William was automatically King from the instant that his Father and Grandmother died, the Coronation is all about calling the blessings of God on the new King and making a big song and dance about the fact he's now in charge, rather than formally handing power over to him.
 
One quick note - you aren't going to have a rapid coronation, these things take time to set up and the British would want to get it right. Elizabeth II was crowned 16 months after ascending to the throne, George VI 5 months, Edward VIII was King for almost a year without being crowned, and George V was crowned 13 months after ascending to the throne. William was automatically King from the instant that his Father and Grandmother died, the Coronation is all about calling the blessings of God on the new King and making a big song and dance about the fact he's now in charge, rather than formally handing power over to him.

So he will most likley crown king after the morning period and funerals are over.
 
So he will most likley crown king after the morning period and funerals are over.
Yep, sometime in 2001 or 2002 (they'll do it in the summer for the good weather, so summer 2002 to give them time to prepare - July or August after the World Cup is over).
 
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