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British ministers have taken charge of plans for the days following the Queen’s death for the first time. They led a secret Whitehall exercise last week to prepare for 10 days of national mourning, The Times reports.

David Lidington, Theresa May’s deputy, chaired an extensive meeting on Thursday that also included the home secretary, Sajid Javid; Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the Commons; and the Scottish secretary, David Mundell.

The exercise, dubbed “Castle Dove”, focused on “D+1”, the day after the Queen’s death, with ministers deciding when the prime minister would make public statements.

The exercise was not prompted by specific concerns about the Queen’s health, but it came in a week that the 92-year-old monarch missed a service at St Paul’s Cathedral because she was unwell.

Civil servants are “constantly” updating the plan, known as “London Bridge”, but a Whitehall official admitted the scale of the exercise was “unprecedented”. “This is the first time different ministers have come together in one room,” the source said. “Previously it has only been officials.”

A cabinet minister added: “Things have clearly been stepped up because of the ageing process.”

The exercise took place in the Cabinet Office room where the Cobra emergency committee meets, with political aides banned to prevent leaks. Ministers studied plans for 600 members of the privy council to assemble at Buckingham Palace to rubber-stamp the accession of the new king.

The Queen’s body would then lie in state for five days in Westminster Hall. The plan will see the new king pay early visits to Scotland and Wales to show they are an integral part of his realm. Representatives of the devolved administrations took part in the exercise.