Will pubs and shops be open on the Queen’s funeral bank holiday?

The funeral of Queen Elizabeth II will take place on Monday 19 September, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.

The funeral is traditionally held 10 days after the monarch’s death, but because the Queen died on 8 September and 18 September falls on a Sunday, the funeral will be held on the Monday instead.

The monarch, who reigned for 70 years on the throne, died at Balmoral Castle on 8 September, aged 96. Following Her Majesty’s death, Prince Charles’ title changed to King Charles III, while his wife, Camilla, took the name of Queen Consort.

The government also confirmed that the day of the Queen’s funeral will also be a national bank holiday.

A statement on gov.uk read: “Monday 19 September, the date of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s State Funeral, will be a national bank holiday.

“This will allow individuals, businesses and other organisations to pay their respects to Her Majesty and commemorate Her reign, while marking the final day of the period of national mourning.

“This bank holiday will operate in the same way as other bank holidays, and there is no statutory entitlement to time off. Employers may include bank holidays as part of a worker’s leave entitlement.

“The bank holiday will take place across the United Kingdom.”

There will also be a national two minutes of silence held across the UK at midday on Monday 19 September.

So what does this mean for the opening hours of shops and pub across the UK?

Will pubs be open on the day of the Queen’s funeral?

While some pubs and restaurants closed for 24 hours following the Queen’s death last week, it is again up to them whether they choose to shut their doors on the bank holiday.

It is expected that many pubs will stay open to allow mourners to gather and raise a pint to the late monarch.

Will shops and supermarkets be open on the day of the Queen’s funeral?

While the government has said that there is “no obligation to suspend business” during the national mourning period, it adds that some businesses “may wish to consider closing or postponing events, especially on the day of the state funeral”, stating that this would be “at the discretion of individual businesses”.

Retailers that have announced their plans to close on Monday 19 September include:

Sainsbury’s

Tesco

Aldi

Lidl

Marks & Spencer

Waitrose

John Lewis

Argos

Primark

Ikea

Poundland

Some smaller branches have restricted opening hours - see here for further details of shops affected by next week’s bank holiday.

Follow the latest updates as the world pays tribute to Queen Elizabeth II