Life isn’t going to be the same for a while
The Queen’s passing on Thursday plunged Britain into 10-days of mourning, and with that comes a number of closures and cancellations that will impact our day to day lives.
With Operation London Bridge now in effect, events, shops and television schedules will all be impacted in the coming days. And on the day of her funeral, most businesses will be shut or change their opening hours.
These are the changes that are known about so far:
Shops and the economy
The day of the Queen’s funeral will be a Day of National Mourning, but employers will not be compelled to give staff a day off.
Unless it falls on the weekend, there will be a national bank holiday, following church services and memorial services across the UK, The Mirror reports.
Most people should therefore get time off from work on the day and shops will either close or reduce their hours and banks will shut.
The London Stock Exchange will be closed for at least the day of the Queen’s funeral and possibly for several days after – which could potentially cost the economy billions, the newspaper suggested.
Football
According to Operation London Bridge, all sporting fixtures looked set to be cancelled on the Day of National Mourning, and shortly before lunchtime Friday, that was confirmed.
The Premier League announced at 11.30am that as “a mark of respect” this weekend’s matches will be postponed. EFL fixtures were also postponed after guidance from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
As a mark of respect to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, this weekend’s Premier League match round will be postponed.
— Premier League (@premierleague) September 9, 2022
Official guidance was publicly released shortly after the meeting held by DCMS on Friday morning. It made clear there was no obligation to postpone matches during the official mourning period, but said that sports may choose to switch the timings of games on the day of her funeral.
A final decision as to whether this weekend’s fixtures should be postponed was left with the game’s organisers.
“The decision as to whether sporting fixtures continue to go ahead is at the discretion of organisers,” a DCMS statement read.
“Organisers may wish to consider using black armbands and observing a silence before matches are played.”
All football leagues matches which were due to take place on the day of Diana’s funeral on 6 September 1997 were moved to the Friday before or the following Sunday. Due to international fixtures, there was no need to move Premier League matches.
European games involving British teams went ahead as scheduled on Thursday night. Arsenal, who were playing a Europa League game away in Zurich when the news was confirmed, held a minute’s silence at half-time.
United released a statement shortly after the news broke, which read: “Manchester United shares the sorrow of the entire nation following the announcement from Buckingham Palace on the passing of Her Majesty, The Queen.
“The club recognises her immense contribution to public life, including sport, both here in the United Kingdom, across the Commonwealth, and around the world.
“Everyone connected with Manchester United joins the wider football family in sending our deepest condolences and heartfelt sympathy to The Royal Family.”
Arsenal were in Europa League action in Switzerland against FC Zurich when the news broke at half-time, so held a moment’s silence before the match resumed.
The club tweeted: “We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Her Majesty The Queen. Along with many of our supporters today, we will be taking time to mourn and reflect on Her Majesty’s incredible life and devoted service.”
All 20 Premier League clubs have paid tribute to Her Majesty.
Cricket
Cricket, has taken a more hardline approach, with Friday’s test match between England and South Africa cancelled, but no decision has been made about the remaining three days of play.
In a statement, the ECB said: “Following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Friday’s play between England and South Africa Men at The Oval, along with all scheduled matches in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, will not take place. For fixtures beyond Friday, updates will be provided in due course.”
New ECB chair Richard Thompson added: “I’m sure I speak for everyone in the game when I say how truly sad I am to hear of the Queen’s passing. Her Majesty has been such a great supporter of the game and was always so vocal of her and her late husband’s enjoyment around the sport.
“Her dedication to her country will never be forgotten. For her service and her selflessness over her extraordinary reign, we owe her a debt that can never be repaid.”
Other sports
The BMW PGA Championship golf event at Wentworth was immediately suspended and Friday’s play cancelled.
Thursday evening’s Premiership Rugby Cup clash between Northampton Saints and Saracens was called off, while a decision will need to be made on the Gallagher Premiership season that was set to get underway this weekend.
Huddersfield are scheduled to face Salford on Saturday in the Super League play-offs.
Friday’s horse racing meetings in the UK have been cancelled and cycling’s Tour of Britain has been suspended.
The F1 Italian Grand Prix at Monza will go ahead with a minute’s silence in honour of the Queen.
Boxing promoter BOXXER were also weighing up whether or not to cancel their historic all-female show at London’s O2 on Friday night featuring Savannah Marshall’s clash with Claressa Shields for the women’s undisputed world middleweight title.
Theatre
Theatres across the country will continue, but lights will be dimmed and a minute’s silence, observed.
They will also be playing the national anthem and opening books of condolences prior to performances as mark of their respect to the Queen.
A statement from Society of London Theatre (SOLT) and UK Theatre said they were “deeply saddened” by the news of the Queen’s death.
“The theatre industry is thankful for all the support and patronage Her Majesty has shown throughout her lifetime. We would like to convey our deepest sympathy to the Royal Family at this time of national mourning,” a message from Stephanie Sirr and Jon Gilchrist, joint Presidents of UK Theatre and Eleanor Lloyd, President of SOLT, reads:
They added that, in accordance with advice from the DCMS, scheduled theatre performances will go ahead tonight and during the official period of mourning.
Television
The Queen’s death took over a lot of air-time on Thursday on both the BBC and ITV and will continue to dominate screens on Friday.
When the palace broke the news that the Queen was under “medical supervision”, the BBC cut-away from its regular programming for several hours. It also suspended all comedy programming during the 12-day period of national mourning.
Other channels are not required to interrupt regular scheduling, but many have decided they will to honour the monarch. From 5pm onwards, ITV interrupted their usual shows for an ITV News Special on the Queen – meaning Emmerdale was scrapped.
They also announced daytime TV and soaps will be axed on Friday for special coverage.
Channel 4 also cancelled their scheduled programming, including Katie Price’s documentary, and replaced it with extended news coverage.
Strikes
A number of planned strikes have been cancelled, including Friday’s industrial action by Royal Mail workers.
Members of the Communication Workers Union were due to continue a 48-hour walkout in a dispute over pay and conditions, but it has now been called off after the Queen’s passing.
General secretary Dave Ward said: “Following the very sad news of the passing of the Queen and out of respect for her service to the country and her family, the union has decided to call off tomorrow’s planned strike action.”
Within hours of the Queen’s death the RMT union announced it was calling off planned walkouts on September 15th and 17th as the nation pays its respect to its longest-reigning monarch.
Transport union TSSA is cancelling planned industrial action for September. Avanti West Coast members had been due to strike for three days in a row from September 15-17.
While TSSA members at nine train operating companies and Network Rail were also due to walk out from midday on Monday 26 until midday Tuesday 27 September.
Related links:
- Mick Lynch calls off rail strikes out of respect for the Queen
- EFL confirm postponement of Friday fixtures after death of Queen Elizabeth II
- Arsenal hold half-time minute’s silence after news of Queen’s death
- Huw Edwards holds back tears after announcing Queen’s passing on BBC
- Tributes pour in for Queen Elizabeth II after she dies aged 96
