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Everything that will be closed or cancelled following the death of the Queen

Sports schedules, train strikes and TV broadcasting are all affected

Ella Doyle
Written by
Ella Doyle
Written by
F Bakar
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Queen Elizabeth II has died after 70 years on the throne. She was our longest-serving monarch, and has been succeeded by her son, who is now King Charles III. We have therefore entered into a period of 12 days of mourning, and her funeral will take place on Monday September 19. There will be an official bank holiday on that date, and in the meantime, everyday life may look quite different, as events are being cancelled across the UK. Here is everything that has been delayed, closed or cancelled so far.

Shops 

Shops and businesses are allowed to stay open following the death of the Queen, but it is down to individual stores’ discretion whether to close while in mourning. Selfridges and Liberty are two retailers that were closed in the immediate aftermath of the Queen's death.

While there is no obligation for shops to close during the period of mourning, some are not pushing promotions or playing music in their stores.

Supermarkets

It is also down to individual supermarkets’ discretion whether or not to close following the news, but generally they have remained open. Tesco, Lidl and Iceland have all tweeted their sympathies but remained open. 

Waitrose has said it will be closed during the Queen's funeral. 

Football 

English football matches have been postponed. This includes all Premier League and EFL games. It has been suggested that games may be suspended until October, though this is yet to be confirmed. 

An EFL statement read: ‘Further to discussions on Friday morning it has been determined that all EFL fixtures from 9-10 September will be postponed as a mark of respect by the National Sport to the passing of HRH Queen Elizabeth II.’

Other sports

Immediately following the news, the BMW PGA Championship golf event at Wentworth and the ECB test match between England and South Africa at the Oval were both immediately suspended. Horse-riding was also suspended. 

Some sporting events resumed over the weekend. 

Parkrun also announced some closures during the period of mourning.

Train strikes

Strikes planned across the UK have been suspended in light of the Queen’s death. Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union had announced they would strike between September 15 and 16 over job conditions and pay.

General secretary Mick Lynch said: ‘The RMT joins the whole nation in paying its respects to Queen Elizabeth. The planned railway strike action on September 15 and 17 is suspended. We express our deepest condolences to her family, friends and the country.’

TV 

There is no obligation for independent channels (like ITV) to change their broadcasting, but it’s looking likely that the big ones will anyway. ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 have already suspended usual programming, and the BBC is continuing to broadcast rolling news coverage on BBC One and BBC Two.  

National Television Awards, which were set to take place on 15 September, will now be delayed to 13 October.

TV favourites Strictly Come Dancing (Sept 17), Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK (Sept 22) and The Great British Bake Off (Sept 13) could well be delayed over the coming weeks. Any political satire on the BBC will be delayed, including programmes like Mock the Week and Have I Got News For You. Comedic sitcoms may continue to be broadcast. 

Theatre

Officials from the Theatre Industry confirmed that scheduled performances will go ahead, but some will include the national anthem and books of condolences.

Eleanor Lloyd, President of Society of London Theatre, said: ‘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.’

Awards 

The Mercury Prize awards were postponed while audience members were already sat in their seats in London at the Eventim Apollo last week. A message on the screen said: ‘In light of the sad news of the passing of Her Majesty the Queen. We are sorry to announce that we will not be proceeding with this evening’s event as planned.’

Festivals

Pub in the Park went ahead with its event in St Albans, with a memorial where attendees could pay tribute however its Brighton event has been postponed until May 2023. 

BBC Radio 2 Live, which was to be held in Leeds on September 17 and 18 has been cancelled as a mark of respect for the Queen. Acts scheduled to perform included the Kaiser Chiefs and Robbie Williams.

Hackney Carnival in east London did not go ahead on Sunday, to observe the national period of mourning, the borough's council announced.

Read more: what will happen to coins, stamps and passports now the Queen has died?

Plus: will there be a bank holiday to mark the death of the Queen?

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