THREE of the UK’s largest pub, bar and restaurant chains have announced their venues will stay open for the Queen’s funeral on Monday.
The longest-reigning British monarch died on Thursday aged 96.
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Her majesty’s state funeral has been declared a bank holiday by King Charles and a number of retailers and businesses have already decided they’ll close their doors.
But the Stonegate Group has said it’s pubs, bars and venues will remain open so members of the public can watch the funeral “where possible”.
A group spokesperson said: “The passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is a momentous and sombre occasion.
“We send our deepest condolences to the Royal Family at this sad time.
“Our Managed pubs, bars and venues remain open and, where possible, will show the funeral on Monday 19 September to honour her life and service.”
The spokesperson added across the groups Leased and Tenanted estate its pub partners would make their own decision on staying open.
Meanwhile, Greene King, which runs 2600 pubs in the UK, said the majority of its venues will stay open.
A company spokesperson said: “Our pubs are a place for communities to come together, so all of our pubs in central London and most of those with televisions across the country will be open throughout Monday showing HM Queen Elizabeth’s funeral service.
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“For those pubs and restaurants that don’t have televisions, such as our casual dining venues, we’ll be opening after the service.
“Customers are advised to contact their local pub to confirm opening times as these could be subject to change.”
Mitchell and Butler, which runs a number of pubs, restaurants and bars, including Harvester, All Bar One and O’Neill’s, said all its venues will stay open on Monday and showing the funeral “where possible”.
Customers are urged to check their local pub or restaurant for opening times.
It comes after a number of retailers said they would be closing their doors next Monday.
Tesco is to closes all of its large stores so staff can pay their respects.
The supermarket giant said its express stores will be open until 5pm except for a small number of express stores in Central London and Windsor that will be open throughout the day.
Asda is closing all its stores from midnight on Sunday, September 18, to 5pm on Monday.
Meanwhile, Aldi, Lidl, Co-op, Morrisons and Iceland have all announced at least partial closures.
A number of clothes stores said they would close as well, including Zara, Next, Primark and Poundland.
The Queen’s funeral is to be held at Westminster Abbey from 11am on Monday.
Heads of state, prime ministers and presidents and key world figures from public life are expected to be there.
The event will see a procession take place seeing the Queen’s body taken from the Palace of Westminster to Westminster Abbey, where the funeral will be held.
This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk
