McDonald’s to shut UK restaurants for Queen’s funeral | McDonald’s

McDonald’s has said it will shut its UK restaurants as a mark of respect during the day of the Queen’s funeral on Monday.

The fast-food chain, which has 1,300 sites across Britain, said outlets would be allowed to reopen at 5pm.

McDonald’s tweeted: “In honour of HM Queen Elizabeth II, and to enable everyone at McDonald’s to pay their respects, our restaurants across the UK will be closed from midnight until 5pm on Monday 19th September.”

Deliveries will also not be available until after 5pm.

Monday has been made a public bank holiday, and many high street retailers have also announced plans to shut. They include Argos, Asda, B&Q, Curry’s, Harrods, Holland & Barrett, Homebase, Ikea, John Lewis, Lidl, Morrisons, Odeon cinemas, Pets at Home and Primark.

Sainsbury’s will close its main shops but its convenience stores and petrol filling stations will be open from 5pm to 10pm, while some outlets in central London will open to serve people attending the funeral.

Larger Tesco shops will be closed, apart from a few in central London and Windsor, while smaller Express outlets will open at 5pm.

Waitrose is closing all its stores except for a small number near the procession route. WH Smith’s high street branches will be shut all day, while its travel outlets will shut for at least the duration of the funeral.

However, some hospitality firms will continue to operate. The pubs group Stonegate will keep venues open on Monday and plans to show the Queen’s funeral on screens. The Premier Inn owner, Whitbread, also confirmed its hotels and restaurants would open as usual.

Downing Street has indicated that individual businesses can decide on how to approach the bank holiday.

The prime minister’s official spokesperson said on Wednesday that the day of the funeral would operate as a standard bank holiday.

“Individual businesses will need to make the decisions about what is right for them, and discuss with their employees, but there is obviously no one-size-fits-all approach,” he said.