News
By Joanna Sarah-Freedman
15 Sep 2022
2m
McDonald’s is shutting all its UK restaurants on Monday for the Queen’s funeral.
The fast food giant, which has 1,270 sites in the UK, has announced that it will be shut all day to allow employees to mourn the late monarch.
Branches will be allowed to reopen at 5pm, but this choice will be down to the individual restaurants.
It is expected that the decision will allow around 120,000 employees to mark the momentous day.
All of our UK restaurants will be closed on Monday until 5pm, to allow everyone at McDonald’s to pay their respects to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Operating hours and services may vary after 5pm, so please check our app before travelling. pic.twitter.com/OOws3q8hnb
— McDonald's UK (@McDonaldsUK) September 14, 2022
In a tweet, McDonald’s told customers: “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.”
McDonald’s will also not be available for delivery until 5pm.
Following Queen Elizabeth II’s passing last Thursday (8th September), King Charles declared Monday a public bank holiday so that people could mourn his late mother.
Subsequently, several high street retailers have opted to shut up shop, including the likes of Marks and Spencer, Lidl, Aldi, Iceland and Morrisons.
McDonald’s stores across the UK will be shutting (Credit: Alamy)
Sainsbury’s announced it would be closing its main stores but keeping convenience and petrol stations open from 5pm to 10pm.
Meanwhile, bigger Tesco stores will shut, whilst some smaller Express outlets will open from 5pm, and Waitrose will be shutting all of its stores, too.
Some of the supermarkets near the funeral site will be open so that people nearby can buy food and drink.
The Queen’s funeral will take place on Monday (Credit: Alamy)
After the bank holiday was announced, Downing Street said it would be up to individual businesses to decide if they shut or remained open.
“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,” said a spokesperson for the Prime Minister.
It is expected that The Queen’s funeral will draw tens of thousands of mourners to central London.
The service will be held at Westminster Abbey, starting at 11am, and will also pull in millions of TV viewers.
