The King has approved an order that the day of the Queen’s funeral will be a bank holiday.
The funeral is to be held on Monday 19 September, at the end of the 10-day period of mourning.
It was previously unclear whether or not there would be a bank holiday for the funeral, which will be the first state funeral held in the UK since 1965. But King Charles made an order for one during his first meeting with the privy council on Saturday.
Charles III confirmed the public holiday during the ceremony – the first to be televised – at which he was officially proclaimed as the new monarch.
The lord president of the council, Penny Mordaunt, said: “Drafts of two proclamations. One – appointing the day of Her late Majesty’s state funeral as a bank holiday in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
“Two – appointing the day of Her late Majesty’s state funeral as a bank holiday in Scotland.
Charles answered: “Approved.”
The government confirmed the day would work in the same way as other bank holidays, and that there would be no statutory entitlement to time off, with employers able to include it as part of a worker’s leave entitlement.
The Department for Business said the announcement did not interfere with existing contractual arrangements between employers and workers, but that they would “expect employers to respond sensitively to requests from workers who wish to take the day of the funeral off work”.
They said schools would be expected to close.
The bank holiday will take place across the United Kingdom.
The original plans for the funeral were for the Queen’s coffin to process on a gun carriage to the abbey, pulled by naval ratings – sailors – using ropes rather than horses.
Senior members of the family are expected to follow behind – just as they did for the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, and the Duke of Edinburgh.
The military will line the streets and also join the procession.
Heads of state, prime ministers and presidents, European royals and key figures from public life will be invited to gather in the abbey, which can hold a congregation of 2,000.
The service will be televised, and a national two minutes’ silence is expected to be held.
The same day as the funeral, the Queen’s coffin will be taken to St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle for a televised committal service. Later in the evening, there will be a private interment service with senior members of the royal family.
The Queen’s final resting place will be the King George VI memorial chapel, an annexe to the main chapel – where her mother and father were buried, along with the ashes of her sister, Princess Margaret.
Prince Philip’s coffin will move from the Royal Vault to the memorial chapel to join the Queen’s.
