A key Tory Cabinet minister has thrown his weight behind making King Charles’ coronation day a bank holiday.
No date has been confirmed for when that Charles will be crowned at Westminster Abbey, though it is widely expected to be at the start of June next year. Reports suggest it could be around June 2 - 70 years to the day after his mother was crowned.
Charles ascended to the throne immediately after the Queen died on September 8 but the official coronation takes place months later.
This event is expected to be a large-scale celebration. Now Mr Rees Mogg has suggested it could be a bank holiday like it was for when the Queen was crowned.
The Business Secretary - who is responsible for bank holidays - told the Daily Telegraph: "The coronation is an important symbolic act with constitutional resonance about the stability of our system.
"To have a day off for that is perfectly reasonable, and the effect on growth will not be enormous".
Ministers have not yet started formal discussions about whether to make the day a bank holiday. A government source said: “Whenever there’s a decision about a special bank holiday, there’s always a debate about the benefits versus the costs.
“I expect we would start making a decision on it in the next couple of weeks.”
It comes days after Liz Truss launched an attack on the "anti-growth coalition" she claimed was holding back an economic boom.
The cost of extra bank holidays to the economy has long been disputed, but research by big accountancy firms this year suggested it could be £800million.
GDP shrank by 0.6% in June, in a move that was partly put down to an extra one-off bank holiday for Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee.
The short notice, one-off bank holiday to allow workers to watch the Queen’s state funeral sparked a backlash after some NHS appointments were cancelled.
Despite 150,000 people backing a petition, No10 has said there are "no plans" to institute a permanent annual bank holiday in honour of Elizabeth II.
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said any reports on a coronation date is "purely speculation" but June 2 or 3 appear to be the favourite days for it to take place.
The Queen also had her coronation in June. Held in 1953, it was 17 months after the death of King George Vl, and the time of year is popular due to the better weather.
While people are expecting a major celebration, it is also thought that Charles wants a "slimmed down" coronation which might be a shorter, smaller and less expensive affair than when previous rulers were crowned, amid the cost of living crisis.
It “will be shorter, smaller and less expensive” than the Queen’s ceremony in 1953, said a source.
The 73-year-old will look to use the event to launch his vision for a modern monarchy, while staying true to long held traditions of pageantry and pomp.
