A McDonald’s restaurant
(Picture: PA Archive)McDonald’s has said it will close all of its UK restaurants on Monday, the day of the Queen’s funeral, as a mark of respect.
The fast food chain, which has more than 1,200 outlets in the UK, said all of its restaurants would be shut until 5pm on September 19.
Greggs, the bakery chain, said it would also close the vast majority of its more than 2,000 shops nationwide.
The day has been designated as a bank holiday to allow as many people to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth as possible.
However, there is no requirement for businesses to close, with that decision being left up to individual companies.
In a statement, McDonald’s UK said: “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.”
To give our colleagues the opportunity to pay their respects to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Greggs shops will be closed on Monday 19th September.
— Greggs (@GreggsOfficial) September 14, 2022
A small number of our shops, operated by our franchise partners, may remain open.
Thanks for your understanding.
In a statement, Greggs said: “To give our colleagues the opportunity to pay their respects to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Greggs shops will be closed on Monday 19th September.”
McDonald’s said it would be paying employees at company-owned restaurants for their scheduled hours. Deliveries will also not be available until after 5pm.
Other major businesses which have confirmed closures because of the bank holiday include supermarkets Asda, Iceland, Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Aldi, Waitrose, and Lidl, all of which said it would close its larger stores for at least the duration of the funeral.
Some of those chains said it would keep smaller convenience-style shops open throughout the day.
B&Q, Argos, Homebase, Primark and Curry’s are also among those closing outlets for the day.
Center Parcs, which runs five holiday sites, had initially said they would kick out guests on Monday because of its closure for the funeral, sparking outrage.
It later u-turned on that decision, saying affected families already on the sites could stay, but that those who had been due to arrive Monday will now need to arrive Tuesday instead.
