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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Tim Hanlon

Sports matches off and official King proclamation today as nation mourns its Queen

Sports matches are among the events up and down the UK which have been cancelled or postponed on Saturday with the country in mourning following the death of the Queen.

Charles’ official proclamation as King at a historic Accession Council is among the events that will happen today.

The death of the country's longest reigning monarch has left many reflecting on her life and immediately many organisations have called off events as a mark of respect.

As Her Majesty died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, Operation Unicorn was implemented and these have a slight difference to the Operation London Bridge plans should she have died while in England.

As such, many of the plans regarding the mourning period are changing at pace.

Charles will be officially proclaimed King on Saturday (Getty Images)

The Government is still to confirm the length of national mourning which is likely to run up until the Queen’s funeral - with that date also not yet arranged.

The Palace said on Friday morning: "Following the death of Her Majesty the Queen, it is His Majesty the King's wish that a period of royal mourning be observed from now until seven days after the Queen's funeral.

"The date of the funeral will be confirmed in due course."

There has been a mix of views on postponing sporting events as some have claimed that packed crowds giving applause would be the perfect way to pay tribute to the monarch.

Here is a list of what is now planned for Saturday and what has been cancelled or postponed..

A minute's silence was held before West Ham's Europa Conference League match (Action Images via Reuters)

Charles to be officially proclaimed King

The new King will be formally proclaimed as the new sovereign at an Accession Council in the State Apartments of St James's Palace at 10am in a ceremony that will be televised for the first time.

First, the Privy Council gathers without the King to proclaim the new monarch and arrange business relating to the proclamation.

Then Charles holds his first Privy Council, accompanied by Camilla and William who are also privy counsellors, and makes his personal declaration and oath.

The first public proclamation of the new sovereign will be read at 11am in the open air from the Friary Court balcony at St James's Palace by the Garter King of Arms.

Proclamations are made around the city and across the country.

Union flags go back up to full-mast at 1pm and remain there for 24 hours to coincide with the proclamations before returning to half-mast.

Charles will also hold audiences with Prime Minister Liz Truss and the Cabinet.

Many events have been cancelled as a mark of respect following the Queen's death (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Last Night of The Proms

The BBC's Last Night Of The Proms, scheduled to take place on Saturday has been cancelled. It is the traditional celebration that concludes the eight-week classical music festival that takes place predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall.

Football

All Premier League and English Football League matches this weekend have been postponed as a mark of respect.

All games in the Women's Super League, Women's Championship and Women's FA Cup have also been postponed this weekend.

The Scottish Football Association announced the postponement of all professional games over the course of the weekend, while all football in Northern Ireland and Wales is also off.

Cricket

Cricket will resume on Saturday, including the men's Test between England and South Africa and the women's T20 between England and India.

Play between England and South Africa at the Oval, along with all scheduled matches in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, did not take place on Friday.

The Last Night of the Proms is among the events to have been cancelled on Saturday (Future Publishing via Getty Imag)

Rugby Union

Both games in the opening round of Gallagher Premiership fixtures on Friday night have been postponed until the weekend, while all senior rugby union scheduled in Wales this weekend will not take place.

The west country derby between Bristol and Bath at Ashton Gate, plus Sale's home clash with Northampton, have been rearranged, with the former now taking place on Saturday and the latter on Sunday.

Premiership Rugby confirmed that four matches scheduled for the weekend will go ahead as planned. Champions Leicester's trip to Exeter, London Irish versus Worcester and Newcastle against Harlequins will take place on Saturday, along with Gloucester hosting Wasps on Sunday.

The Scottish Rugby Union postponed all domestic competitive games this weekend as a mark of respect and the women's summer Test international between Scotland and Spain on Sunday is also off.

Rugby League

The RFL postponed Friday's Betfred Championship fixture between Sheffield Eagles and Dewsbury Rams, but all other matches over the weekend will go ahead. The Super League play-offs will start, with Catalans Dragons hosting Leeds on Friday night and Huddersfield playing Salford at home on Saturday.

Golf

Play at the BMW PGA Championship will restart on Saturday morning, having been suspended on Thursday and cancelled on Friday.

Premier League matches have been cancelled on Saturday (Getty Images)

Formula One

Sunday's Italian Grand Prix will go ahead as scheduled with a minute's silence planned before practice on Friday and another expected before the race.

Horse racing

The final day of the Cazoo St Leger Festival at Doncaster on Saturday was switched to Sunday.

Racing at Southwell and Chelmsford on Thursday evening was abandoned. The BHA also announced the meetings scheduled for Friday - including the third day of the St Leger meeting at Doncaster - were cancelled.

Athletics

Both the Great North Run and Parkrun events will continue this weekend as scheduled. Organisers cancelled the Great North Run's 5k sister event on Friday but Sunday's half marathon will go ahead.

Cycling

Friday's Tour of Britain stage was promptly cancelled and later on Thursday evening the rest of the tour, which was set to finish on the Isle of Wight on Sunday, was called off entirely.

Boxing

The women's world middleweight title fight between Savannah Marshall and Claressa Shields has been postponed after the British Boxing Board of Control cancelled all the weekend's bouts as a mark of respect.

This weekend, the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror celebrate the life of Her Majesty the Queen with a commemorative special filled with all the key moments from Britain’s longest reigning monarch. Be sure to pick up your copy of the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror to get both pullouts.

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