The Queen’s funeral has led to the cancellations of thousands of hospital appointments, funerals, theatre performances and the closure of museums, supermarkets and even food banks.
Several NHS trusts, including Bedfordshire hospitals and Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals, and the Aneurin Bevan health board in Gwent were among the first to confirm the cancellation of planned appointments on Monday.
Emergency, urgent and cancer services will still go ahead in these areas and others but only a reduced routine service will run.
Operations cancelled include hip and knee replacements, cataract surgery, maternity checks and some cancer treatments. The cancellations will add to mounting hospital waiting lists that hit a a record high of 6.8 million people in July, according to the latest figures.
The option of whether to cancel planned operations has been devolved to local trusts, according to Open Democracy.
The National Association of Funeral Directors said that while some planned funerals will go ahead on Monday, others have been postponed. It said the decision to change dates had been led by the bereaved families involved.
In a statement it said: “Most funeral services booked for 19 September will have been arranged many weeks ago, so funeral directors and cemeteries/crematoria are working with families to find the best approach for each one.”
A number of food banks, from Widnes, to Bournemouth, will also be closed on Monday.
Most leading museums will also close their doors on Monday. They include all the Tate museums, the British Museum, the National Gallery, the V&A, and the Natural History Museum. In a statement Tate said: “As a mark of respect, all Tate galleries will close for the day of the funeral.”
And National Museums Scotland said all of its museums will be closed on Monday “as a mark of respect”.
Several stage productions have also cancelled performances on the day of the funeral. They include West End musicals such as Mamma Mia!, Hamilton, The Phantom of the Opera and Mary Poppins.
The UK tour of Les Misérables has also been cancelled and the National Theatre will be closed all day on Monday. Other cancelled performances will include Back to the Future, Only Fools and Horses, Moulin Rouge!, Grease, Antigone, The Book of Mormon and To Kill a Mockingbird.
Center Parcs angered holidaymakers by asking them to leave five of its sites on Monday.
Meanwhile, Morrisons, Marks & Spencer, Co-op, Lidl and Asda have become the latest retailers to confirm they will shut stores on Monday.
Morrisons said all its UK supermarkets will shut on Monday. M&S said it will close stores and also halt deliveries to customers as it allows employees to pay their respects.
Stuart Machin, chief executive of M&S, said: “All of us at M&S – and indeed across the country and beyond – feel a real and deep sense of loss and sadness at the passing of Her Majesty, as well as huge respect for the grace with which His Majesty King Charles III and the wider royal family have led the nation in our mourning.”
He added there will be “limited exceptions in London and Windsor”, where M&S will serve customers paying their respects to the Queen.
Asda said it will shut all its stores until 5pm on the day to allow employees to watch the funeral.
Other retailers, including Currys and Toolstation, said they would shut their hundreds of stores.
It comes a day after Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Aldi confirmed they would shut their supermarket stores for the day of the funeral, with fashion retailers such as Primark also confirming closure plans.
Retailers are not required to shut their doors on the day of the funeral, and others may choose to open for reduced hours, as many regularly do on other bank holidays.
Government guidance says: “Some businesses may wish to consider closing or postponing events, especially on the day of the state funeral, however, this is at the discretion of individual businesses.”
