The state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II takes place on September 19, and all UK Apple Stores will be closed on that date, as a mark of respect.
The date has been declared a bank holiday, the UK equivalent of a federal holiday, with most employees entitled to take the day off …
Bank holidays
In the UK, bank holidays are one-day national holidays. There are usually eight bank holidays per year, but the government can add extra ones for special occasions.
There is no legal requirement for employers to allow staff to take this time off, but many employment contracts state that staff get their normal annual leave plus bank holidays as paid time off.
Retail staff contracts usually state that staff may be required to work on bank holidays, which may or may not attract additional pay.
State funeral of Queen Elizabeth II
The state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II will take place on Monday, September 19, and this has been declared a bank holiday across the UK.
It is up to individual businesses whether to remain open or close on this date, but the government has asked companies to apply sensitivity in the matter.
Monday 19 September, the date of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s State Funeral, will be a national bank holiday.
This will allow individuals, businesses and other organisations to pay their respects to Her Majesty and commemorate Her reign, while marking the final day of the period of national mourning […]
The government cannot interfere in existing contractual arrangements between employers and workers. However, we would expect that many workers will be able to take the day off on the bank holiday. We also expect employers to respond sensitively to requests from workers who wish to take the day of the funeral off work.
MacRumors reports that UK Apple Store staff have been told that stores will close on this date.
The death of the queen in context
The UK is a constitutional monarchy. Originally, the monarch – the king or queen – had absolute power. In modern times, the role of the monarch is largely symbolic.
While laws are still technically enacted by the monarch, and are signed into law by the king or queen, all their legislative powers are delegated to the government of the day.
Views of the UK population on the monarchy vary greatly, ranging from those who consider it offensive, through those who see it as anachronistic but harmless, to those who lend it their strong support.
However, many who do not support the monarchy as an institution still feel respect for the way that Queen Elizabeth II carried out her work. Others may feel a connection to what she symbolized for them. The musician Billy Bragg put it this way:
Personally, I’ve never had strong feelings about the monarchy and the cosmetic role they play in our constitution. My concerns have always been about the way the powers which were once the sole preserve of the monarch have been conferred onto the prime minister, allowing the holder of that office to declare war and sign treaties without recourse to parliamentary debate. Hopefully the ascension of Charles III will initiate a debate about the role of the monarchy in a modern democracy, perhaps helping to kick start reforms such as the abolition of the House of Lords and a written constitution.
Having said that, I do want to take a moment to reflect on the passing of a person who has played a role in our national life over the past seven decades that is unrivalled in its significance. The importance of the Queen as a figurehead was made clear to me in 2007 when I saw a news report of the dedication of the Armed Forces Memorial, remembering those who lost their lives in conflicts since the Second World War. Watching the Queen walk along a line of ex-service personnel who had fought in every war from Korea to Afghanistan, I was struck by the thought that there is no one in British public life whose presence at an event could be equally meaningful to an 80 year old veteran as well as one in their 20s.
Obviously this is a product of the record-breaking longevity of her reign […]
For people around my age, there is another dimension that gives this moment in our history a poignancy that defies the rational concerns about crown and constitution […]
My parents were married [in the year of the crowning of the Queen] and, as part of that Elizabethan cohort, they aged along with the Queen, the great markers in their lives falling in the same span of years. They were in uniform together, they met their partners together, had children and later grandchildren together. With both my parents gone, the Queen endured as a reminder of who they were and who they became. She was their last representative, still visible in the life of our nation.
So when they bury her next week, I too will mourn – not so much for the passing of a monarch, but for the passing of a generation.
Apple’s decision to close stores on the date of the funeral is one that is likely to please more people than it offends.
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