Millions predicted to descend on London for Queen's funeral

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Lidl, Aldi and other large shops will close their stores on the day of The Queen’s funeral, is had been announced. Argos, B&Q and Poundland, John Lewis and Primark have also confirmed that they will not open their doors on Monday, September 19 in respect of the nation’s longest-serving monarch, whose service will be held at Westminster Abbey.

The decisions follow the calls by other supermarkets, including Asda and Tesco, to also shut their shops on Monday.

On Facebook, Lidl said: “In honour of Her Majesty and to allow our colleagues to pay their respects, we will be closing all of our stores across England, Scotland and Wales on the day of the funeral. Thank you to everyone for your understanding.”

Aldi said all its stores will close “as mark of respect” and to “allow our store colleagues to pay tribute to Her Majesty The Queen”.

Argos stores will also be closed, Nottinghamshire Live says.

Andrew Murphy, chief operating officer of The John Lewis Partnership, said: “We are deeply saddened by the death of Her Majesty The Queen.

“We will be closing our stores on the day of her funeral as a mark of respect, and because we believe this is the right thing to do for our partners and customers.”

It added there may be “a very limited number of Waitrose stores” near to the route of the funeral procession which remain open to serve members of the public nearby. It stressed these shops would close during the funeral itself.

Poundland said all its 770 UK stores will close for the whole day, and staff scheduled to work on September 19 will receive their pay in full. “We know how important it will be that colleagues have the opportunity to pay their respects next Monday, as the country comes together to honour and celebrate the life of the Queen,” Poundland said.

A B&Q spokesperson said: “As a mark of respect for the state funeral for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and to offer our colleagues the opportunity to pay their respects, we have taken the decision to close all our UK stores on Monday 19 September. Our click and collect and home delivery services will also be temporarily suspended on the day.”

Dreams chief executive Jonathan Hirst said: “Our heartfelt sympathy and thoughts are with the royal family at this sad time. We will be closing all areas of our business, including our stores, and pausing all deliveries on Monday, September 19, so that our colleagues can come together with the rest of the country to pay their respects to Her Majesty the Queen.”

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.

The Government guidance is: “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.”

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