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Today marks the historic moment the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II will take place.
The monarch – who reigned for 70 years – died on Thursday, September 8, at the age of 96. Her funeral, which is expected to be watched by tens of millions of people across the globe, will take place at Westminster Abbey today.
It was announced last week that the day is a bank holiday and in order to allow people to watch the occasion, many shops and businesses have given their staff the day off.
READ MORE: Are buses, trains and Metrolink running on Queen’s bank holiday?
Royal Mail and Post Office services will be affected with no letters delivered on the day.
A statement on the Royal Mail website says: “Following the announcement that HM The Queen’s state funeral will be marked as a Bank Holiday, Royal Mail services will be suspended on the day of the funeral.
“There will be no collection, processing or delivery of letters and parcels on Monday 19 September. All services will resume and operate normally on Tuesday 20 September.”
However, the situation is slightly different for Post Offices – and some may be open. Of the Post Office’s 11,500 branches, 114 of them are Crown Post Offices run directly by the Post Office. Those 114 branches will be closed for the day.
But roughly 2,500 branches are run by a number of retailers like WH Smith, Tesco, Co-Op, Spar, and these businesses, although likely to close, will decide on their plans.
A Post Office spokesperson said: “The rest of our network of branches are operated by independent postmasters and typically are located in convenience stores. It will be the postmaster’s decision whether to open on the day.”
The Queen’s funeral takes place at Westminster Abbey in London on Monday. It will start at 11am.
Following the funeral, which will be attended by two thousand people including world leaders and foreign royals, the King and members of the royal family will walk behind the Queen’s coffin to Wellington Arch when it leaves Westminster Abbey, before it is driven to Windsor on the state hearse.
The Queen will be interred with the Duke of Edinburgh in King George VI’s Memorial Chapel in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, in a private service at 7.30pm on Monday.
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