Will schools in Yorkshire close following death of The Queen? What the Government has said

Elizabeth II died at the age of 96 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on Thursday (Sep 8).

In a statement, the Palace said: “The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow.”

The Queen dedicated her life to her royal duty. She was the first British monarch in history to reach her Platinum Jubilee, and has died just three months after the national celebrations in June celebrating her 70 years on the throne. The Queen was also the longest-reigning still-serving monarch in the world.

Following her death the country will go into mourning and a state funeral will be held. There will be disruption to instiutions like the stock market, days off work for many people and closures of schools.

Here is all you need to know:

Will schools close following the death of the Queen?

Schools will be closed on the day of Elizabeth II’s funeral. It will be a state funeral and as such much of the country will close down. According to Operation London Bridge, her funeral would take place 10 days after her death.

Elizabeth II died on Thursday, 8 September.

Due to the announcement of her death being late in the day, the timeline for Operation London Bridge has been moved back a day, meaning her funeral is now set to take place on Monday, September 19.

Could schools close during the mourning period?

A mourning period will begin following the death of Elizabeth II.

The Department of Education said it “will issue advice in due course to all schools should [the Queen die]”.

The advice has yet to be issued following the announcement of the Queen’s death.

How long is mourning period for the Queen?

There will be a 12-day mourning period for the Queen in the UK.

Flags are being flown at half-mast and books of condolence have been opened for people to pay their respects.

As the Queen died in Balmoral, her body will lie in Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh, before being carried up the Royal Mile to St. Giles’s Cathedral.

She will eventually travel by Royal Train to Buckingham Palace to lie in state in the throne room.

What events are cancelled?

As a mark of respect some events and activities will be cancelled until after the Queen’s funeral.

The BBC will suspend all standard programming and offer coverage of the event.

Shops will close or will operate under reduced opening hours on the day of the Queen’s funeral, whilst all comedy events will be cancelled during the national mourning period.

Will there be a bank holiday for Queen’s funeral?

A national day of mourning will be held on the day of the Queen’s funeral.

While there will only be subtle differences compared to a regular bank holiday, it will not be labelled as being one.

If, as expected, the funeral falls on Sunday 18 September, there will be no bank holiday.

Should the funeral take place on a weekday, the day will effectively become a bank holiday.

However, the government is understood to not be planning to order employers to give their staff a day off.