UK starts mourning Queen's death with many activities postponed, cancelled

LONDON: The United Kingdom on Friday started a 10-day mourning shortly after an announcement from Buckingham Palace declared the passing of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday.

Many activities, including the business in Parliament, have been postponed, Anadolu Agency reported.

The House of Commons will be suspended until Sept 21 but convene on Friday midday for a special sitting with MPs paying tributes to the late queen until 10 pm local time.

The lower house of the parliament will also sit on Saturday as a small number of senior MPs will take the oath to King Charles III and tributes will continue until 10 pm before the suspension.

The English Premier League fixtures will be cancelled during the weekend. Games in the Scottish, Irish, and Welsh leagues are also postponed.

The theatres across the country are likely to continue to perform with dimmed lights and a minute of silence.

The Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre said in a statement that the scheduled theatre performances will continue during the official period of mourning.

All TV programmes on major channels have also been altered due to the mourning.

All strikes, including Friday's planned industrial action of Royal Mail workers, have now been cancelled.

Members of the Communication Workers Union dropped a 48-hour walkout in a dispute over pay and conditions.

Transport union TSSA also cancelled its strike in September and will be respecting the period of public mourning. Avanti West Coast members had a planned strike for three days in a row for Sept 15-17.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union were also to strike between Sept 15 and 17 but a statement said the action is now cancelled.

-- BERNAMA