BREAKING: Antigua and Barbuda declares national holiday to mourn the Queen

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The Cabinet has directed that the Prime Minister attend the funeral of Her Majesty on 19 September.

The Cabinet further agreed that the day of the funeral be declared a National Holiday.

Her Majesty the Queen will have a full state funeral at Westminster Abbey on September 19.

Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral will take place next week, after she passed away “peacefully” in Balmoral on Thursday (September 8)

Details of the Queen’s final journey from Balmoral to Windsor, and when members of the public can pay their own respects, were confirmed by The Earl Marshal, Duke of Norfolk, who is arranging the funeral.

  1. When is Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral and will there be a Bank Holiday?

    The date of the state funeral was confirmed by Buckingham Palace to be on Monday, September 19.

    King Charles III confirmed on September 10 that he had approved an order that the day of the late Queen’s funeral will be a bank holiday.

    Schools will also close on the day.

  2. When does the coffin procession begin?

    On Sunday at 10am (September 11), six gamekeepers from the Balmoral Estate carried Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin to a hearse, which made a six-hour journey to Edinburgh, where it was then taken into the throne room of the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

    On Monday at 2.35pm (September 12), the King and Queen Consort will travel behind the coffin at it makes its way from Holyroodhouse to St Giles’s Cathedral, where the Crown of Scotland will be placed on the coffin.

    The Queen will lie in state in the Cathedral for 24 hours to allow the people of Scotland to pay their respects.

    On Tuesday (September 13), at 5pm, the coffin will be taken from St Giles’s Cathedral to Edinburgh Airport, where the Princess Royal will join her late mother on the flight to London.

    The coffin will be taken in a state hearse to Buckingham Palace, where it will remain in the Bow Room overnight.

    Queen Elizabeth II will lie in state in London. On Wednesday (September 14), the coffin is taken into Westminster Hall, and the Archbishop of Canterbury will conduct a short service.

    The late monarch will lie in state for four days – Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday – during which members of the public will be able to file past

  3. Where is the funeral taking place and what time does it start?

    At 6.30am on Monday (September 19), the public lying in state will end.

    A state funeral at Westminster Abbey will begin at 11am.

    She will then be taken to Windsor Castle to her final resting place in St George’s Chapel, where she will be buried alongside her parents, sister Princess Margaret and the Duke of Edinburgh.

    The monarch was heavily involved in the preparations for her funeral. The plans have been in place for decades, and were approved by the new King.

    Heads of state, prime ministers and presidents, European royals and key figures from public life will be invited to the funeral, which can hold a congregation of 2,000.

    The service will be conducted by the Dean of Westminster, and it will be televised. A national two minutes’ silence is also expected to be held.

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28 COMMENTS

  1. So on one side of your mouth you want us to be a republic ceasing allegiance with the monarchy and on the other side we declare a national holiday to mourn the queen. I guess actions speak louder than words. This is very unfortunate and as a small business owner I must say I am very disappointed. Things are already tough and now not only will we lose a day of business but we have to pay staff for that day.

      • Inspite of the injustice that we as black people faced in the past, RESPECT is definitely in order to declare a public holiday for the queen’s death/funeral.

        Question: God forbid, if the queen’s representative, the governor general who also the head of state had died, wouldn’t we mourn the loss by declaring a public holiday or half day ? So what’s the difference?

    • Stop being selfish. Think of it this way: The Queen was our mother. Our journey through the years was guided by the Monarchy. Now that we believe that we can be on our own and less our own affairs, we beekeeping that we can become a republic.
      In our of our mother, we declare a public holiday in honor of her rule. Trust me, without her rule, (despite what you think about her), we would have been a disaster to ourselves. The monarchy created stability, decorum, etiquette, and security for us. May the Queen rest well after 70 years on the throne.

        • It’s “Very Funny” that you cannot use your correct name to make your point. Some of us have standards and were brought up with etiquette, while others have no real value for anything. This is the reason we have various classes of people in our community. Nothing to do with monetary worth but rathter on our respective outlook on things of significance around us. Check the dockets at the courthouse.

      • Nah. Won’t walk down that road with you, son. What countries have been stellar after British gov’t has been withdrawn or independence gained? The struggle is what they leave in their wake. Respect to her name and the decision the Lord made in creating her but it stops there. I only hope that her heirs do much better than their forefathers and ancestors.

    • Well said @ Jo-Anne, I am in the same position as you, and very disappointed with this decision.

      The restrictions, closures and travel plans hit the business community hard, hard … hard, due to the Covid-19 virus.

      I lost thousands in the pandemic – and now this?

      AND YOU AND I KNOW THAT THERE’LL BE NO REDUCTION IN OUR TAXES!!!

      All the best from a fellow Antiguan entrepreneur 👍

      • That’s one of the costs of doing business. Stop complaining. You have life. Many left us during the lockdown. You could’ve been one of them. Be thankful that you’re still here to complain.

        • Just stating the facts @ Dave, just stating the facts!

          Sounds like you’ve never run a bath, 🛀 let alone any type of business …

          • From 1989 to present, I have been running business, employing over 175 people over that time period. No one can ever claim non-payment of salary under my employ. And I’m using my correct name.

  2. Cabinet directing the the Prime Minister attends the funeral…..I AM NOT EVEN GOING TO LAUGH. As Papa used to say they advised but I decides.

    • Gaston going to London and then on to New York with Chet. Why he have to go to London when the Governor General already going? He must be getting in his last free trips and per diem before he lose the next election and have to pay for his own travel.

  3. If we see Rodney Williams and Gaston anywhere near the event, they will be somewhere in the Back or outside standing up.

  4. W H A T!!!
    I had 9 death of close family members and didn’t but I must mourn someone I don’t know?
    U GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!

  5. How do historians explain the reasoning behind this? It’s like sitting in the front row celebrating the life if your rapist. Anyone reading this, can we all on Monday, in memory of this lady’s passing, play all of Bob Marley’s music? Turn off our television sets and listen to some conscious black music. Play them at the beach, at the street corner, in the mini buses. Let us do it in memory of the millions of our ancestors, who maybe now, can partially rest in peace, many of them who were killed or died, and not a bell was heard. Let us listen to the conscious music. Have conversations with our children. Teach them our history. Let them understand how we were robbed and everything else. Help them to understand how the sweat if our forefathers, made it possible for a life spent in luxury. And spend MONDAY that way, so that when the king dies, descendents can go to work and earnn a dollar.

    • I like your thought process @ Mental enslavement.

      I’d go further and would like to know what a psychiatrist would think make of all this nonsensical fawning by people of colour.

      They probably couldn’t come up with an answer and take an early retirement 🤣

  6. @Brixtonian I guess who feels it knows it. Stockholm Syndrome is a real thing. LOL! All the best to you as well.

  7. Some of you people are disgusting!
    I myself am a british born woman, white Mother and Father from Jamaica, Married to a Black Antiguan. I have been a victim of racism , been called white meat and white milk by certain Antiguan people so When some of you people sit there going on about teaching about forefathers yall need to remember it was our
    Forefathers who went through black slavery and not today’s hypocrites. I myself am not a royalist but my God where is your empathy?
    1 day has been granted a bank holiday and some of you complaining….oh God Jack stop run up your mouth and find something constructive to go and do One day somebody have to take a day from work to come mourn you too. Some of you people call yourselves Christians…Any christian can carry on so? God is not Sleeping.

    • With respect @ Peace you are missing the whole point of this very emotive debate. Surely you understand why commentators on this particular topic are doing so?

      The Father of Antigua the Honourable Vere Bird wasn’t given a send off like this royal imperialist and colonialist. Tarl!

      And by the way, I’m not going to apologise for being an Antiguan patriot …

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