McDonald's closing every restaurant in UK for Queen's funeral
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Every McDonald's across the UK will be closed for the Queen's funeral on 19 September until later in the evening.
The fast food giant announced the decision on Twitter and explained that it was to 'allow everyone at McDonald's to pay their respects' to the Queen.
Lots of things across the UK will be closing for the Queen's funeral because it's a bank holiday, but some businesses which would have remained open have announced they will be closing their doors.
The NHS is leaving it up to individual trusts whether or not to close for the day, but thousands of hospital appointments are expected to be disrupted.
All of our UK restaurants will be closed on Monday until 5pm, to allow everyone at McDonald’s to pay their respects to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
— McDonald's UK (@McDonaldsUK) September 14, 2022
Operating hours and services may vary after 5pm, so please check our app before travelling. pic.twitter.com/OOws3q8hnb
Meanwhile, many of the major cinema chains across Britain will be closing their doors so their staff can pay their respects to the Queen, though others are planning to stay open and screen the funeral.
Center Parcs found themselves facing a whole heap of criticism for their decision to turf out guests on the day of the funeral, but have since changed their stance and now won't kick families on holiday out of their villas for the day.
As for McDonald's, their plans are for their restaurants to be shut on 19 September until at least 5pm, with the fast food giant confirming that afterwards it would 'depend from store to store' when they reopened.
While some McDonald's are usually open 24 hours a day, at midnight on 19 September all of their fast food outlets will be closing for the Queen's funeral.
The Queen actually (sort of) owned a McDonald's, as the Maccies at the Banbury Gateway Shopping Park in Oxfordshire is on land that's part of the Crown Estate.
Whether or not the Queen ever went is a mystery, though according to her former chef Darren McGrady she wasn't a big fan of the fast food chain despite loving hamburgers.
He told Insider that the Queen always ate the burger without the bun and would eat it with a knife and fork, having been taught as a child that the only meal you eat with your fingers is afternoon tea.
Opinions on McDonald's decision were mixed, with some thinking it was 'a very nice call' to give staff time to pay their respects while others reckoned it was 'going too far now' to actually shut up shop.
Plenty called out the 5pm reopening time, joking that people going for a McDonald's after her funeral is 'what the Queen would have wanted', while others said the brand was in 'McMourning'.
One person suggested that the fast food chain should give staff the 'full day or none at all' rather than reopening at 5pm, arguing that anything else would be a 'PR stunt'.
Many were upset that McDonald's would be closed during the funeral, with a few suggesting they wanted to get some food from the restaurant on their bank holiday.
