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England lost their beloved Queen Elizabeth II on 8th September. It has been a time of national mourning since. It is a difficult time for the nation, and is not without its economic and financial consequences.
Over the course of the last week, thousands of people have visited London to pay their respects to the late Queen and over 500 political officials from all over the world attended the State funeral on 19th September. Many hotels in London doubled their prices overnight as they looked forward to the inflow of travellers who would pay their homage to the Queen. The owner of a travel agency confirmed there was a significant increase in bookings as foreigners started coming in to see the Queen before her last journey. Even though this inflow of people was supposed to boost the economy, there were many ‘caveats’ to it. Many famous shopping centres like the Liberty were closed, music festivals and sports cancelled as a mark of respect to the Queen, who gave 70 years of her life serving the people of the United Kingdom. Consumer brands have also been impacted, and one significant example is Heinz which is a ‘royal warrant’ holder. Such brands can use the royal crest on their products to inform the consumer that they are the official suppliers for the royal family. The association website states after the death of the member that granted the warrant, it “will become void, and the company or individual will have two years to discontinue the use of the royal arms in connection with the business.” The new King Charles III’s coronation is said to bring in tourism and prove to be a huge boost for the hospitality and retail sector, as it will be celebrated like the historic event that it is.
The Independent declared that this is the most ‘disruptive’ event that has occurred in the UK in the last 70 years. The Queen’s Jubilee celebration in June had already resulted in a 0.6% drop in the country’s GDP for the month as there was a loss in working days due to the celebratory bank holiday and this additional bank holiday for the day of the funeral is said to impact the UK’s already declining GDP by another 0.2% in September. The aftermath of the Queen’s death, including the coronation of the new king and changes made to currency and stamps, is said to cost the country’s taxpayers around £7 billion. The current recession is said to continue its onslaught and the inflation is set to reach higher than 11%, a number never seen before.
Businesses and schools were disrupted alike with the news of the Queen’s passing and a bank holiday being declared for the day of the funeral. However, the latter were not as strongly hit as the former. The government ordered all schools to shut down, however firms had to take their decisions individually, keeping in mind that staff that wanted time off work to grieve and pay their respects to the late monarch should not have their pay docked. So, the dilemma faced was to be able to serve the public, but also be able to have enough staff to do so.
It will indeed be a highly difficult adjustment for the country to make, having lost its Queen of over 70 years and a new King appointed. The United Kingdom has entered a new economic and political era, with the new Prime Minister being appointed just days before losing its beloved Queen. The people have faith in their new representatives and are hopeful that there will be light at the end of this dark tunnel.
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