Hawksmoor has come to the defence of restaurants that are planning to open on the day of the Queen’s funeral. Other than its branch in Guildhall in London, which always closes on Bank Holidays, the steak houses will be open on the Bank Holiday Monday including the one on Deansgate in Manchester.
In a post to Twitter, owners said: “If you want to shut, so you/your staff/customers can grieve or take part in an important national moment, then you should. Just try not to make it sound like you are ‘showing respect for the Queen’ and implying that those doing differently are not.
“Grief, even national grief, is personal. There are few ‘right’ ways of grieving, and few established ‘correct’ ways of being respectful. The government have specifically issued guidance saying it’s your choice.
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“Respect for the Queen (to me) suggests tolerance to how others feel or behave, however they grieve (even ‘whether’ they grieve).
“No one should feel that their quiet, respectful decisions are being thrown out for public judgement on social media. There is no ‘right’ answer.”
The company sent its response to followers after it said it has received ‘lots of slightly nervous texts and emails from people asking what we’re doing on Monday, seemingly nervous about ‘getting it wrong’. It’s also added that if staff wish to take the day off, they are entitled to.
It comes in the wake of varying stances on the decision to close or not for the Queen’s funeral, which takes place on September 19 at Westminster Abbey. Many supermarkets will close its large branches for the day, including Tesco and Sainsbury’s.
John Lewis stores will also close. However, the Greene King brewery has said that it will keep its pubs open and in some cases will screen the funeral.
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