Pubs to open till 1am for three days to celebrate Queen’s Platinum Jubilee

Pubs are set to stay open into the early hours this summer in celebration of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Revellers in England and Wales will be able to drink and socialise for an extra two hours over the special bank holiday weekend. Licensing rules are being relaxed for three nights in June in honour of the occasion, it has been confirmed. When pubs stay open later? Pub licensing hours will be extended in England and Wales from 11pm to 1am on 2, 3 and 4 June. Home Office minister Kit Malthouse confirmed the change in a written statement to Parliament. He said a licensing hours order, made under Section 172 of the Licensing Act 2003, will “celebrate the longest reigning monarch in the United Kingdom. Mr Malthouse added that an impact assessment is being prepared and will be published alongside the order. The government has previously pushed back closing time for pubs to mark other national events, including the 2011 and 2018 royal weddings, the Queen’s 90th birthday in 2016, and the Fifa World Cup in 2014. When is the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee? Saturday 6 February marks the date that the Queen ascended to the throne, but the Platinum Jubilee will instead take place on Friday 3 June 2022. This is because the official date of her ascension to the throne is also the anniversary of the death of her father, King George VI, and is known as a date the Queen does not wish to celebrate. Much like the Queen’s Golden and Diamond Jubilees, the Platinum Jubilee celebrations will be held in June, with the summer month offering a better chance of good weather. Queen Elizabeth II became the longest reigning British monarch on 9 September 2015, when she surpassed the previous record set by her great-great-grandmother Victoria. The occasion will be marked by a four day UK bank holiday weekend from Thursday 2 to Sunday 5 June, with various events planned to honour her 70th anniversary on the throne. The Queen’s birthday parade, also known as Trooping the Colour, will take place on Thursday 2 June and will feature more than 1,400 parading soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians, ending with the traditional RAF fly-past. A service of Thanksgiving for the Queen’s reign will be held at St Paul’s Cathedral on Friday 3 June and on Saturday 4 June, the Queen, accompanied by members of the royal family, will attend the Derby at Epsom Downs. On Sunday 5 June, the Platinum Jubilee Pageant will be staged in London and will feature more than 5,000 people from across the UK and Commonwealth. It will take place against the backdrop of Buckingham Palace and surrounding streets, combining street arts, theatre, music and circus.