Minister signs order to extend pub opening hours for the Royal Wedding
Alcohol licensing hours will be relaxed in England and Wales to mark the Royal Wedding, the Minister for Crime, Safeguarding and Vulnerability confirmed today.
The minister has signed the order which relaxes licensing hours for licenced premises in relation to a ‘celebration period’.
Minister for Crime, Safeguarding and Vulnerability Victoria Atkins said:
The government’s decision to extend the licensing hours to mark the Royal Wedding has received overwhelming support.
I know that people across the country will be celebrating this memorable occasion and this extension will help us to raise a toast to the happy couple.
Parliamentarians approved the government’s plans to extend licensing hours on the nights of Friday 18 and Saturday 19 May until 1am the following mornings, after debates in the House of Commons and House of Lords, to allow the country to celebrate the wedding of HRH Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
Since the Licensing Act was introduced in 2003, licensing hours have been extended for a number of significant occasions including the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in 2011, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012, the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and the Queen’s 90th birthday celebrations in 2016.