AUSTRALIANS will be given the chance to honour the life of Queen Elizabeth II with a public holiday to coincide with a national memorial service.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed today (Sunday, September 11) the one-off holiday would take place on September 22, three days after the royal funeral in London.<\/p>\n
Mr Albanese said he had already spoken to all premiers and chief ministers about plans for the national day of commemoration.<\/p>\n
“They have all agreed that it’s appropriate that it be a one-off national public holiday,” he told ABC’s Insiders<\/em> program today.<\/p>\n It comes as Governor-General David Hurley prepares to mark King Charles III’s accession to the throne.<\/p>\n Mr Albanese will recommend the Governor-General proclaim Charles as the new monarch at a meeting of the Executive Council at Government House at 11am on Sunday.<\/p>\n The Governor-General will then make the proclamation at noon outside Parliament House.<\/p>\n The ceremony will include a welcome to country, followed by the proclamation with “God Save The King” to be performed and then a 21-gun salute.<\/p>\n Flags that have been flying at half mast will return to full mast until dusk.<\/p>\n State governors will make their own proclamations in ceremonies around the country after the federal event.<\/p>\n The Prime Minister and Mr Hurley will travel to London on Thursday, September 15 to attend the funeral at Westminster Abbey.<\/p>\n Before then, the Queen’s coffin will be driven from Balmoral Castle to Scotland’s capital Edinburgh and be flown to London later in the week.<\/p>\n It will remain at Buckingham Palace before being taken to Westminster Hall to lie in state for four days, allowing the public to pay their respects.<\/p>\n Mr Albanese said assistance has been given to 10 Pacific island nations that have connections with the Commonwealth to travel to London for the funeral.<\/p>\n Federal Parliament, which was due to sit this week in Canberra, has been suspended following the death of the Queen.<\/p>\n The prime minister said the government would look to make up the days following the period of mourning.<\/p>\n “One of the days will be devoted to people being able to give their condolences on the passing of Queen Elizabeth,” he said.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Australians have continued to publicly mourn the monarch over the weekend.<\/p>\n Sandra Alexandridis, of Reservoir, burst into tears at Melbourne’s makeshift memorial outside Government House while remembering the Queen on Saturday.<\/p>\n “She was a rock of society … it’s like you’ve lost your grandmother,” she told AAP.<\/p>\n Warren Fairfax, 82, visited Government House in Sydney on Saturday, 65 years after receiving a Queen’s Scout award at the same location.<\/p>\n “I wanted to come back and just pay respects to her \u2026 I just wanted to do that today,” he said.<\/p>\n