A number of events including Prom 71, the Last Night of the Proms and the Mercury Music Prize ceremony have been cancelled following the news of the death of Queen Elizabeth II yesterday (Thursday).
It was announced yesterday that Queen Elizabeth II, the UK’s longest-serving monarch of 70 years, had died at the age of 96.
Prom 71 and the finale of the Proms season was set to take place at the Royal Albert Hall today (Friday) and on Saturday, while the Mercury Music Prize ceremony was due to take place yesterday (Thursday) evening.
The ceremony was postponed and in a statement, Mercury Prize organisers said: “Tonight’s Mercury Prize event has been postponed at this time of great national sorrow. We know everyone involved in the Mercury Prize will understand.
“Our thoughts and condolences are with The Royal Family at this very difficult time. We will make an announcement regarding future arrangements as soon as we are able.”
The BBC Proms also tweeted a statement: “Following the very sad news of the death of Her Majesty The Queen, as a mark of respect we will not be going ahead with Prom 71 on Friday 9 September, or the Last Night of the Proms on Saturday 10 September.”
A customer asked if they would received a ticket refund in light of the Proms cancellations, to which organisers responded “The Royal Albert Hall will be contacting anyone who has bought tickets from the RAH Box Office about refunds directly.”
The Royal Opera House also cancelled its opening night of Mozart’s Don Giovanni and the Aida Insight that was due to take place on Thursday.
Alex Beard, chief executive of the Royal Opera House, said: “We are enormously saddened to learn of the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Her patronage of the Royal Opera House was a source of great pride to all our artists and staff, and her longstanding support for the arts was deeply appreciated.”
The Royal Opera House also said that it would be in touch with all ticket-buyers.
Sporting events across the UK have also been cancelled in the wake of Her Majesty’s death.
This weekend’s Premier League games have today been postponed, as a “mark of respect”.
“At a meeting this morning, Premier League clubs paid tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. To hour her extraordinary life and contribution to the nation, and as a mark of respect, this weekend’s Premier League match round will be postponed, including Monday evening’s game.”
As a mark of respect to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, this weekend’s Premier League match round will be postponed.
— Premier League (@premierleague) September 9, 2022
Horse racing was halted on Thursday and further events subsequently cancelled, while Friday’s play in the Test match between England and South Africa has also been called off.
The second day of the PGA Championship golf will not take place and the English Football League (EFL) has also postponed games that were due to take place today.
All football scheduled in Northern Ireland will not take place, the Irish FA announced.
To read a full round-up of the sporting events cancelled, head to our sister site TheStadiumBusiness.com.
Image: PolizeiBerlin/CC BY-SA 4.0/ Edited for size