Royal wedding bank holiday

A bank holiday for a royal wedding

This one-off bank holiday was declared for the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey, on Friday 29 April. Because it fell between Easter and the early May bank holiday, many people enjoyed two four-day weekends in a row that spring, and some took the days in between off to create a break of almost two weeks.

The bank holiday applied throughout the UK. The couple became the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on their wedding day and, after the accession of King Charles III, the Prince and Princess of Wales.

How the day was celebrated

Millions watched the ceremony on television, and hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets of London between Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace, where the couple appeared on the balcony. Across the country, communities held street parties with bunting, tea and cake.

How are one-off bank holidays created?

Extra bank holidays are created by royal proclamation under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act. They are usually announced well in advance, for occasions such as jubilees, coronations and royal weddings. As with any bank holiday, employers were not required to give staff the day off; that depended on their contract. This site keeps such days in its historical overview, but they do not return in later years.