Death of Queen Elizabeth II – how Birmingham is paying its respects
Birmingham: Arrangements are being made for the people of Birmingham to pay their respects following the death of The Queen on Thursday 8 September 2022.
Books of Condolence
Locally, Books of Condolence that will be retained in Birmingham and not sent to London (in line with Royal wishes) will be available from tomorrow (Friday 9 September) at the Hall of Memory at Centenary Square.
The Hall of Memory books will be available to sign from 9am to 5pm daily and will remain open until 5pm on the day following the funeral.
Please be aware that for security reasons, bag searches may be in operation and waiting times to sign the book will be reduced if visitors avoid bringing bags with them, should this situation arise.
Following the period of mourning, the local books will be placed in the Birmingham City Council archive at the Library of Birmingham.
There will also be books of condolence available at a number of locations across the city centre and Birmingham more widely. Please check directly with those venues for opening times.
Flowers
Citizens of Birmingham and visitors to the city who wish to pay floral respects to The Queen can do so at the official site in the grounds of Birmingham Cathedral (off Colmore Row).
In order to ensure there continues to be sufficient capacity for mourners to lay tributes, any that are laid may be removed on a daily basis and sensitively recycled. This will only be the case if the need arises.
To assist the management of the tributes, anyone who lays flowers is kindly asked to remove any plastic wrapping/packaging and make any written tribute via the Books of Condolence in the city or online.
If flowers are left in any other public place, they will also be removed at an appropriate frequency and sensitively recycled.
Anyone paying their respects is asked to do so with flowers only as it cannot be guaranteed that other items and materials will be easily reused or recycled.
Flags
Just one flag will fly from the Council House – the Union flag at half-mast, the only exception being that it will be raised to full mast from 11am tomorrow (9 September) until 1pm on Saturday, 10 September (the period covering the proclamation of the new King in London, the national capitals and counties).
The Accession Proclamation, part of the formal process by which The King takes to the throne, will be read in Birmingham by Lord Mayor Cllr Maureen Cornish from outside the Library of Birmingham, Centenary Square. The date and time are to be confirmed*.
Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Cllr Maureen Cornish, said: “The Queen’s reign was an extraordinary one that will never be forgotten. I know the people of Birmingham will want to pay their respects and our opening of the books of condolence will give them an appropriate way in which to do this.
“On behalf of the citizens of Birmingham, I have written a letter of condolence to The King, offering our deepest sympathies and to convey the sadness that is being felt.
“Our thoughts are with His Majesty and the Royal family at this time.”
As well as the lowering of flags at appropriate times, the Library of Birmingham will be lit in the colour purple for every night of the period of mourning.
Flags will be raised to full mast at 8am on the day after the funeral.
*NOTE: The Accession Proclamation dates may be subject to change – we will update this page and promote via our social media channels if this is the case. Last updated 8 September at 2136hrs
Photographic exhibition at Library of Birmingham
In recognition of the Queen’s extraordinary reign, the Library of Birmingham will be paying its own tribute with an exhibition of photographs charting her relationship with the city.
Covering many of her numerous visits to Birmingham, the display will be open for viewing during normal library opening hours from tomorrow (Friday 9 September) until the day after the funeral.
Dawn Beaumont, Chief Librarian at Birmingham City Council, said: “Here in the Library of Birmingham, we have pulled together a display featuring a variety of documents and photographs from the Archives that tell the story of the Queen’s visits to the city.”
“We know each of these occasions will be fondly remembered by those who were in attendance, so we wanted to offer the citizens of Birmingham and visitors to the library an opportunity to reflect upon these moments and learn more about how the city warmly welcomed the Queen whenever she came here.”
Public meetings
All public council meetings have been cancelled during the period of mourning.
