Every year, Australians living in New South Wales (NSW) are annually given a public holiday to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday.
However, the NSW government has announced that, in light of the Queen’s death, the name of the Queen’s Birthday public holiday will be changed.
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Moving forward, the public holiday will be called the King’s Birthday in honour of King Charles III, who is now the head of the British Monarchy.
The date of the public holiday will not change though; it will still take place each year on the second Monday of June.
Despite the public holiday annually taking place in June, Queen Elizabeth’s birthday was not in that month. It was April 21.
The reason NSW celebrated in June instead of April is because in the UK, official celebrations for the Queen’s birthday were traditionally held in June because over there, the weather is usually nicer in that month; and NSW just followed suit.
King Charles’ birthday is not in June either; it’s November 14. But it’s likely the UK will hold official celebrations for his birthday in June as well because again, the weather in June is much nicer than the weather the UK experiences in November.
Damien Tudehope, the Employee Relations Minister, said in a statement, “Most people have only known this public holiday as the Queen’s Birthday holiday for every year of the late Queen Elizabeth’s 70-year reign.”
“It is with a touch of sadness that we must move to change the name, but it is an important recognition of the new monarch, King Charles III, that the public holiday will continue and be henceforth named the King’s Birthday public holiday.”
Victoria (VIC) and Western Australia (WA) have confirmed that the public holiday name will change to the King’s Birthday in their respective states too.
In 2023, the King’s Birthday public holiday will take place in NSW, VIC and WA on Monday, June 12.
