British Businesses Grumble About Wedding Day Off

Guillotine-wielding protesters aren't the only people in Britain not entirely thrilled about today's royal wedding. The British are getting an extra public holiday for the occasion and business owners complain that they're losing revenue at a time when they're trying to recover from recession. The total cost to the British economy is estimated to be nearly $10 billion in lost productivity, which won't be entirely offset by a rise in tourism—and sales of champagne and flags.

The extra day off has given Britons two consecutive four-day weekends. "I am all for the royal family, but when you've got 45 employees to pay and you're losing that kind of revenue, it is a lot of money," the chief of a bus tour company that has lost around $22,000 in business because of the wedding tells the Los Angeles Times. "We are able to sustain it," she says, but "I do feel sorry for the start-ups and the businesses that are still struggling." (More British royals stories.)