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June 27, 2012

London’s Big Ben tower to be renamed after Queen Elizabeth

     London: One of Britain’s best-known landmarks, the tower housing Big Ben is going to be renamed ‘The Elizabeth Tower’ in honour of the Queen’s six decades on the throne. David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband are among senior figures from all parties who backed the proposal, which mirrors an honour bestowed on Queen Victoria, the present Queen’s great-great grandmother and the only other monarch in history to mark a Diamond Jubilee. The square tower at the other end of the Palace of Westminster, previously known as The King’s Tower, was renamed The Victoria Tower to mark her long reign. The House of Commons Commission, Parliament’s ruling body, and Speaker John Bercow discussed the change earlier this week and decided to give it the green light. The tower, formally known as The Clock Tower, will bear the Queen’s name in perpetuity. The proposal has proved controversial, causing huge debate on social networking site Twitter. Many people misunderstood the idea and thought Big Ben itself - the name of the famous bell - might be changed. In fact, it is the name of the 316 foot tower - one of the most well-known symbols of London and the United Kingdom around the world - that will be amended. MPs accept it will continue to be known colloquially as Big Ben, the name of the famous bell it houses, but say the tower itself should carry the name of Queen Elizabeth II. Both the Cabinet Office and Buckingham Palace are understood to have supported the proposal, with the Queen said to be touched and moved by the honour. “The commission welcomed the proposal to rename the Clock Tower Elizabeth Tower in recognition of HM The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, and will arrange for this decision to be implemented in an appropriate manner in due course,” the Daily Mail quoted a spokesman for the House of Commons Commission as saying. Government sources said a renaming ceremony would now be expected, which the Queen would be invited to attend. Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood, a Parliamentary private secretary at the Foreign Office first proposed the idea. “The renaming of the Clock Tower to the Elizabeth Tower is a fitting recognition of the Queen’s sixty years of service. This is an exceptional tribute to an exceptional Monarch and the result of an excellent campaign by Tobias Ellwood,” Prime Minister David Cameron said Parliament’s Victoria Tower , at 323 foot high, is slightly taller than the more famous Clock Tower which houses Big Ben. Designed, like the rest of the Palace, by Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin, it was originally named ‘The King’s Tower’ because the fire of 1834 occurred during the reign of King William IV. It was renamed in honour of Queen Victoria ’s long reign. At the base of the tower is the Sovereign’s Entrance, so-named because the Monarch uses it to enter the Palace for the State Opening of Parliament. Big Ben is the nickname for the Palace’s other great tower, but is properly the name of the 13.5 tonne bell it houses. It was completed in 1858, and is called The Clock Tower. The Gothic Revival tower holds the largest four-faced chiming clock in the world. The clock dials are set in an iron frame 23 feet across, with a Latin inscription at the base of each reading ‘DOMINE SALVAM FAC REGINAM NOSTRAM VICTORIAM PRIMAM’, which means “Lord, keep safe our Queen Victoria the First.”
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