It’s official; the Daily Mail reports today that Parliament has agreed to rename the Clock Tower of the Houses of Parliament “The Elizabeth Tower” in honor of the present Queen. (This tower houses the famous “Big Ben”—which will retain its name.) The act mirrors the honor done early during her great-great-grandmonther Victoria’s reign, when the tower at the opposite end of Parliament was named “The Victoria Tower.”
Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood, who first proposed the idea for the new name, said
Of all the forty one monarchs who have reigned over England and the United Kingdom since William the Conqueror, only Her Majesty and Queen Victoria have reached this Diamond Jubilee landmark.
She has travelled more widely than any other head of state in history, and is arguably the most respected and admired public figure in the world.
It therefore seems entirely appropriate for Parliament to pay tribute to Her Majesty with a similar honour, and in symmetry, to that bestowed upon Queen Victoria, by dedicating part of the iconic Parliamentary estate in her name.
Score another one for the queens!
The towers are of course not identical to one another. Victoria is the taller, by 7 feet. And Elizabeth is the noisier.
(Source: Daily Mail)
