During a meeting of the House of Commons Committee yesterday it was decided that the Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster, which houses the British Houses of Parliament, will be renamed the Elizabeth Tower in honour of the diamond jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. Perhaps one should not be surprised that parts of the media report that “Big Ben is to renamed”, but this is wrong; Big Ben is the name only of the clock, not of the tower, whose name is now quite simply the Clock Tower.
The other tower of the Palace of Westminster was originally known as the King’s Tower, but was later renamed the Victoria Tower in honour of Queen Victoria. To me it seems quite fitting for the two towers of the Parliament building to bear the names of the two longest-reigning monarchs in British history.
It has not yet been decided when or in what manner the actual renaming will happen.
Big Ben is strictly speaking the name of the main bell, sir. It is the name neither of the tower -- as you correctly have pointed out -- nor of the clock.
ReplyDeleteOf course, we could say that it has been extended to the clock as well over time, but then that argument could be applied to the tower too.
In any case, Big Ben is originally the main bell -- also known as the Great Bell.
BTW, sir, you say there are two towers at the Palace of Westminster? What about the Central Tower?
ReplyDeleteAs I commented in another medium: the next monarch who reigns for sixty years will have to make do with that one.
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