Large Liz? Big Ben Renamed in Honor of Queen Elizabeth's Jubilee!

Parliament's House of Commons votes to change the name of the iconic London landmark in recognition of the monarch's 60-year reign on the throne

By Gina Serpe Jun 26, 2012 7:40 PMTags
Big Ben, Queen ElizabethChris Jackson/Getty Images; Reuters/Pool

Anyone waiting for Britain's Jubilympics hysteria to die down is going to need to steel themselves with the kind of stiff-upper-lipped fortitude the nation was built on (T minus 31 days to the opening ceremony!).

Because just when we thought the U.K.'s national pride had peaked with the majesty of a, um, monarch-transporting, rain-soaked flotilla, along comes this frankly impressive honor: to further mark the 60-year reign of Queen Elizabeth II, Parliament has voted to change the name of London's landmark Big Ben-housing clock tower and rename it for the royal.

So, Large Liz? Betty's Belltower? What, oh, what, is the monument's new name?

It's not catchy, but it'll do: Tourists, get ready to add Elizabeth Tower to your London itineraries.

The House of Commons confirmed the name change today, the result of a campaign backed by the majority of the Members of Parliament and leaders of Britain's three main political parties (including Prime Minister David Cameron) and was proposed "in recognition of Her Majesty's 60 years of unbroken public service on behalf of her country."

As it happens, it's not the first time the tower has been rechristened. Commonly referred to as Big Ben, that nickname really belongs to the giant bell inside the clock tower, not the tower itself—instead, that iconic Westminster structure was built under the name King's Tower in 1860, before getting renamed Victoria Tower in honor of that queen, and more recently was known simply, if unoriginally, as the Clock Tower, before its latest naming incarnation.

Long may it reign.