Queen Camilla turned 77 on 17 July and Westminster Abbey marked the occasion in a special way by ringing its bells. Kate Middleton and Prince William were married at Westminster Abbey in 2011, and the royal family also hold important services there, including Queen Elizabeth’s funeral in 2022. The bells are only rung to mark a few royal birthdays each year, but this has not always been the case.
“The Abbey bells ring in honour of Her Majesty The Queen’s birthday,” was the caption of the video on the Abbey’s official accounts.
Until 2020, the bells rang in honour of 12 royal birthdays. Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, Charles III, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward have all been honoured, as have Camilla, Kate Middleton and Prince William. The youngest on the list were William and Kate’s children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, who follow their father in the line of succession.
The tradition has changed amid worldwide concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic, and the number of royals honoured with birthday bell ringing has been significantly reduced. The Westminster Abbey bell-ringing schedule in 2022 only celebrated the birthdays of Queen Elizabeth and Charles III, and things changed again after Queen Elizabeth’s death in September 2022: Westminster Abbey then announced that the bells would be rung on the birthdays of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, as well as Prince William and Princess Kate.
However, Charles III is honoured with bells twice a year: the Abbey rings on his actual birthday, 14 November, and also on Trooping the Colour day, which is celebrated with a British Army parade to mark his official birthday as monarch, traditionally held in June. Bells were last rung at Westminster Abbey on the occasion of Prince William’s 42nd birthday, which was held on 21 June. The ringing of bells in honour of Queen Camilla’s birthday this year coincided with the State Opening of Parliament in London.
