A PRINCELY TRIBUTE
Reverend Robert Clifford rings the bell at the All Saints' Anglican Church in Windsor on Thursday. The tolling of the bells was done 99 times in honour of the late Prince Philip, who died on April 9 at the age of 99. He was the husband of Queen Elizabeth.
The bell at All Saints' Anglican Church tolled 99 times Thursday in honour of Britain's Prince Philip who died April 9 at the age of 99.
Beginning at 1 p.m. and for 98 minutes after, the bell marked each year of the life of the prince, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, who was two months shy of his 100th birthday.
For almost 175 years the All Saints' has been a centre for public ritual and ceremony, Rev. Robert Clifford said.
But due to the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions on gatherings, church officials were unable to host what under normal circumstances would have been a church service with invited dignitaries.
“We would have marked the passing of the Queen's consort with a more traditional ceremony,” Clifford said, adding the bell ringing was chosen, “because bells are lovely and they lift people out of themselves to think of things beyond themselves.
“And they're just beautiful to listen to. The tolling echoes off the office towers and apartment towers and even if it just lifts somebody out of the stay-at-home-blues just for a little while then that's worth the effort too.”
All Saints' has a tradition of ringing the bell at funerals and weddings and to mark special occasions.
The bell is a replacement for the church's original. Clifford said it is a mystery as to what happened to the first bell, but it was replaced early in the 20th century.
The bell sits in the tower above the entry to the church; a rope hangs down into the entry area where a pull makes it ring.
Regular daily bell ringing at the church is done through electronic bells that chime snippets of hymns.
Clifford said All Saints' has a custom of marking significant events in the life of the royal family and deep connections to the royal family.
On a wall in the church's girl guide chapel hangs a piece of the cloth that hung at Queen Elizabeth's coronation in 1953 at Westminster Abbey in London.
As well, a cross was fabricated from a wooden beam from St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.
The funeral for Philip, also known as the Duke of Edinburgh, will be held Saturday at St. George's Chapel.