Westminster Abbey to pay tribute to Prince Philip: Church will toll bell 99 times every 60 seconds

Westminster Abbey will toll its tenor bell every 60 seconds, 99 times, this evening in tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh. 

From 6pm the bell will sound following the announcement of Prince Philip’s death this afternoon and will make the 99 years of his life.  

The Duke of Edinburgh spent his final days at Windsor Castle with the Queen after a 28-night stay in hospital having been admitted in mid-February for an infection and a pre-existing heart condition.

Her Majesty announced her husband’s death at midday as the Union Flag was lowered to half-mast outside Buckingham Palace, in Downing Street and on public buildings across the UK and Commonwealth. 

The tenor bell at Westminster Abbey (pictured today) will toll 99 times every 60 seconds from 6pm in tribute to Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh

The tenor bell is tolled following the announcement of the death of a member of the Royal family and on the death of a Dean of Westminster.

It has a diameter of 4ft 6in (137 cm), a weight of 30 cwt 1 qtr. 15lb (1,530 kg) and is tuned to the note of D.  

The bell formed part of the funeral for Princess Diana, on Saturday 6 September 1997. When it began chiming it signalled the departure of the cortège from Kensington Palace.

The tenor bell was also tolled at the funeral of the Queen Mother in 2002, chiming 101 times, one for each year of her life. 

The bell will ring this evening at the same church where Prince Philip and the Queen married 73 years ago and where Her Majesty was coronated in June 1953. 

A frail Philip was last seen leaving hospital for Windsor on March 16. 

His death plunges the nation and the Royal Family into mourning and brings to an end his lifetime of service to Britain and to Elizabeth, the Queen who adored him since her teens. 

Westminster Abbey’s tenor bell is tolled following the announcement of the death of a member of the Royal family and on the death of a Dean of Westminster. The Queen announced this afternoon that Prince Philip (pictured) had died this morning

The couple shared their 73rd wedding anniversary last November and he was due to turn 100 on June 10 this year.

Hundreds gathered in the spring sunshine at the palace and in Windsor, where many hugged and wiped away tears as they laid flowers in his memory – and left messages of love and support for the Queen and her family.

But as the crowds grew this afternoon the Government urged people to stay away and not to leave bouquets for public health reasons because Britain remains in lockdown due to Covid-19. 

The notice announcing the Duke of Edinburgh’s death at the gates of Buckingham Palace even had to be removed to maintain social distancing, officials said.

His funeral will be a small family service at St George’s Chapel in the grounds of Windsor Castle before the duke is buried in Frogmore Gardens, where Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were laid to rest. The date has not been set.

More details will emerge in the next few days, with the plan nicknamed ‘Operation Forth Bridge’, but the public have already been urged to stay away to avoid spreading Covid-19 and watch it on TV at home instead. 

A state funeral including a flotilla of boats on the Thames to mark her husband’s life looks impossible due to covid restrictions, but the Duke was said to have disliked the idea because he ‘didn’t want the fuss’.

The cause of his death has not been made public, but Philip had his first Covid-19 vaccination with the Queen on January 9, with his second one due around a week ago. It is not known if it was administered.