In honour of Prince William's birthday, the Abbey bell ringers are ringing 541 changes of Stedman Caters and then a course of London Surprise Royal. Video / @wabbey
King Charles has shared a never-before-seen photo from his coronation in honour of Prince William’s 41st birthday today.
The King and Queen were some of the first to share a tribute to the Prince of Wales on his birthday, sharing a snap of a sweet moment between father and son taken during rehearsals for the coronation on May 6.
The caption read, “Wishing The Prince of Wales a very happy birthday today!” alongside a red balloon emoji.
Taken by royal photographer Chris Jackson, the snap shows Charles smiling at his son as William adjusts his coronation robe. The Prince of Wales wore a suit during the rehearsal, but wore his official Order of the Garter Robe for the ceremony itself.
During the coronation, William assisted the bishops to put the Robe Royal on Charles as part of his official duties.
Prince William with children Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis & Prince George. Photo / Millie Pilkington
After Charles was crowned, William then knelt in front of them to promise loyalty to the monarch, touching the crown and kissing his father’s cheek. King Charles then appeared to say, “Thank you, William.”
Westminster Abbey’s bells were rung today to mark the Prince of Wales’ birthday.
Until 2020, the bells would ring to mark just 12 royal birthdays - those of Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, and their four children Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, as well as Camilla, Prince William, Kate and their children George, Charlotte and Louis.
But it was then announced that from 2022, the bells would only ring to mark Queen Elizabeth’s and Charles’ birthdays.
A spokesperson for the Abbey told Hello! magazine in August 2021, “The Abbey bells can be heard ringing out before services and in celebration of church festivals.
“The bells have also traditionally been rung to mark the birthdays of senior members of the Royal Family. Due to the financial challenges posed to the Abbey by the Covid-19 pandemic, and in consultation with Buckingham Palace, the bells will now ring only for the birthdays of HM The Queen and HRH The Prince of Wales.”
But since Queen Elizabeth’s death in September last year, the rules for the birthday bells seem to have changed again. They rang for Princess Kate’s birthday this year as well as William’s and are set to ring in July for Camilla’s birthday too, according to the schedule.
David Beckham also wished Prince William a happy birthday, following his recent appearance at the Earthshot Prize awards ceremony in the US to hand out an award. He wrote the message, “Have an amazing day”, and shared several photos of the Prince of Wales on his Instagram story.
