(Reuters) - Britain's landmark Big Ben clock tower adjoining the Houses of Parliament will be renamed "Elizabeth Tower" to mark Queen Elizabeth's 60th year on the throne, a parliamentary official said on Tuesday.

The announcement follows four days of celebrations earlier this month to mark the 86-year-old queen's Diamond Jubilee, only the second to be celebrated by a British monarch.

"The House of Commons (parliament) commission welcomed the proposal to rename the clock tower Elizabeth Tower in recognition of Her Majesty the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and will arrange for this decision to be implemented in an appropriate manner in due course," a House of Commons spokesman said.

The ornate, 96-metre high neo-Gothic tower features four gilded clock faces, and was completed in 1859. The tower took its name Big Ben from the giant bell inside, which chimes the famous bongs heard around London's Whitehall government district.

"I think it is a fitting tribute to the Queen and the service she has given to our country in this jubilee year," Prime Minister David Cameron's spokesman quoted the prime minister as saying.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/26/uk-britain-bigben-queen-idUKBRE85P0O220120626

Renaming of monuments is the trend. GEJ, in case you have not heard, this is what you should have done in the first instance, rather than renaming institutions. Knowledge is power!

I expect them to protest

Wouldn't really offend anyone. Big Ben (that is, the bell) is still Big Ben. People rarely refer to Clock Tower by its name. Therefore changing the name Clock Tower to Elizabeth Tower wouldn't offend anyone.

naptu2: 1:42pm On Jun 03

Big Ben is the nickname for the great bell of the clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London,[1] and is generally extended to refer to the clock or the clock tower (officially known simply as Clock Tower) as well.

On 2 June 2012, The Daily Telegraph reported that 331 Members of Parliament, including senior members of all three main parties, supported a proposal to rename the Clock Tower to 'The Elizabeth Tower' in honour of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.[14]

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Ben