Royal connections to Tower Bridge

Did you know that Tower Bridge was funded by Bridge House Estates?

Many of London’s bridges owe their existence and ongoing maintenance to this organisation and the man who created it in the thirteenth century, Peter de Colechurch. Aware of the cost of maintaining infrastructure, de Colechurch set up the fund to ensure (the original) London Bridge was looked after. This fund would later be known as the Bridge House Estates.

Thirteenth century England was a tumultuous place. One of the results of a long civil war was that five of the arches on London Bridge collapsed. The blame fell on the Queen, Eleanor of Provence, who was managing the Bridge House Estates fund at the time. (Some say that she is the ‘fair lady’ mentioned in the song ‘London Bridge is falling down’.)

Her son, King Edward I, realised that without a bridge, London could not trade and with no trade, there would be no taxes. So, in 1282, he granted the City of London a Royal Charter, handing them management of the Bridge House Estates funds. Without this royal intervention, it’s likely that the City’s bridges as we know them would be very different.

To build a new bridge across the Thames, the City of London Corporation required approval from parliament and from the reigning monarch. Queen Victoria signed the Corporation of London (Tower Bridge) Act on 14 August 1885.

Less than a year later, Queen Victoria’s son, the Prince of Wales (and future King Edward VII) laid the foundation stone to commemorate the start of the Bridge’s construction. The stone, located at the northern end of the Bridge, is decorated with the royal coat of arms and is engraved with the names of those present at the ceremony, including Sir John Wolfe Barry and Sir Horace Jones.

On 30 June 1894, the Prince of Wales returned to formally open Tower Bridge. This time he was accompanied by his wife, Princess Alexandra, and his son, the Duke of York (the future King George V). It was a celebration like no other, which took a whole week to tidy up afterwards.

In 1954, Her Late Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II finished her world tour with an unforgettable Bridge Lift – sailing through Tower Bridge on the Royal yacht with the words ‘welcome home’ on the walkways.

And in 1977, to celebrate her Silver Jubilee, the Bridge was painted red, white and blue - it was originally chocolate brown, rumoured to have been Queen Victoria’s favourite colour.

In 2010, for the first time ever, a reigning monarch visited inside Tower Bridge. It was a truly amazing occasion for the Tower Bridge team. Her Late Majesty The Queen made the day particularly memorable by taking the time to speak to each member of the team.

The Diamond Jubilee Flotilla

In 2012, Her Late Majesty The Queen returned to Tower Bridge for her Diamond Jubilee.

Sailing along the Thames, the Royal Barge was joined by a flotilla of 670 boats from the UK and the Commonwealth. As the Royal Barge passed beneath the Bridge the bascules raised as high as possible in ‘full salute’, a sign of respect for the monarch.

The celebration ended with a rousing rendition of the British national anthem and a fireworks display from the Bridge’s high-level Walkways.

The coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla took place on 6 May 2023 at Westminster Abbey. Charles III ascended to the throne on 8 September 2022, upon the death of his mother, Her Late Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II. 

The service at the Abbey was followed by a grand procession to Buckingham Palace. The royal family then appeared on the Palace’s balconies.

The festivities dominated London and culminated in a new bank holiday on Monday 8 May. Tower Bridge was lit up red, white and blue on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 May. We celebrated the occasion with a commemorative ticket, colourful bunting, and crown and sash-making family activities.