Westminster Abbey celebrates Dickens’ Bicentenary
Tuesday, 7th February 2012
Their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall attended a ceremony at Westminster Abbey on 7th February 2012 at 11.15 am to celebrate the life and work of Charles Dickens on the 200th anniversary of his birth.
The great Victorian writer was buried in the South Transept of Westminster Abbey on 14th June 1870.
In his Welcome, the Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr John Hall, said:
On this day two hundred years ago was born one of the greatest of writers in the English language. Charles Dickens’ passion and compassion, so powerfully influential in his own day, continue to move and inspire his world-wide audience through his stories and books. We, his descendants and his admirers, gather today at his grave, to recall and celebrate Dickens’ life and achievement, to be inspired and enriched by his writing and his example, and to remember and honour him with thanksgiving to almighty God.
The Prince of Wales was invited to lay a wreath on Dickens’ grave as part of the ceremony, which is one of a number of events being held internationally this year to mark the anniversary.
