Latest news with #foundationstone
Khaleej Times
9 hours ago
- Business
- Khaleej Times
Dubai: Sheikh Mohammed lays foundation stone for first Blue Line metro station
Dubai's Ruler laid the foundation stone for the first metro station of the Blue Line on Monday, June 9. The Blue Line is set to bring total number of profits to Dh56 billion and extend over a length of 30km, bringing the total length of railways in the emirate to 131km and 78 stations.
Telegraph
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Queen jokes about ‘spooky' skeletons at Westminster Abbey ceremony
The Queen has unveiled the foundation stone for a new public entrance to Westminster Abbey, joking about her 'spooky' last visit when she saw 'quite a lot of skeletons' on the construction site. She is patron of the £13 million building project, which will see the new entrance named the King Charles III Sacristy, in her husband's honour. During a site visit last October, she appeared surprised to see so many bones and skeletons exposed during archaeological work on the 13th century burial site, admitting that she would not like to visit at night. On Wednesday, the Queen joined the Duke of Buccleuch in removing a red cloth from the engraved foundation stone. She told guests invited to the ceremony to mark the occasion: 'I just want to say how delighted I am to unveil this foundation stone. I can't believe that last time I visited here that there is now a floor, last time I came, there were quite a lot of skeletons. 'I just hope that in 2026, when it is due to finish, that God willing, my husband and I will be back here again to open the King Charles III Sacristy.' Benefactors and supporters who were present included Alan Titchmarsh, the broadcaster and gardener, who was greeted by the Queen with a kiss. 'Hello Alan, it's either in the garden or at Westminster Abbey - and Chelsea next week,' she said of their occasional catch ups. 'As ever, it's lovely to see you.' Referring again to her last visit to the site she said: 'It was full of skeletons, it was quite spooky, wasn't it?' Among the other guests were Thomas van Straubenzee, a close friend of the Prince and Princess of Wales, who is Princess Charlotte's godfather, and Matt Cohler, a venture capitalist. Catherine Armitage, the wife of hedge fund manager John Armitage, read the lesson, before the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry, who is High Steward of the Abbey, gave the address. The Duke told the Queen: 'The unveiling of a foundation stone (at the Abbey) by a member of the royal family has been recorded only on two occasions, by King Henry III 805 years ago, almost to the day on the 16th rather than the 14th of May, and then in 2016, when His Majesty unveiled the foundation stone of the Tower and the Jubilee Galleries. 'And as we have pretty much run out of building sites, it may be the last. So you'll see, Ma'am, that this really is a very special occasion, and that in unveiling a stone here, you are in good company.' The Sacristy is being constructed on the north side of the Abbey, on the footprint of the mediaeval Great Sacristy, built in the 1250s during Henry III's reconstruction of the Abbey, on what was once a burial ground. Skeletons of monks Excavations of the site uncovered the remains of monks, briefly halting the project, before they were covered with a protective layer to allow building work to resume. The new entrance will house security and ticketing facilities, allowing the Abbey itself to be preserved as a sacred space. It will permit all visitors to follow in the footsteps of kings, queens and royal brides by entering the Abbey via the Great West Door. The grand entrance was used by the King and Queen as they arrived for their coronation last May and by the then Kate Middleton, when she entered the church on the arm of her father for her marriage to Prince William in April 2011. The Queen, who is patron of the Westminster Abbey Sacristy Project, was joined by her sister, Annabel Elliot, for the ceremony, which included prayers and a short performance of Anton Bruckner's Locus Iste by the Abbey choir.
