Lloyd’s of London closes underwriting room to remember Queen Elizabeth II
Lloyd’s of London today closed its underwriting room to hold a memorial to Queen Elizabeth II and mark the accession of King Charles III.
The centuries-old insurance marketplace closed the underwriting room in its iconic City headquarters, as it held a ceremony to remember Her Majesty and express support for the new King.
The ceremony began with a single ring of the historic Lutine Bell, which was salvaged from the sunken frigate HMS Lutine in 1858, and installed in Lloyd’s underwriting room.
The ceremony ended with two rings of the bell to mark the coming to the throne of Britain’s new King.
The Lutine Bell is traditionally struck on the arrival of news on the state of an overdue ship – with one ring signaling bad news and two signaling good news.
The bell would traditionally have been sounded to ensure all brokers were made aware of any news simultaneously, but has been used more recently to mark particular events.
Attendees to the ceremony included members of the Lloyd’s market and employees of the Corporation of Lloyd’s.
Lloyd’s will fly the Union Jack flag at half mast throughout the duration of the mourning period until after the funeral. A book of condolence has also been placed in Lloyd’s underwriting room.
Lloyd’s chairman Bruce Carnegie-Brown said: “Our thoughts remain with the Royal Household at this sad time.”
“We were fortunate to host Her Majesty at Lloyd’s on a number of occasions during her reign and all who were there cherish the memory of those visits.”
“In recent years we have worked alongside His Majesty King Charles in support of his Sustainable Markets Initiative and look forward to continuing our close association with this important work to create a more sustainable world.”