A manuscript by Charles Dickens on display in central London. — AFP

Britain rang in the bicentennial birth celebrations for novelist Charles Dickens, author of English literature classics like David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, Great Expectations and A Christmas Carol, on Tuesday morning with simultaneous memorial services in the Westminster Abbey in London and at St. Mary’s Church in Portsmouth, Hampshire.
The Prince of Wales and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, led the tributes to Dickens at Westminster Abbey by laying a wreath of white roses and snowdrops at the Victorian writer’s grave in the Poet’s Corner in the Abbey.
“Despite the many years that have passed, Charles Dickens remains one of the greatest writers of the English language, who used his creative genius to campaign passionately for social justice,” Prince Charles said. “The word Dickensian instantly conjures up a vivid picture of Victorian life with all its contrasts and intrigue, and his characterisation is as fresh today as it was on the day it was written.”
Dickens’ descendants — great-great-great-grandson Bob Dickens and great-great-great-great-granddaughter Rachel Dickens Green — paid tribute to the writer on behalf of the family by laying two posies at his grave. The service included readings from Dickens’ novels and his other writings by actor and director Ralph Fiennes and author Claire Tomalin.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams said, also addressed the memorial service. “It is difficult to tell the truth about human beings. Every novelist knows this in a special way, and when Dickens sets out to tell the truth about human beings, he does it outrageously by exaggeration, by caricature,” he said.
Portsmouth, the birthplace of Dickens, celebrated its most famous resident with a special service, the Southwark Cathedral rang in the anniversary with a full peal of bells.
The Westminster Abbey service was the centrepiece of Dickens 2012, an international celebration of the writer’s bicentenary.
The Charles Dickens Museum, housed in a Dickens home in London, celebrated the bicentenary with a birthday cake and free cupcakes.
Ebenezer Scrooge, the miser from A Christmas Carol, has been named as the UK’s favourite Dickens character. “Scrooge is a monster, a wicked employer and a heartless miser, but he is allowed to repent and see the error of his ways,” author Claire Tomalin, who has written a biography of Dickens, said.
British Council’s 24-hour Global Dickens Read-a-thon, which started in Australia with a reading from Dombey and Son, is taking place in 24 countries from India to Zimbabwe. Reading from Oliver Twist took place in India, Nicholas Nickleby in South Korea, The Mystery of Edwin Drood in UAE and the UK provided the half-way point for the 50 nations involved in the read-a-thon.
A new Dickens Newspaper, using Dickens’ works as its content, was launched on Tuesday to mark the bicentenary. British MP Jim Dowd will host a reception at the House of Commons to launch ‘What the Dickens?’ an educational programme.
The Royal Mail, which is issuing a set of 10 stamps in honour Dickens, unveiled two stamps showing Victorian illustrations of Mr Pickwick from The Pickwick Papers and Nicolas Nickleby, the main character of the book of same name.