Queen Mom | Scene Through the Lens

Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh and youngest son of Queen Elizabeth II, stopped at the plaque that commemorates her 1976 gifting a bell to the United States from the people of Great Britain on the 200th anniversary of American independence.

The queen’s Bicentennial Bell rang twice a day for decades atop a tower at the former Independence National Historical Park Visitor Center. It then spent 11 years in storage before being put back on display last year at the garden.

Edward rededicated the bell - cast at the Whitechapel Foundry in London, the same foundry that originally cast the Liberty Bell in 1751 - and helped kick off festivities leading up to next year’s Semiquincentennial.

The King of England’s brother wasn’t the only celebrity involved in Philly 250 last week. Mascots from all five of the city’s professional sports teams (and Temple University’s owl) wowed the crowd at a pep rally launching the city’s recruitment of 10,000 “Phambassadors” to serve as Philly champions, advocates, and storytellers ahead of America’s big birthday celebration in 2026.

» READ MORE: Pictures of Phambassador pep rally

Since 1998 a black-and-white photo has appeared every Monday in staff photographer Tom Gralish’s “Scene Through the Lens” photo column in the print editions of The Inquirer’s local news section. Here are the most recent, in color: