In my last entry
I stated that I was skipping over the events of Saturday, 21 April, as they
deserved their own entry. Well, this is that entry. Actually, to be precise,
this is the first in a series of entries all devoted to that day. Prepare to
put your learnin’ crowns on, lads and lasses, ‘cause I’m about to lead you
through my trip to Windsor Castle…
I was up early
on that Saturday morning, as I had to be on campus by 9:00 AM. From there, a
group of international students and I caught a coach headed to Windsor Castle. (For
the record, I visited Windsor in 2008 with Nic, but we arrived close to closing
time, and so we pretty much had to dash through the whole place.)
Now, if you’ve
been following this blog for more than two seconds, you know that I’m a sucker
for kings and queens and castles and all that jazz. So, as you can imagine the
size of my nerdgasm at the thought of spending an entire day there! With that
in mind, most of what follows indulges my love of history and royalty. No one
cares about this stuff half as much as me, but I’m documenting it anyway—maybe
it’ll spark an interest. Now, on with the show…
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| Note the 'Union Jack' on the flagpole. This denotes that The Queen is not in residence. #SadBrett |
THE CASTLE ITSELF
This magnificent
castle is almost 1,000 years old (originally built by William the Conqueror
following his 1066 invasion). It is also the largest inhabited castle in the
world. In fact, Windsor Castle has been in continuous use by varying Royal
Families for over 900 years!
Originally, it
was a fort set atop a hill overlooking the Thames. Though the original
structure is long gone, we can thank Henry II (1133-89) for the famous Round
Tower and outer stone wall of today.
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| The Round Tower, as seen from the Middle Ward. |
Officially,
Windsor is one of Her Majesty, The Queen’s official residences (the others
being Buckingham Palace and Holyroodhouse). It is also The Queen’s favorite, as
inferred by her reaction following the November 1992 fire that decimated the
castle.
That fire (which
occurred on The Queen’s and Duke’s 45th wedding anniversary) was allegedly sparked by a
workman’s lamp, and damaged/destroyed over 100 rooms. It required 15 hours of
firefighting to put out. Fortunately, most of the valuable works of art, etc.,
had been removed due to ongoing renovation.
The cost of
renovation was put at approximately £37 million, which the government refused
to pay outright due to ongoing public concerns about money already being given
to the Royal Family. (This was but one of the many issues facing the Royal
Family which caused The Queen to famously remark that 1992 was an Annus Horribilis.) To help pay for
repairs, The Queen agreed to open various Royal Residences to the public at
certain times.
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| NB: This photo is not mine! |
CHANGING OF THE GUARD
Getting back to
my own experience and away from the history for a bit, it took a lot longer to get
to Windsor than expected due to construction, but it turned out—by the time we
made it through security—that we were just in time to witness the Changing of
the Guard.
Now,
realistically, the only difference between the Changing of the Guard here and
the one at Buckingham palace is…well, the locale. (You can read my description
of the ceremony at the latter location here.)
The 'official' part of the ceremony at
Windsor takes place outside the Guardroom in the Lower Ward of the castle.
However, we were positioned so that we could actually watch the guardsmen
marching through St George’s Gate, which is the passageway used to enter the
Upper Ward, where The Queen et alia
have their private quarters.
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| Guards Marching through St George's Gate |
Okay, okay… I
think that’s enough nerdiness for one entry. Especially since the next one—all about
the place where Queen Elizabeth II will be buried one day—is particularly
in-depth.
Until then…
