The shuttle to Windsor dropped us down the street from the castle. The town was packed with tourists – English children were on break from school for the Easter holiday. A statue of Queen Victoria greeted us as we walked down the main boulevard that paralleled the castle. This statue was erected in 1887 in celebration of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee.
We stopped for lunch at Cafe Rouge in the small shopping arcade across the street. After a meal and drink, we were ready to join the masses visiting the castle.
The flag flying atop the turret told us that Queen Elizabeth was in residence. She officially stays at Windsor castle two times each year – during Easter week, which was why she was here now, and in June. Unofficially, she and her husband spend may weekends at Windsor.
We bought our tickets and planned our route – we had a little over 2 hours to see this immense complex. Windsor Castle spreads over 28 acres and is divided into three sections – the Middle Ward, where we entered, centered around the round tower with its lovely gardens, the Lower Ward with its public grounds and shops and the entrance to St. George’s Chapel and the Upper Ward with the State and royal apartments. We took a quick look at the lovely gardens of the Middle Ward but decided to walk the steep road to the Upper Ward.
Windsor Castle was built at the end of the 11th century by William the Conqueror and 39 monarchs have resided there. It is the oldest royal residence in the British Isles in continuous use. The State Apartments in the Upper Ward consist of 950 rooms, some of which have been open for public viewing since the 1840’s. Pictures are not allowed inside the castle so my meager description will have to suffice.
Edward III is credited with transforming Windsor in the early 14th century from a military fortification to a Gothic palace. Charles II and his queen, Catherine, were responsible for assembling a team of talented artists and craftsmen to restore and expand the royal apartments in the later half of the 17th century. Subsequent monarchs continued to remodel but much of what is available for public viewing today reflects Charles’ decor. The state apartments consist of exquisitely painted and furnished drawing rooms, bed chambers, dressing rooms, dinner rooms, ballrooms, audience chambers, presence chambers, guard chambers, libraries and bathrooms for the king, queen and courtiers. Important royal artifacts are also displayed within the apartments – china, armor and arms, vases, clocks and paintings.
The State Apartments surround a large grassy quadrangle. This area is often used as a parade ground for royal celebrations. It was quiet today with a lone castle guard standing at attention,
We walked downhill from the Upper Ward along the side of the castle. Canons were displayed along the walls. I loved the daffodils sprouting in the surrounding grass – reminded me of the flower power days when demonstrators would stick flowers in the barrels of firearms. We stopped at a small concession that made its ice cream from the milk of the Royal Jersey cows at the castle. Service was slow and disorganized but my ice cream – a cone with caramel sea salt and elderberry – was delicious!
We walked to the Lower Ward to visit St. George’s Chapel. Chapel construction was started in 1475 by Edward IV and finished 50 years later by Henry VIII. The chapel is actually part of St. George’s College founded by Edward III in 1348 as a self governing community of priests and laymen dedicated to daily prayer for God and the faithful. Today, the college runs a school, conference center with courses for both clergy and laymen, holds three daily services and supports a world famous choir. Of course, the chapel is probably most famous for the royal weddings that have taken place within its hallowed walls.
Pictures can’t be taken inside the chapel. We walked in an orderly queue (after all this is Britain!) with hundreds of tourists viewing different points of interest. These included naves, tombs, cloisters and vaults. Especially notable to me were the tombs of Henry VIII buried with his third and favorite wife, Jane Seymour, and Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville who I’ve read extensively about in more favorable biographies of Richard III (the evil hunchbacked monarch portrayed by Shakespeare as the murderer of his nephews, the rightful heirs to the throne). The large stained glass windows in the chapel are not only beautiful but designed in such a way as to maximize the light and give the interior a warm, elegant feel. As we exited the chapel, the late afternoon sun illuminated its walls as well as the surrounding castle turning the grey brick golden.
We browsed the souvenir shops in the Lower Ward, then lingered a bit as the crowds cleared. It was quiet and the streets almost deserted by the time the castle complex closed. We stopped for coffee and tea in a cafe in town to warm up – although sunny, the afternoon was cool. We took the underground back to Belsize Park, then stopped for a quick dinner down the street from Pax Lodge. Tomorrow we immerse ourselves in Shakespeare!
