Visible for miles around standing above the town, Windsor Castle is a well-known symbol of the monarchy and of Britain. The Castle also gives its name to the Royal Family, which reflects the long-standing importance of the building to the monarchy.
Not only is it a well-known visitor attraction, it is a working castle that The Queen uses as an 'office' for her formal duties and a home.
For one week in June, The Queen is in residence at Windsor for the annual service of the Order of the Garter and the Royal Ascot Race meeting. The Court also moves to Windsor for the Easter period, which this year also coincided with the christening of The Queen's seventh grandchild, Lady Louise Windsor.
The Queen spends many weekends privately at the Castle throughout the year and often rides in the surrounding parkland.
For a time, Christmas was traditionally celebrated by the Royal family at the Castle, but due to refurbishment work and then the fire at Windsor in 1992, it was decided to spend the festive period at Sandringham House instead.
Windsor Castle has been open to the public for hundreds of years. The diarist Samuel Pepys visited Windsor Castle in 1666 and commented that it was the most romantic castle in the world.
Nearly four-hundred years later, the Castle still welcomes visitors to admire its network of State Apartments, towering stone walls and the quiet splendour of St. George's Chapel.
The Castle covers an area of 13 acres and contains over 1,000 rooms, including sixteen State Apartments. The sheer size of the Castle means that it takes a great deal of organisation to keep it running throughout the year for visitors and the Royal family when they are in residence.
The State Apartments are prepared every morning under the supervision of the Castle Foreman. The rooms are vacuumed and dusted before opening to the public at ten o'clock.
The Castle is open to visitors for most of the year, apart from a handful of days including Christmas Day, and on State occasions when it closes so that The Queen and her guests can use the State Apartments for audiences, receptions and charity events.
The Castle is also closed once a year so that a 'high-clean' of the beams, chandeliers and pieces of armour on display can take place.
With so many large and high rooms to look after, scaffolding is used to enable the staff to reach the corners and ledges that a daily clean can not touch.
Many other members of staff are employed to help run the Castle ranging from gardeners who look after the grass and Wardens who greet visitors with their near encyclopaedic knowledge of the Castle.
Soldiers marching into the Lower Ward for the morning Guard Change are a familiar sight and have been part of the daily life of the Castle for centuries.
One of the more visually impressive sights at the castle is the arrival by carriage of a visiting Head of State. The Quadrangle at Windsor is transformed from its grassy turf by the rows of the Guards regiments who form the ceremonial welcome.
The Queen and her guests enter the State Entrance, a tower added by George IV in the 1820s, and up the Grand Staircase made for Queen Victoria in the 1860s, to the fan-vaulted vestibule, where the visitors are introduced to the Royal Family.
Over the centuries many monarchs have put their mark on the structure of the Castle, although modern monarchs have not made any major amendments. That was changed by the fire at Windsor Castle in 1992 when vast parts of the State Apartments had to be rebuilt.
As a result, St George's Hall, originally a medieval structure and unaltered for centuries, now bears The Queen's EIIR cipher, marking its completion.
The 185 foot Hall is used to host the State Banquets that are held on the first evening of a State Visit. The last occasion that Windsor accommodated such a visit was during 2001, with visits from President and Mrs. Mbeki of South Africa and King Abdullah II and Queen Rania of Jordan respectively.
Once or twice a year, usually during Easter Court, The Queen holds a 'dine and sleep' at the Castle to entertain official guests. The guests may include the Prime Minister, ambassadors, or business leaders for example.
Those invited arrive in the evening for drinks, and, after dinner, visit a special exhibition organised by the Librarian, usually laid out in the Royal Library.
Windsor Castle is also home to the Royal Archives. The Round Tower houses the collection of documents from previous monarchs' reigns, including Queen Victoria's diaries and family photographs.
The majority of the material relating to the Royal family in the Archives is made up from recent kings and queens, beginning in the 1800s.
St. George's Chapel, within the precincts of the Castle, is home to the prestigious Order of the Garter, Britain's highest Order of Chivalry. This magnificent building is also the place of rest for ten sovereigns, including Henry VIII and George IV.
The Dean of St. George's Chapel and four canons look after the daily life of the Church, which is also open to visitors (members of the public are welcome to attend services as well). Most recently, Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, was laid to rest with her husband George VI in 2002.
The Chapel has also seen many Royal weddings, including Princess Alice of Albany to Prince Alexander of Teck (later Earl of Athlone) in 1904, In 1999, Prince Edward, the youngest son of The Queen, and Miss Sophie Rhys-Jones, now The Earl and Countess of Wessex, were married in the Chapel.
Christenings also take place at Windsor, including that of Prince Henry of Wales (known as Prince Harry) who was christened there on 21 December 1984.
|
