Windsor Castle, Fit For a Royal Wedding

Windsor Castle has been very much in the headlines recently.  If you haven’t noticed, it is about to host a rather royal wedding.   On Saturday 19th May at 12 midday Prince Harry will wed his fiance Ms. Meghan Markle.  A few weeks ago on a rather chilly April weekend, my husband and some friends decided it was only right that we should inspect the castle and grounds, to ensure all was in order for such a momentous occasion!

The Castle

Entry to Windsor Castle includes a very comprehensive audio tour which takes you through the grounds and the state, and semi state rooms. We all really enjoyed the tour finding it informative and interesting.  In each room there was the option to find out more about particular objects or history.  So we could  listen to as much or little as we liked, finding out more about the things which were of particular interest to us.

As with the other Royal Palaces and similar historic buildings, photographs are not allowed in the State rooms.  This is such a good thing because it does mean you are able to see exhibits easily and without dodging phones and selfies!

The State apartments are opulent and gold and brimming with history.  Its always interesting to see rooms which we recognise from television or photographs.  The tour takes in the rooms in which the queen receives official visitors and which I am sure will be familiar to many.

The Fire at Windsor Castle

There is lots of emphasis and information about the fire that broke out in Windsor Castle on 20th November 1992 destroying 115 rooms, including nine State Rooms. The fire was started by a faulty spotlight which  ignited a curtain next to the altar in Queen Victorias private chapel. It spread at an unstoppable rate and continued to to burn for 15 hours until it was finally extinguished.  The devastation was on a vast scale with St Georges hall all but destroyed. Below is a picture of St Georges Hall immediately after the fire

We along with lots of other listened to a very knowledge guide describe how paintings had been slashed from frames and priceless tapestries torn down from walls and dropped out of windows in order to save them from the fire. Incredibly only only two works of art were lost in the fire – a rosewood sideboard and a very large painting by Sir William Beechey.  However the structural damage was much greater.

The restoration took 5 years and was completed on the  50th wedding anniversary of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh.

The beautifully restored St Georges Hall will be where the wedding breakfast takes place.  I can confirm they won’t be needing to bring out the emergency chairs!

Queen Mary’s Dolls House

The queues to see the The Dolls House were pretty long when we were there, and some of my party were not keen to wait in line.  However if you are more patient this is an opportunity to see.  The Dolls’ House  built for Queen Mary by the leading British architect, Sir Edwin Lutyens between 1921 and 1924. The attention to detail is second to none and each piece is made by a leading designer or craftsperson of the time.  I will definitely make the effort to see this next time.

St Georges Chapel

On the day we visited the Chapel was closed for a wedding (not that one!) so we were unable to gain entry which was a shame as I’m told its stunning and on the Windsor Castle website is billed as “one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in England”.  Usually the chapel is open to visitors during normal visiting hours except on Sundays when it is closed for services.  Although its possible to attend as a worshiper.

No trip to a historic palace would be complete without a trip to the gift shop.  Windsor Castle has a number of shops with suitably royal gifts including fancy china, chocolates and of course cuddly Corgie’s  My friend who is a cook bought her self a royal chefs hat to wear on the day of the wedding itself.  I settled for a picture of the floral arch surrounding the door to the shop!

Getting to Windsor

From London there is a direct train to Windsor which takes around 55 minutes.

Parking is at a premium and Windsor is always busy (partiuclalry right now) so I would definitely recommend letting the train take the strain if you can

Cost of Entry

Its not cheap but there is lots to see so I would say its worth it, particularly on a sunny day when you could spend lots more time in the grounds than we did.

Adults £21.20

Under 17 £12.30, Under 5, free

Family (2 adults and 3 under 17’s £54.70

I cannot stress enough the importance of booking tickets in advance.  We booked our tickets just the morning we decided to go and are so glad we did.  When we arrived there was a huge queue snaking further than we could see the end of.  Another tip is to not only book your tickets but print them off at home first.  We did this and were able to sail past the enormous queue of those waiting to buy tickets and  again past the queue of those who had booked but not printed their tickets before they arrived.  I can honestly say I do not think we would have had the patience to wait in the queue to buy tickets

Opening Times

During the summer it opens at 9.30, and closes at 5.15.

We probably spent around 2 1/2 – 3 hours there but could easily have spent longer, and I’m sure we would,  had the weather been warmer.

I am happy to confirm that Windsor Castle will do very nicely for the forthcoming nuptials!

Read about my visit to Buckingham Palace and the state room tour

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