I am a bit of a history fanatic so we couldn’t go to London without a trip to Windsor Castle and, my very favourite palace, Hampton Court Palace.
I had read that there was a shuttle bus between Windsor Castle and Hampton Court and had all the times worked out so we headed first to Windsor.
windsor and the castle
Windsor is a beautiful little town. I have visited it many times before and in fact, when we brought the older boys to England in 1998, our first stop on Christmas Eve was Windsor where we stayed at the wonderful old hotel, The Harte & Garter. We absolutely loved that hotel for its beautiful décor, lovely service (I had to work as soon as I arrived and they were very accommodating in the office) and the perfect location directly opposite Windsor Castle. I seem to remember there wasn’t a lift but what do you expect in a 14th century building?
This time we didn’t stay in Windsor of course and instead had just half a day to see the sights. We did a little shopping – Nick had succumbed to the flu and I was on the way down with it too – and then headed to the castle just in time to catch the changing of the guards. This ceremony takes place when the regiment who has been guarding the castle for the past 24 or 48 hours hands over to a new regiment. It is a colourful display of pageantry.
We watched the ceremony in the Lower Ward just outside St George’s Chapel. It was quite enjoyable although a little long for me. We had a full day and I wanted to get moving but we waited until just before the end and then darted into St George’s Chapel ahead of the crowds.
I always remember St George’s Chapel as the place where Henry VIII is buried (look out for the plaque on the floor marking his burial site) but it has much more historical significance than that. Henry VIII’s first wife Catherine of Aragon, third wife Jane Seymour, Charles 1 and six other sovereigns are also buried there and of course, now it will be remembered as the chapel where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle married.
Windsor Castle is one of the Queen’s official residences and is said to be her favourite. It is the oldest and largest continuously inhabited castle in the world and, since the 11th century, has been the home of 39 monarchs.
The castle is of course the reason why 1992 was the Queen’s ‘Annus Horribilus’ when much of the castle’s state rooms and St George’s Hall were destroyed by fire. Extensive restoration work was completed however over the following 5 years and whilst it was a very costly process, many people say that the restoration is actually an improvement on the original, particularly in St George’s Hall.
I find standing in the castle grounds fascinating as it was founded by William the Conqueror who built the oldest parts of the castle in wood following his success at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. He chose Windsor as it was less than a day away from London. The original wooden keep and walls were replaced with stone during Henry I’s reign and the castle was extensively expanded in the 1200s and 1300s.
William the Conqueror’s original mound was replaced with the Round Tower during Henry II’s reign. We decided to take a guided tour of the Round Tower as it wasn’t open to the public when we last visited (it only reopened in 2011). Given this is the most dominant feature of the castle from a distance, we decided to take the walk up 200 steps to the top and to take in the view of this 800 year old building. The talk was interesting and a little different to the tours of state rooms and apartments that we would later experience in all the palaces around Europe. We did miss out on seeing Windsor Castle’s State Rooms however which are very beautiful and we didn’t see Queen Mary’s Dolls House either. The boys didn’t mind the latter and I had already seen it but I recommend getting to the Castle early if you have never been before and doing a full tour of the State Apartments and the Dolls House, the latter of which is very intricate and beautifully made.
hampton court palace
Our greater interest however was to make it over to Hampton Court Palace so we raced off to catch the shuttle bus shortly after our tour of the Round Tower. The queues were long for the State Apartments and the Dolls House so there was no point waiting. However, I made my first major mistake of the trip at this point – I assumed that we would be able to purchase shuttle bus tickets on the bus or in Windsor at the tourist office, but no. After racing around for half an hour trying to find out where to buy our tickets, I was informed that they had to be purchased online in advance. We actually found the bus in time but they wouldn’t let us on.
So we had to take the long route of several train changes to make our way to Hampton Court Palace. We arrived later than hoped but at least we arrived. And our London Passes gave us fast track entry which helped.
I totally love Hampton Court Palace with its red brick facade, working kitchens, authentic style furnishings and stunning gardens. Everything about it feels real and lived in. From the huge walled kitchen gardens where the palace’s food was grown to the massive formal gardens and the famous maze, you can really take yourself back in time to Henry VIII’s days in this palace.
The history of course is that Cardinal Wolsey built the palace as his own luxurious residence in the early 16th century. As Wolsey was falling from grace, he found it necessary to gift the palace to the monarch for his own protection. Henry VIII expanded the palace to make it suitable to be his principle residence adding huge kitchens, the glorious Great Hall, the astronomical clock, tennis courts and much more.
So much history took place in this palace, the most haunting of which is Henry VIII’s very young fifth wife Catherine Howard who was said to have escaped her guards and ran through the Haunted Gallery to beg the king for her life after being accused of adultery. She didn’t make it to the king and was later executed. Her ghost is said to haunt the gallery.
I personally loved the kitchens where actors wearing Tudor clothing cook traditional meals of the day. Throughout the day, there are also various skits with actors playing out their roles from Tudor times. We came across one involving Katherine Parr, Henry VIII’s last wife, and the king’s men who wanted her arrested for her religious beliefs and for having banned publications in her possession. With plans drawn up for her arrest, she ran to the king to beg forgiveness and, unlike poor Catherine Howard, was forgiven and outlived the ailing king.
We thoroughly enjoyed the skit and the boys involved themselves in the story. Nick as a law student played the role of the Court Lawyer and read out the charges against the Queen. Sam being particularly mischievous advised the king’s men where Katherine had hidden her prohibited publication and in which direction she had fled. I am not sure we were on the right side but it was fun and very well produced.
There is so much to do at Hampton Court Palace that you could easily stay for the day. In hindsight, I would have loved to have been there earlier in the day to catch some of the other live events but we still had around 3 hours or more before we had to leave to catch the train back to London.
This was our last day in London and it all went too soon. There is so much to do in and around London. If we weren’t following up our London visit with a huge trip around Europe, I would have loved to have another 2 or 3 days there.
Of course, if you want to really see England, a month or more can easily go by and there would still be so much more to see. If you also want to see Wales, Scotland and Ireland, you may want longer. Still, a lot can be seen if you do it the Bootcamp Barbie way!
We got back to our apartment early evening, packed and then headed out for our last London meal – for this trip anyway. We walked a little further than previously into Holborn and went for pizza (again!) at Trattoria Verdi. From the outside, it looks like a fairly basic café/restaurant but inside it is delightfully old Italian with huge paintings on the walls and lots of nooks and crannies. The food was great and satisfying for our last night in London before we headed off to France!
