We rented a car Friday to drive out to the Cotswolds (see next post), and we visited Windsor Castle on the way. Windsor Castle (started in 1070) is still a working residence for the royal family, and the queen often spends weekends here, though right now she is summering in Balmoral, Scotland. The castle is one of the most beautiful we have ever seen as it has been well maintained and restored throughout the years, most recently after a terrible fire in 1992. It is much more expansive than just a castle, really an estate of many buildings within a perimeter wall with ramparts and turrets. Among the buildings is the 15th century St. George’s chapel, an architectural feast for the eyes.
No ordinary (nor small) chapel, this is a beautiful church with fantastic artistry, especially in the ceiling, which looks like it is growing right out of the spectacular soaring columns high above us. Buried in the chapel are King Henry VIII, and his 3rd wife, Jane Seymour, and Charles I – the only English king ever to be executed, in 1649 following the Civil War.
Why Jane Seymour and not one of his other wives? From Wiki: “She was the only one of Henry’s wives to receive a queen’s funeral, and his only consort to be buried beside him in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, as she was the only consort to have a male heir to survive infancy.”
David (the tour guide in Oxford and Stratford) taught us a little saying to help us remember the fate of Henry’s six wives:
Divorced, Beheaded, Died; Divorced, Beheaded, Survived.
And thanks to a group of schoolchildren, we all know the actions to accompany the ditty – remember to ask us next time you see us!
He also rattled off a mnemonic to remember all the Kings/Queens of England… even the Londoner in the crowd was impressed. It’s kinda fun when sung to “Good King Wenceslas”…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mnemonic_verse_of_monarchs_in_England