Tour - 8th of September - Windsor

Best.

Day.

Ever.

Met up with the full Tour group this morning. Note to future self - London Tube strikes suck, really, really, REALLY big time.

Got to Windsor and checked into the most beautiful (by beautiful I mean SUPER fancy!) Hotel that is literally right across the road from Windsor Castle. We immediately went on a Tour of the Outer Castle, given by a Blue Badge Tour Guide - which is apparently some very special brand of Historical Guide, kinda like London Taxi Drivers have to study for years to get a licence - these Blue Badgers have to be several levels above and beyond to get their accreditation, so feeling very spoilt.

All the Tour Leaders are incredibly nice (there's 3 of them) and the passengers are all very keen and eager to have a great time. There's 2 of us from Australia, 1 from Austria and the other 16 are all from America.

Windsor Castle is my favourite! Absolutely beautiful stone fortress that just has a warm, lovely, historic feel to the air and the walls and the footpaths and the ceilings....gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous.

Today is the 3rd anniversary of the Queen's passing and the accession of King Charles, so there was quite a bit of fuss being made. Prince Harry made a private visit to his Grandmother's memorial - apparently that's why he was there - and drove right past us. No pomp and ceremony for Harry, just an inconspicuous black car, but it was most definitely him. We did all around the outside and then in the Chapel. No photos allowed in there, so you'll have to believe me when I tell you we saw some incredible sights. It's the Chapel where Harry and Meghan and Princess Eugenie were married and not in the big, main Chapel but in a registry office around the corner, Prince Charles and Camilla. The inside of the Chapel is glorious - the floors, the amazing stained glass windows, the intricate ceilings....

I know I'm going to see a LOT of Chapels and Abbeys and Cathedrals this trip, but this one's my favourite. We saw the plaque where Elizabeth II and Prince Philip are buried and the tomb of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour. Imagine that! 500 years ago and he's just right there....well, what's left of him is. Like, there....RIGHT THERE! Unbelievable.

Best Day Ever.

Then, as is only right and good and proper, we took a break for High Tea. I very much enjoyed my Elderflower and lemon tea to go with this little lot. It's tough, but I'll soldier on.

In the afternoon we went back inside the Castle and saw Queen Mary's Dolls House. Again, no photos allowed but take my word for it - there's not a dolls' house like it - anywhere - ever. The electricity works, the plumbing works, the lifts work - even the miniature books in the library are tiny, weeny replicas of published books and authors from the day. "Vespers' by A.A. Milne was there, I saw it!

Then we went through the State Apartments.

"This is where they hold State dinners. This table can seat 200 people."

"These coats of arms and sigils are from every Knight of the Order of the Garter going back to the creation of The Order of the Garter by Edward II in the 1340s."

"This is the room where Anne Boleyn was invested as the Marchioness of Pembroke. The only woman ever in history to be invested in her own right and not have her husband hold the Title. She sat on that chair right there. Henry VIII stood beside her, right here."

Oh please. I'm not sure if it was my head or my heart, but something just exploded.

Once we made it through all of that, we came out and a few of us decided to attend Evensong back in the Chapel we'd been in this morning. It was lovely, like really lovely. Mum and dad would have been in awe. Even I was in awe - and there was not a single lightening strike inside the Church, so a win-win all round really. Also...and here's an extra good bit...we were joined in the service by Prince Edward! He came in once we were all seated, sat a little bit away from the rest of us, next to the Minister, close to the Pulpit, but from where I was, he was behind a great big wooden column so all I saw was the top of a head bobbing about during hymns and then he (of course) walked out after the Minister, before the rest of us left so there was no interaction with him, but 2 Royals in one day! Afterwards, as our group collected outside, Prince Edward and his small entourage drove past us. He wasn't alone in the car, but he was the one doing the driving. Bless you Prince Edward, bless you.

The service itself was beautiful. Sort of half and half English and Latin, the choir was ridiculously amazing and I was sat where if I stretched my legs out and crossed my ankles I was aaaalmost touching the marble monument to Henry VIII and Jane Seymour. I mean, really. Who gets that kind of experience?! I admit that I may have closed my eyes while the choir was singing in Latin and pretended that I was hearing what Henry and Anne would have heard.

At the end of the Service, before the Benediction, we sang God Save the King.

Best Day Ever.

The Tour group then went out for dinner at "The Duchess of Cambridge". Hhmm, there's a Royal we missed out on today. Directly opposite the Castle and a very noisy, very happy, very excited dinner it was.

Am I ready for Hampton Court Palace tomorrow? Am I what!

I'm telling you - Best. Day. EVER.