The Queen Was In

Today in England was a rare one since it was at least 18 degrees, that is in Celsius so it was a sunny 65 to my American readers. Such a beautiful day precipitated a visit to the country. Since neither Russ nor Carter had ever been to Windsor we hopped on the train and went out to see the Castle.

Being the weekend the Queen was there, it being her country house and all. We were alerted to that fact by her royal standard flying above the tower. We started our tour with an official royal guide who took us around the outside of the castle. She pointed out where the horrible fire of 1992 started and told us how over 100 rooms of the castle had been affected by the fire, but that only two pieces of movable furniture had been lost and that now the restoration was complete.

After finishing the outside tour we went inside to view the State Apartments for ourselves. Don’t be fooled by the word apartments. When we were in the St. George’s Hall which was the largest room where grand dinner are held that take three days to set the tables for, a docent in the room pointed out to us where the Queen’s personal apartment was across the courtyard. She told us that she had seen the Queen being driven down to church a little more than an hour before. Shoot, we had just missed her.

As Carter and I walked the length of the great hall looking out the windows into the court yard we saw a brand new green Range Rover drive up the gravel drive inside the court yard and pull into the covered area the docent had showed us just moments before. Through the hazy five hundred year old glass Carter and I just caught a glimpse of the Queen as she was let out of the car and went to her door. What are the chances?

We continued going through the rest of the rooms. At one point in a dining room that had very bad damage from the fire, a docent was showing photos to a little English girl who was no more than five. The pictures showed the missing roof and charred walls as well as a melted gold chandelier that was holding on by just a little metal left after all the wood burned away around it. The little girl looked at the terrible picture and in the most earnest voice asked the docent, “Did the Queen cry?” The woman responded as honestly as she could and said, “I don’t know, but I am sure she was sad.”

I wish the Queen could have seen the concern on that little girl’s face as she looked at the pictures of devastation and compared it to the beautiful restorations they have today. All I can say is God save the Queen and thank heaven for the Queen restoring Windsor.