Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Changing of the Guard: The Changing of the Guard takes place Monday through
Saturday at 11:00 (April-July) and on alternating days the rest of the year (check website
to confirm schedule; get there by 10:30, or earlier if you expect a line for tickets). There
is no Changing of the Guard on Sundays or in very wet weather. The fresh guards, led by
a marching band, leave their barracks on Sheet Street and march up High Street, hanging
a right at Victoria, then a left into the castle's Lower Ward, arriving at about 11:00. After
about a half-hour, the tired guards march back the way they came. To watch the actual
ceremony inside the castle, you'll need to have already bought your ticket, entered the
grounds, and staked out a spot. Alternatively, you could wait for them to march by on
High Street or on the lower half of Castle Hill.
The Order of the Garter
In addition to being the royal residence, Windsor is the home of the Most Noble
Order of the Garter—Britain's most prestigious chivalrous order. The castle's his-
tory is inexorably tied to this order.
Founded in 1348 by King Edward III and his son (the “Black Prince”), the
Order of the Garter was designed to honor returning Crusaders. This was a time
when the legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table were sweep-
ing England, and Edward III fantasized that Windsor could be a real-life Camelot.
(He even built the Round Tower as an homage to the Round Table.)
The order's seal illustrates the story of the order's founding and unusual name:
a cross of St. George encircled with a belt and a French motto loosely translated as
“Shame be upon he who thinks evil of it.” Supposedly while the king was dancing
with a fair maiden, her garter slipped off onto the floor; in an act of great chivalry,
he rescued her from embarrassment by picking it up and uttering those words.
The Order of the Garter continues to the present day as the single most prestigi-
ous honor in the United Kingdom. There can be only 24 knights at one time (perfect
numbers for splitting into two 12-man jousting teams), plus the sitting monarch and
the Prince of Wales. Aside from royals and the nobility, past Knights of the Garter
have included Winston Churchill, Bernard “Monty” Montgomery, and Ethiopian
Emperor Haile Selassie. In 2008, Prince William became only the 1,000th knight in
the order's 660-year history.
The patron of the order is St. George—the namesake of the State Apartments'
most sumptuous hall and of the castle's own chapel. Both of these spaces—the
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