Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother's Crown from 1937. The last and most famous
crown, set apart from the others, is the
Imperial State Crown
, worn by the Queen on
state occasions, and sparkling with 2868 diamonds, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds, 5 rubies
and 273 pearls. The crown contains several very famous jewels: St Edward's Sapphire,
taken from the ring of Edward the Confessor and set in the cross atop the crown; the
Black Prince's Ruby, on the front cross; and Cullinan II, the 317-carat “Second Star of
Africa”; the crown also contains pearls from Elizabeth I's ear-rings.
Salt Tower to the Martin Tower
Visitors can walk along the Tower's eastern walls, starting at the
Salt Tower
, which
features more prisoners' gra
ti, including a stunningly detailed zodiac carved by Hugh
Draper, incarcerated in 1561 on a charge of sorcery. This is where Edward I kept the
Scottish King John Baliol prisoner for three years from 1296. Halfway along the walls,
the
Constable Tower
contains a small exhibition on the 1381 Peasants' Revolt.
he
Martin Tower
, at the far end of the wall walk, houses a display of crowns with
their gems taken out and relates the story of the most famous attempt to steal the
Crown Jewels which took place here in 1671, when “Colonel”
Thomas Blood
, an Irish
adventurer, made an attempt to make off with the lot, disguised as a parson. He was
caught with the crown under his habit, the orb in one of his accomplices' breeches and
the sceptre about to be filed in half. Charles II, good-humoured as ever, met and
pardoned the felon, and even awarded him a pension and made him welcome at court.
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Fusiliers' Museum
Last, and probably least, the Tower also contains the
Fusiliers' Museum
which tells the
story of the Royal Fusiliers, now part of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. The original
regiment was founded by James II in 1685 from Tower guards and was called the
Ordnance Regiment, as it was their job to escort the artillery. The museum trots through
the regiment's various campaigns, displays its medals and spoils from across the Empire,
and lists its most famous alumni, although it neglects to mention that East End gangsters,
the Kray Twins, were once Fusiliers, and were in fact held prisoner in the Tower overnight
in 1952 after having failed to turn up on time for their National Service call-up.
TOWER CEREMONIES
The Ceremony of the Keys
is a seven hundred-year-old, seven-minute floodlit ceremony. At
9.53pm daily, the Chief Yeoman Warder, accompanied by the Tower Guard, locks the Tower
gates, and as he attempts to return to the Inner Ward, the following exchange then takes
place: “Halt. Who comes there?” “The Keys.” “Whose Keys?” “Queen Elizabeth's Keys.” “Pass then,
all's well.” Then the Last Post is sounded and the ceremony ends. To find out how to witness
this long-running drama, visit the website.
Gun Salutes
are fired by the Honourable Artillery Company at 1pm at Tower Wharf on royal
birthdays and other special occasions.
The Constable's Dues
occurs once a year when a large Royal Navy ship moors alongside the
Tower; the ship's captain and his escort march through the Tower and present a barrel of rum
to the Constable of the Tower.
The Ceremony of the Lilies and Roses
is carried out every year on May 21 by the provosts of
Eton and King's College, Cambridge, who place white lilies and roses (their respective emblems)
on the spot where King Henry VI, founder of both institutions, was murdered on May 21, 1471.
The Beating of the Bounds
ceremony takes place once every three years (including in 2014)
on Ascension Day (forty days after Easter), outside the walls of the Tower. It used to be little
boys who were beaten, but now it's the 29 stones that mark the limits of the Tower's
jurisdiction that are thrashed with willow wands by local children, while the Chief Yeoman
Warder gives the order “Whack it, boys! Whack it!”
