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When William the Conqueror originally built Windsor Castle in the late 11th century, it was intended as a fortress. William erected the castle to oversee a strategic part of the River Thames, and to help protect Norman dominance around London. The royals of the time lived in the former palace of Edward the Confessor in the village of Old Windsor. In 1110, Henry I became the first royal to use the castle as a residence.
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Windsor Castle is officially one of the biggest residences in the world, with around 1000 rooms and 45,000 square metres. It sits on about five hectares of land, and its imposing towers are visible from every approach.
Or at the very least, it’s the oldest continuously occupied castle in the world. Windsor Castle has been in the royal family for almost 1000 years and 39 monarchs have graced its halls.
When London, and Buckingham Palace, was bombed relentlessly during World War II, the royal family decided Windsor Castle was a safer place for Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret to wait things out. And when there was a bomb scare at Windsor, the girls would head to the underground dungeons. “A bell rang when enemy aircraft were overheard: the signal to go to one of the beetle-infested dungeons,” wrote Marion Crawford, a former royal nanny, in her book The Little Princesses. “We seemed to be living in a sort of dimly lit underworld – again, with no central heating.”
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In order to keep the castle’s antiques safe and sound, the fortress underwent a bit of a redesign during the war. “All the chandeliers had been taken down, the glass-fronted cabinets were turned to the wall, the paintings had been removed and much of the furniture was under dust-sheets,” wrote Crawford.
To no one’s surprise, the royal family has employed some unusual hiding places. “One rainy day [during World War II], the King’s librarian, Sir Owen Morshead, let us explore the vaults under the castle. ‘Would you like to see something interesting?’ he asked,” writes Crawford. “He took us to a stack of ordinary-looking hatboxes, which seemed merely to contain old newspapers. But when we examined them more closely, we were soon unwrapping the crown jewels – hidden there for the duration.”
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With enough pews to seat some 800 people, St George’s Chapel is the largest space in Windsor Castle. The chapel was established in the 14th century by King Edward III, and was continuously expanded upon throughout the 15th century. It’s considered to be one of the best examples of Gothic architecture in England.
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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tied the knot at St George’s Chapel in 2018, but they’re hardly the first royal couple to choose the famous location. Many of Queen Victoria’s children were married here, as were Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles.
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St George’s Chapel is also the burial place to ten monarchs. And as Newsweek points out, not all those royals are resting in peace – “some were beheaded, some poisoned, some killed by natural causes.” Regardless, royal tombs are scattered all over the place: in tombs near the altar, aisle, quire, and west door, as well as in an underground vault.
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When a castle’s been around for nearly 1000 years, there’s bound to be a few ghost stories attached to it. King Henry VIII is perhaps the most infamous of the alleged ghosts, possibly because everyone is terrified of him. He did, after all, behead two of his six wives. Guests say they have heard the King’s moans and groans, and have even seen the apparition of a large, anxious, angry man, pacing and shouting in the halls. His second wife, Anne Boleyn, who was beheaded at the Tower of London, is also reported to haunt the Dean’s Cloister at Windsor. Maybe, after nearly 500 years, the doomed duo has finally worked it out.
Find out which royal ghosts still haunt Britain to this day.
