The Tower of London is the home of the Crown Jewels since the 14th century. WOW!!! How beautiful!! Queen Victoria's small crown was gorgeous and cute, appears to be white gold or platinum with all diamonds.
The Imperial crown is the one that Queen Elizabeth II wears ONLY once a year to the opening of
Parliament - what a shame. It is an unbelievably large complex of buildings and towers. The jewels
are in a vault in which you walk through and you watch several videos on the crowns and scepters. Then you get on a convoyer belt walkway which takes you past the beauties on both sides of the items which are in cases, and very heavily guarded.
In one of the shops, I picked up my own crown jewels, a necklace with garnets and silver earrings with garnets in the center. The Medieval Palace of Edward I (1272-1307) was sparse on items but the throne was lovely. I walked the wall walk from tower to tower. A special exhibit was in the Martin Tower, "CROWN & DIAMONDS: the Making of the Crown Jewels. Each monarch would take jewels from previous rulers crowns to put into theirs. At the scaffold site, just outside the chapel, Anne Bolyn and Catherine Howard were beheaded here. The Bloody Tower was Sir Walter Raleigh's home for 13 years.
Traitor's Gate is where prisoners would come in and not back out of the grounds. I've seen it in several movies.
The White Tower was closed while I was there due to refurbishment. This section was begun during the reign of Willam the Conqueror (1066-1087).
Charles II was warned that should the ravens leave the Tower, the monarchy would fall and that is why you see the birds at the castle.
To the right, is the Formal Uniform of the Warder for special or State Occasions in red.
The blue uniform is for Everyday.
The Tower Bridge Experience wasn't worth the time or the price you pay. You see several short videos on the creation and building of it and you end up walking across the top (the views are not that great). Then you come back down and visit the engine rooms.
Hopped back onto the bus and watched the Horse Guard's change. It was raining so I stayed around and taped the changing - the horses were wonderfully behaved and black - my favorite.
Across the street, is the Banqueting House. This is the only part remaining of Whitehall Palace. This was the Sovereign's main London residence before the fire in 1698 from the Days of Henry VIII. It was built in 1622 and there are only two floors.
The basement is classic white arches referred to as the undercroft, a favorite hide a way of James I when he felt the need to escape from the daily grind of royalty. When Charles I came to the throne, he further enhanced the buildings interior by commissioning Ruben to paint the upper floors ceiling with 9 huge paintings.
In 1635, two paintings measuring 28x20 ft and two measuring 40x10 ft were finally put in place. Very elegant, classy and spectacular paintings. Its intent was to hold royal banquets, balls and concerts. On January 30, 1649 on a high platform outside this building, Charles I was beheaded. He is the ONLY British Monarch to ever suffer this fate. It was amazing -so beautiful. It was a rainy day and cold today. Yes, this would be the perfect place for a wedding reception.
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