We set out on a walking tour of what is know as Royal London today which covers four palaces in the central area of London. We began is what is know as “Green Park.” Green Park got its name because King Charles II liked to pick flowers in the park and present them to attractive young ladies accompanied by various “promises.” Queen Catherine had all her servants go into the park and pick and destroy all the flowers and banned flowers from being in the park forever, thus the park is now Green Park with 99% grass.
Next, views of Buckingham Palace. Interestingly, this is not the official palace of the Queen. Her official palace is St James Palace. But, because it was built by the icky Henry VIII and is a bit dark and gloomy, she hangs out in Buckingham Palace which was actually built for Queen Victoria.
The next palace is Clarendon House (called a House but actually a Palace), the home of Prince Charles and Camilla. Let me not make further comments about him or her. Actually, Charles and Camilla were arriving at the time we were there. The guards had to clear a path for the black Bentley to go flying through the gate. The royal flag was already flying above the palace to signify that the Prince and his “Lady” were in residence.
St James Palace (the official residence of the Queen) was built by Henry VIII. It is one of the few all brick palaces. The use of brick was to signify wealth. Since no one was home (at least no one of importance), guards were not in their boxes and we took the occasion to stand in the guard boxes and give a couple of salutes.
Then we learned that the Duke of Westminster was in love with Coco Chanel. He wanted her to marry him. Her response was, “There are many ladies of Westminster, but there is only one Coco Chanel.” To prove his love, the Duke had hundreds of lamp posts inscribed with the “CC” or Coco Chanel and the “W” for the Duke of Westminster. Still she was not impressed and would not accept his offer of marriage. The Lamp Posts are still visible all around Royal London.
Below is the Royal Horse Guards parade ground. They were not on site, but we will get pictures of them later. For those of you familiar with London, they are the one who wear the silver and gold helmets. By the way, the helmets cost $3,000 each. A queen, we do not remember who, was on a walk one day and found a horse guard drunk on duty. She ordered the entire horse guard to punished by requiring them to parade at 3:30 pm everyday for the next 100 years (the English really knew how to punish). After the expiration of the 100 years, the guard has continued their 3:30 pm parade daily. We will go back and get pictures in a few days. The horse guard parade field was the site of the beach volleyball competition during the Olympics where 2,270 tons of sand was used in the event.
The cottage behind Elaine is the cottage where the keeper of all the animals gifted to the king and/or queen of England are kept. For you Harry Potter fans, you will recognize it from the movies.
The Churchill War Rooms from where Winston Churchill directed the Battle of Britain.
Westminster Cathedral needs no explanation. The coronation place of the royalty for the last 1,000 years. The burial site of some of the most important historical figures. It contains “Poet’s Corner” where the most famous literary figures are buried, “Scientist Corner” where the likes of Isaac Newton are buried. We will visit this site with more detail later.
Everyone calls it the Parliament House, but its official name is “The Palace of Westminster.” The tower called “Big Ben” is actually the Queen Elizabeth Tower and Big Ben is not the name of the clock, but is, in fact, the name of the 13 ton bell that hangs in the tower. The bell was cast at Whitechapel Bell Foundry which was covered in one of our earlier posts.
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