The Queen and I

Saturday I spent the day at Windsor. Windsor Castle was our first stop.
Queen Elizabeth uses this castle a lot. You can tell if she is "in residence" by the flag atop the highest tower- if it's her royal standard instead of the Union Jack, she's hanging out in Windsor for the weekend.
That is not the Union Jack. I freaked out when I saw it. Of course I kept a look-out for her all day, but no sign of her. I did get to see her dining room.
The Great Hall, where state dinners are held. They measure out the place settings with a ruler, to make them perfectly even. Imagine having *that* job.
Those are her private apartments, behind T.J., Sam, Siobhan and me. I think if I were the queen, and I had people wandering my backyard, I would throw water balloons at them to pass the time. Wouldn't you?
The entrance to Windsor Castle is called "St. George's Gate," and he is its patron saint. See the carving of George and the Dragon up top? G.K. Chesterton said that every good story follows the model of St. George and the Dragon. There is an evil monster to fight; a beauty to rescue and love; a knight to do the fighting, rescuing, and loving; and townspeople who, by their inaction, are complicit with the evil. I love that, except I like the idea of doing some fighting myself. There is enough evil in the world that the knight and the beauty need each other's help to fight it together.

I saw so many other beautiful things at Windsor... more posts to come!

Love, The Book Girl