Our last day in Windsor and it is quite special. When Deb and I went to see the Royal Wedding in 2011, of Kate and Will, we arrived early (hahaha) at Buckingham Palace during the Changing the Guard. Two gentlemen ahead of us, gave us their spot, and viola we had a direct, front row spot for the whole event!!
What an awesome thing to do.
Well, those gentlemen, Jim and son Chris live in England not far from Cambridge. Jim and I have been Facebook friends since 2011 (the Royal Wedding) and are meeting up for a visit. And what a visit it was. Our plan is to chat a lot over cappuccinos and tea and visit Eton College.
Pigeon along our walk into town. A chat session of sorts.
Going to work?
Rush hour traffic jam in Windsor?
There he is! Our new BFF Jim. What a great guy and we had so many laughs and fun throughout the day. He taught us the proper English way to pronounce a few things. Gave us an incredible amount of historic background on many events and people in British history. He thought we would be indifferent to trivia facts he shared with us....but we LOVE that kind of stuff.
Basically, we have a new friend we all want you to visit when you come to England.
Eton College is an all-boy boarding school for ages 13-18 founded in the year 1440 by King Henry VI. To be honest, it is famous to us as being the school that Prince William and Prince Harry both attended.
It is located across a bridge, within walking distance from Windsor. The Queen probably could have literally kept an eye out for her grandsons from the castle.
"No other school can claim to have sent forth such a cohort of distinguished figures to make their mark on the world."- a historian of Eton
It has educated 19 Prime Ministers, two Princes and generations of aristocracy. The Prime Minister of England, David Cameron, is an alumni from Eton.
Below is the Eton Library. Many famous writers attended Eton including George Orwell, Percy Shelley, an English poet and husband of Mary Shelley the author of 'Frankenstein.' Also Ian Fleming best known for his 'James Bond' series of spy novels.
Famous actors who attended Eton are Patrick Macnee (The Avengers in the 60's), Huge Laurie, from the series 'House', Tom Hiddleston, Thor's brother Loki in the movie 'Thor', and 'Thor: The Dark World' and Harry Lloyd, who planned Viserys Targaryen in the series 'Game of Thrones,' and of course my favourite, Eddie Redmayne, from the mini-series 'The Pillars of the Earth' and the movie 'Les Miserables.'
Movies that have used Eton College as a film location, 'Chariots of Fire', 'The Secret Garden', one of my favourites 'The Madness of King George', 'Shakespeare in Love', and 'My Week with Marilyn.'
The actual school, below, is closed to public tours as they are doing major additions and renovations. In fact I have found out that part of that is an incredible initiative to help less fortunate students get to a higher education. It will be a boarding and day school for 500 students.
"A fifth of the places will go to children from poor families, as well as 21 boarding spots for students on the verge of being taken into care and a further 28 boarders will be funded or part-funded through bursaries." as per an article posted by Eton College for September 2014.
Talk about giving back or paying forward. An awesome program to be sure.
Even though it was closed, the gentlemen at the gate allowed Deb and I to take a couple of photos.
Random acts of kindness abound in England.
Strolling through the village of Eton, something you do not see everyday, an Egyptian Goose with her babies. She and her partner, were both trying to cross the road way, and the cars were all diverting to allow them through.
They made it....every single one.
The Egyptian Goose, which we may never see in Canada, is bred in Africa. Mostly found in the Nile Valley and south of the Sahara. Some have escaped or migrated further north and now have populations in Europe and as far north as the UK. They are gorgeous.
We took a vote and the three of us, Jim, Deb and I all agree that this wee puppy is indeed weird looking. I say that with love, because I am sure he is quite loveable.
One last peek around Windsor with Jim. He has such a wealth of information. In fact, he reminded us that the way to tell if the Queen is in residence, is if the Royal Standard flag is flying high above the Castle. Interesting enough, he shared with us that the reason why the Union Jack flag is also flown above the castles is because of Princess Diana's death. Apparently, before 1997, only when a monarch dies, is the Royal Standard flown but never at half mast. In Princess Diana's case, Buckingham Palace was not flying any flag because the Queen was at Balmoral Castle. Because of public outcry the Queen broke with protocol and ordered that they fly the Union Jack at half mast on the day of her funeral and honour our beloved Princess Diana.
Today the Union Jack is flying high above Buckingham Palace if the Queen is in house or not. It has since Princess Diana's death been flown at half mast for other national mourning such as the death of US President Gerald Ford, and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
Is that Kate arriving at Windsor Castle? Maybe not.
But here are three famous invitees to Windsor Castle.
Deb, Jim and myself.
What a fantastic end to an incredible UK visit!
Thank you Jim.
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