Windsor Castle Royal Tattoo

On 9 April 2021, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, and the longest-serving royal consort in history, died of old age at Windsor Castle at the age of 99, two months before his 100th birthday.The death of the Duke set in motion Operation Forth Bridge, a plan detailing procedures including the dissemination of information, national mourning, and his funeral. The Duke had indicated wishes for a smaller funeral, though amendments were still made to the plan to bring his service in line with COVID-19 regulations, including quarantine for members of the Duke's family travelling from abroad. A thanksgiving service attended by politicians and foreign royalty was held at Westminster Abbey on 29 March 2022, which included elements that could not be implemented in the funeral ceremony due to COVID-19 restrictions. His funeral took place on 17 April 2021. Representatives of nations and groups around the world sent condolences to the Queen, the royal family, and citizens of the Commonwealth. Flowers and messages of condolence were left by the public at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, with members of the royal family publicly paying tribute to the Duke in the days after his death.

Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original castle was built in the 11th century, after the Norman invasion of England by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I (who reigned 1100–1135), it has been used by the reigning monarch and is the longest-occupied palace in Europe. The castle's lavish early 19th-century state apartments were described by early 20th century art historian Hugh Roberts as "a superb and unrivalled sequence of rooms widely regarded as the finest and most complete expression of later Georgian taste". Inside the castle walls is the 15th-century St George's Chapel, considered by the historian John Martin Robinson to be "one of the supreme achievements of English Perpendicular Gothic" design.Originally designed to project Norman dominance around the outskirts of London and oversee a strategically important part of the River Thames, Windsor Castle was built as a motte-and-bailey, with three wards surrounding a central mound. Gradually replaced with stone fortifications, the castle withstood a prolonged siege during the First Barons' War at the start of the 13th century. Henry III built a luxurious royal palace within the castle during the middle of the century, and Edward III went further, rebuilding the palace to make an even grander set of buildings in what would become "the most expensive secular building project of the entire Middle Ages in England". Edward's core design lasted through the Tudor period, during which Henry VIII and Elizabeth I made increasing use of the castle as a royal court and centre for diplomatic entertainment. Windsor Castle survived the tumultuous period of the English Civil War, when it was used as a military headquarters by Parliamentary forces and a prison for Charles I. At the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, Charles II rebuilt much of Windsor Castle with the help of the architect Hugh May, creating a set of extravagant Baroque interiors. After a period of neglect during the 18th century, George III and George IV renovated and rebuilt Charles II's palace at colossal expense, producing the current design of the state apartments, full of Rococo, Gothic and Baroque furnishings. Queen Victoria made a few minor changes to the castle, which became the centre for royal entertainment for much of her reign. It was used as a refuge by the royal family during the Luftwaffe bombing campaigns of the Second World War and survived a fire in 1992. It is a popular tourist attraction, a venue for hosting state visits, and was the main residence of Queen Elizabeth II from 2011 to 2022.

Charles I in Three Positions, also known as the Triple Portrait of Charles I, is an oil painting of Charles I of England painted 1635–1636 by the Flemish artist Sir Anthony van Dyck, showing the king from three viewpoints: left full profile, face on, and right three-quarter profile. It is currently part of the Royal Collection.The colours of the costumes and pattern of the lace collars are different in each portrait, though the blue riband of the Order of the Garter is present in all three. The painting was probably begun in the latter part of 1635, and was sent to Rome in 1636 to be used as a reference work for the Italian sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini to create a marble bust of Charles I. Bernini famously exclaimed, upon seeing the painting, it was "the portrait of a doomed man". Pope Urban VIII sent the bust to Charles's queen Henrietta Maria in 1638 in the hope of encouraging a reconciliation of the Roman Catholic Church with the Church of England.The bust was presented in 1637 and admired for its workmanship and likeness to the king. Charles rewarded Bernini with a valuable diamond ring. Queen Henrietta Maria commissioned Bernini to make a companion bust of her, but the English Civil War intervened and it was never made. The bust of Charles was sold at the end of the English Civil War but recovered for the Royal Collection on the Restoration, only to be destroyed by a fire in Whitehall Palace in January 1698.The painting remained in the possession of Bernini and his heirs in the Bernini Palace on the Via del Corso until c. 1802, when it was sold to British art dealer William Buchanan and returned to England. It was exhibited at the British Gallery in 1821. It was acquired for the Royal Collection in 1822.It is thought that the painting was influenced by Lorenzo Lotto's Triple Portrait of a Goldsmith, c. 1530, then in the Royal Collection. In its turn, Van Dyck's portrait of Charles I may have influenced Philippe de Champaigne's Triple portrait of Cardinal de Richelieu, c. 1642. Many copies of the work were made, possibly by supporters of the royal House of Stuart, including one created around 1750 and now in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.The British Museum has an engraving which was believed to depict the bust before it was destroyed, with baroque locks of flowing hair, fine lace collar, garter sash, possibly by Robert van Voerst, but now believed to show a bust by François Dieussart. The painting currently hangs in the Queen's Drawing room at Windsor Castle. Other triple portraits

A bronze equestrian statue of King Charles II on horseback sits in the Upper Ward of Windsor Castle beneath the castle's Round Tower. It was inspired by Hubert Le Sueur's statue of Charles I in London, the statue was cast by Josias Ibach in 1679, with the marble plinth featuring carvings by Grinling Gibbons. The statue was commissioned by Tobias Rustat, Charles's valet. Rustat was a significant philanthropist of the 1670s. Rustat's fortune was partially derived from the transatlantic slave trade, having been an investor in the Royal African Company.The rear left hoof of the horse is inscribed 'Josias Ibach Stada Bramesis 1679 FUDIT'. Gibbons had been appointed the 'Surveyor and Repairer of Carved Work at Windsor' in 1682. The Royal Collection Trust listing for the statue describes the design as "very innovative" in its depiction of Charles as a Roman emperor with its absence of traditional symbols of the British monarchy such as the Order of the Garter. Charles is depicted wearing a suit of armour in a classically Roman style, without spurs and stirrups for his horse. He is crowned with a laurel wreath. The statue started a subsequent trend for British monarchs to be portrayed in a Roman style.The statue may have been inspired by the Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius that was originally situated on the Capitoline Hill in Rome with its similar placing of the horse and design of the plinth.

The Print Room at Windsor Castle is a print room which is an office in the Royal Collection Department of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for the care and maintenance of the royal collections of drawings and old master prints, including watercolours. The term refers to both an institution and a room, and is under the direction of the Head of Prints and Drawings, currently Martin Clayton MVO.The collection is exceptionally strong, with famous holdings of drawings by Leonardo da Vinci (550), Raphael, Michelangelo and Hans Holbein the Younger (85). A large part of the Old Master drawings were acquired by George III.

Queen Mary's Dolls' House is a dollhouse built in the early 1920s, completed in 1924, for Queen Mary, the wife of King George V. It was designed by architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, with contributions from many notable artists and craftsmen of the period, including a library of miniature books containing original stories written by authors including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and A. A. Milne.

On 20 November 1992, a fire broke out in Windsor Castle, the largest inhabited castle in the world and one of the official residences of the British Monarch. The castle suffered extensive damage and was fully repaired within the next five years at a cost of £36.5 million, in a project led by the conservation architects Donald Insall Associates. It led to Queen Elizabeth II paying tax on her income, and to Buckingham Palace, the former monarch's other official residence, being opened to the public to help pay for the restoration work. This event was part of what Queen Elizabeth II called her annus horribilis.

The office of Royal Librarian, in the Royal Collection Department of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom, is responsible for the care and maintenance of the books and manuscripts in the Royal Library, a collection spread across all the palaces, occupied and unoccupied. In addition to his or her role overseeing the librarians in the Royal Library, the Librarian is also Deputy Keeper of the Royal Archives and is responsible for the management of the Royal Archives and its collections.

St John the Baptist Church is a parish church in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is dedicated to St John the Baptist. The church was rebuilt in Gothic Revival style in 1822. It is the civic church of Windsor, and many Mayors of Windsor are buried in the church and churchyard. The church is Grade II* listed. Two of the three Protestant Windsor Martyrs, who were burnt at the stake in 1543, were associated with the church.

St George's School, Windsor Castle is a co-educational independent preparatory school in Windsor, near London, England. Founded to provide choirboys for the Choir of St George's Chapel, it now educates over 400 boys and girls.

St George's House, based in the grounds of Windsor Castle, is a British organisation committed to "effecting change for the better by nurturing wisdom through dialogue".Founded in 1966 by the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and the then Dean of Windsor, Robin Woods, it brings together people of responsibility and influence in business, government, society and the church to consult on contemporary issues of moment.

St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in England is a castle chapel built in the late-medieval Perpendicular Gothic style. It is both a Royal Peculiar (a church under the direct jurisdiction of the monarch) and the Chapel of the Order of the Garter. St George's Chapel was founded in the 14th century by King Edward III and extensively enlarged in the late 15th century. It is located in the Lower Ward of the castle. The castle has belonged to the monarchy for almost 1,000 years and was a principal residence of Elizabeth II before her death. The chapel has been the scene of many royal services, weddings and burials – in the 19th century, St George's Chapel and the nearby Frogmore Gardens superseded Westminster Abbey as the chosen burial place for the British royal family. The running of the chapel is the responsibility of the dean and Canons of Windsor who make up the College of Saint George. They are assisted by a clerk, verger and other staff. The Society of the Friends of St George's and Descendants of the Knights of the Garter, a registered charity, was established in 1931 to assist the college in maintaining the chapel.