Ask anyone where the Queen of England lives, and many people will say that she lives in Buckingham Palace, central London. However, many people don’t realise that the Queen actually has many homes. For example, the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, or Balmoral Castle, Scotland. And then, the Queen has Windsor Castle, which is known as her weekend residence.
Windsor is a market town located just over 30 kilometres west of central London, on the banks of the river Thames. It has a population of 32,000 residents, and is known as a “commuter town,” with most of the residents commuting to London for work.
Despite being a fairly regular British commuter town, one thing separates Windsor from the many similar towns around London. that is Windsor Castle, a beautiful traditional building that sticks out like a sore thumb against the rest of the buildings in the town.
Windsor Castle has a long and complicated history. The original building was first constructed by William the Conqueror in the 11th century. Originally, it was designed to protect London, however it very quickly became a residence for royalty by Henry I in 1100. Windsor Castle is also the longest occupied palace in Europe.
Nowadays, the castle is used as the Queen’s weekend residence. On the weekends when the Queen doesn’t have work commitments she will travel from Buckingham Palace, London to Windsor. She also will reside at the castle for one month over Easter and a week in June.
You can check out https://www.rct.uk/visit/windsor-castle for more information, you can even book tickets and arrange a tour!
Glossary
Residence: a person’s home, where someone lives.
Market town: a town, where in the past or currently they have a market.
To commute: to travel to work and to travel back from work.
To stick out like a snore thumb: an idiom, to explain something that is very different.
Complicated: not easy, with many different factors.
To construct: to build something, usually a structure like building.
Commitment: something that you must do.
To reside: to reside is to live.
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